Muir Woods

It's hard to believe that Muir Woods is less than a half hour drive out of San Francisco. A national monument, devoted to all things natural, will not be a disappointment.

Something about John Muir: He was a Philosopher, Scientist and Author. His family emigrated from Scotland to Wisconsin in 1848. He had a lively interest in nature and after brief studies at the University of Wisconsin - you knew he was a Badger! - he left school for what he would call "the University of the Wilderness." On his lengthy wanderings Muir contemplated man's relationship to nature, concluding that all life forms have inherent significance and the right to exist. Humans, Muir decided, are no greater or lesser than other forms of life. Muir eventually won public acceptance of conservation as an environmental ethic and inspired generations of wilderness advocates. Go hug a tree in his honor.