It started with a dare. Somewhere on the travels of Dan Nowell and Prentiss Willson, they stumbled upon a book, Bay Area Ridge Trail: The Official Guide. Dan loosely dared Prentiss to hike the entire route and thus began a 350-mile journey to hike the Ridge Trail over two years, cementing what would become a 15-year friendship. Dan and Prentiss share an infectious spirit. Both are long-legged and athletic, and have amassed an impressive collection of life stories–making them excellent trail companions.
Their inaugural hike was in the Marin Headlands. Although Dan grew up in Mill Valley and spent untold hours wandering the hills on Mount Tam and around Tennessee Valley, he was awestruck. “The Ridge Trail brought me closer to my home. On that first hike I was inspired by my hometown in a way I didn’t think was still possible. In my own backyard, the Ridge Trail was hiding undiscovered gems.”
In addition to being circumnavigators, Dan and Prentiss understand that the Ridge Trail is user-supported—they are both donors. Prentiss is a Legacy Circle member. Prentiss says he included the Ridge Trail in his estate plan because, “the idea that someday it could be one contiguous trail is just awesome and I want to help make that happen (and hope I’m still here, in which case I’ll do it again).”
To find tools and resource to plan your circumnavigation or section hike see our TRAIL TOOLS page.
To find out how you can include the Ridge Trail in your planned giving visit our PLANNED GIVING page.
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