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Upcoming events, ideas, etc.	Trip Reports
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Note: This is intended to be a community page for a loose group of hikers and bikers in the general Palo Alto, CA area, so if you want to put something on here, correct something, add pictures, etc., drop me a note and I'll add it. I'll also take requests for other info to be added to the page. We have a mailing list; if you are interested, contact me by email (olson@unixfolk.com) I/We are always interested in new hikes or hiking and biking partners, so contact me if you are interested. My contact info is here. Dave Upcoming hikes, bike rides, etc. (None right now, but we're pretty much always interested, so drop me a note if you have ideas.) Top of Page Trip reports Top of Page The links are usually to pictures, with some description and sometimes some descriptive text. Sometimes it's just the pictures and no text. These are listed from newest to oldest. On Wednesday, 9 June 2010, we hiked Curry Village to Half Dome (base of the cables. 7 of us hiked from Curry Village to the base of Half Dome (cables were in place, but no posts or slats, so we stopped at the subdome). We went up via the Mist Trail, and returned via the John Muir trail. It was the first time for 3 of us. The waterfalls were in full thunder all over the valley, and the weather was nearly perfect, although we did get some clouds over Half Dome, and heard one distant thunderclap as we started back. We spent 10 1/2 hours, with a few breaks here and there. The views down on the valley were great also. On Sunday 17 May 2010, several of us hiked at Rancho San Antonio. Still lots of wild flowers, including an orchid and some I didn't recognize, even in May, and very nice hiking weather. On Saturday 16 May 2010, Gale and I hiked from Gray Whale Cove, up Old Pedro Mt. road and then back over the top of the tunnel out towards the coast again, and return. Lots of wild flowers, also quite a bit of wind. On Sunday, 9 May 2010, I hiked up and over Montara Mt, from the end of LeConte in Montara up to the end of Alta Vista, then up over South Peak, up to North Peak, then back down the road, down the Montara Mt trail to San Pedro County Park in Pacifica, then a mile or so down Rosita Road to Adobe, up to Higgins, and then on to the old San Pedro Mt. Road, and followed that all the way up, over, and down, back to Montara (somewhere around 13 miles and 3000 feet total gain). Lots of wild flowers, good weather down low, but in the clouds and windy on the upper part of the mountain. On 1 May 2010, Gale and I hiked the counter-clockwise loop, the first day Butano was fully open after the cutbacks. A lot of wildflowers, pretty nice weather, although a bit overcast. Still a lot of water in the creeks. A good way to celebrate May Day. We even saw an orchid in bloom at the end of the hike. On 19 Apr 2010, I hiked from the town of Montara up as far as the road went (maybe 1200 ft elevation), near Alamo Road . Lots of wildflowers, and some interesting tracks, including some I think were probably mountain lion tracks. On Sunday, 18 April 2010, I went on another late afternoon hike, 2 hours from start to end, from high up in Montara over south peak to the top of Montara Mt. Lots of wildflowers, and the fog was blowing in and out from the top, so I could at least occasionally see the bay this time (in January it was totally fogged in. I took a late afternoon hike up to Old Pedro Mt Road on Sunday, 21 March 2010, then north along the ridges. The early spring wildflowers are out in large numbers. I came down to Hwy 1 at the top of Devils Slide, and walked back to Gray Whale Cove, then back along the trail to my starting point. There was quite a bit of fog, intermittently clearing. The fog was mostly close to shore as I walked back towards Gray Whale Cove, given an interesting lighting; green inshore, and deep blue further offshore. Joanne, Shing, Gale, and I went for a hike from Waddell Beach to Berry Creek Falls on 6 Mar 2010. It was a nice day, although a bit overcast, and a lot of water was in the creeks, and the falls were quite dramatic, with smaller falls in places where there is often nothing, or at most a trickle. We encountered a very fresh landslide with a downed tree that we had to scramble over, to add adventure. On the way back, we heard one large, long crack of thunder, and then the hail started, eventually with sizes up to 3/8" of an inch. The hail only lasted a bit more than 5 minutes, so it was fun (we got only a small amount of rain before the whole thing was over). We saw lots of newts (including one that had lost an eye), and the spring flowers are starting as well, with trillium in evidence in a number of places. To end the day, we had a pretty nice sunset at Francis Beach, then went home and had a nice Fred's steak dinner. Gale and I went for a quick late afternoon hike at Burleigh Murray after the rain stopped. First time that either of us had been there. 15 Feb 2010, Gale and I went for a walk along Waddell Creek at Big Basin We got a late start, so we didn't go all the way to the falls, but it was a very nice hike, nonetheless. Lots of water in the creek, and plenty of evidence that it had been quite a bit higher sometime in the last few weeks. On Sunday 31 January 2010, I went for hike from the end of Almeria in El Granada up towards the ridgetop, with some side explorations, in the POST Rancho Corral del Tierra preserve. Some nice views of Montara Mt, and nice views of the coast. On Saturday, 2 January 2010, TJ, Gale and Dave hiked up Montara Mountain, via San Pedro Mt Road, and then up to the North Peak, then down through the POST lands to Montara, and back along the lower San Pedro Mt Road. It was foggy at the bottom, and low stratus at the top, so we did not, unfortunately, get a view from the top. We did hear the high surf crashing, all the way up and back down. Then it was off to the Moss Beach Distillery for beer and food! In late December, 2009, we made several trips to the reef at Fitzgerald Marine Preserve at low tide (-0.5, -1.0, and -1.4) in December 2009, with various people. A bit chilly, but fun, and saw some interesting things. Some of the pictures were taken by Dave, and some by Gale. On Sunday, 1 Nov, Dave went for a 5 hour walk around Potrero Hill, waterfront, and Telegraph Hill. Started at 7AM as the fog was lifting, and got some pictures that I really like. I also had some locally made TCHO Chocolate along the way, and a fine breakfast at Carmen's in South Beach. Here's the pictures. On Saturday, 26 Sep 2009, Gale and Dave went for a walk up the coast from Miramar to Moss Beach. On Saturday, 1 Aug 2009, TJ, Greg, and Dave went for a bike ride from Alum Rock Road up to the top of Mt. Hamilton. I went for a short hike down Upper Stevens Creek. It was a bit on the warm side, and the newts had moved down into the creek, they were all over. Saw a few fish (movie of one of them), a frog, a fair number of dragonflies, and a single deer. Not many people were out hiking (it was 95 degrees when I got back to the parking lot). TJ, Greg, Marci, I, and 9995 others did the Seattle to Portland bike ride the 2nd weekend in July, 2009. Casey, Veronika, and I went for a loop hike at Purissima Redwoods Open Space on Sunday, 7 June 2009. We all ended up a bit tired, after Saturday and the vertical gain, and Casey's rapid pace! We hiked at the top of Windy Hill on 29 March 2009, hoping for wildflowers, but saw only fairly isolated flowers here and there. A fair variety, but not much in terms of quantity (far less than at Edgewood the day before). Perhaps next week, or the week after. Still, a fine day to be outside with friends! We went for a wildflower hike on 28 March 2009 at Edgewood Park. The wildflowers are there, and some nice patches, but not big carpets, at least, not yet. We also saw some tadpoles, hares, deer, lizards, and spiders as well, in part thanks to Katie's sharp eyes. Katie took some of these pictures (the ones taken at 12:44, I think). On 22 March 2009, I went for a short hike at Arastradero Preserve, up into Foothill, out to Bobcat Point, and back down to the reoad. I saw a few deer, and a blue heron towards the very end. Not a lot of wildflowers, but a few hardy and early flowers. On 31 January 2009, Jerry, Sarah, and I hiked the Tafoni trail at El Corte Madera Creek to the large tafoni outcrop, then the creek trail to the Resolution trail (some pictures of the crashed DC-6 in this set), and then return to Skegg's Point. On 3 January 2009, Steve, Lorraine, and I hiked from Little Basin to Big Basin via Tanbark trail to Buzzard's Roost, down Pine Mountain trail to Bloom Creek, on to Big Basin Headquarters, and return via the service road. On New Year's Day, 2009, Scott and I hiked all day, taking it easy, from Big Basin headquarters out to the Berry Creek falls, then up the Howard King trail and some cross country below Mt. McAbee to a pair of tufoni caves (fairly large), back on trail at Hihn Hammond road, then down to Middle Ridge and the parking lot. On 23 December 2008, I went for a solo hike out at Morgan Territory, near Livermore. I went for a hike on the Coyote, Stone Corral, Valley View, Manzanita, Miwok, Blue Oak, and Volvon trails. It was chilly and a bit muddy, but not windy, and sunny part of the time, so a very nice hike indeed. Some pretty nice views out over the Sacramento Valley, as well. I only saw one other person the entire hike. On 13 December 2008, I went for a short hike from the end of Alpine Road in Portola Valley on up to Russian Ridge and return 16 Aug 2008: Casey and Veronika, Becky and Scott, Chris, and Dave all hiked at Pt Reyes (Bear Valley area), out to the coast, down the coast for a bit, including a long stop at Sculptured Beach, then back to the Bear Valley trailhead. After that we had a mighty fine dinner afterwards (with 3 dozen oysters, and a nice local Pt Reyes Winery sparking wine). Here's the trip pictures that I (Dave) took, and a few movies as well. It was a fine foggy Pt Reyes day, but a fairly high fog, without much wind, so all in all, quite pleasant. We also ran into an organized group of over 100 people picking huckleberries up on the Sky trail, just south of the junction with the Meadow Trail. There were a lot of ripe huckleberries, and most of us had a fair amount of them. 10 May 2008: Several of us went on a Pine Ridge Asssociation group hike at Henry Coe on , starting at the new Dowdy Ranch visitor center (via Bell Station Road off Hwy 152), and headed out Pacheco Creek. 3 May 2008: Butano Ridge loop from Portola Redwoods state park through Pescadero Creek county park Butano Ridge 20 Apr 2008: A short spring hike at Black Mountain (Palo Alto) 1 Dec 2007: A short winter hike at Black Mountain (Palo Alto) 21 Jan 2007: We took a winter hike at Henry Coe State Park near Morgan Hill. We hiked out Flat Frog trail and then on to Middle Ridge, with a side trip to Deer Horn camp, then on down the ridge and back on the Fish trail (somewhat over 8 miles with the side trips). Just a few pictures this time, including some of one of the frozen creeks. The weather was great, probably low 60's, clear, but occasionally breezy on the ridges. It was obviously colder in the low lying streambeds, because we found several parts of streams that were still frozen, up to a couple of inches thick in places. The freeze itself must have been from earlier in the week, of course. At one point, there was ice over 3 inches thick. 13 Jan 2007: Casey, Alex, Jasen and I did the Hamm's Ridge Windy Hill loop. A somewhat cool day, but clear. 14 Oct 2006: Pictures from the harvest dinner apple picking and chestnut harvesting. Somewhat culled, just so they are up for people to look at. 16 Sept 2006: Pictures from a climb at Last Temptation Cliff, near Goat Rock. Suggested by Anne because it was her last chance to climb before heading off to Europe for a while. Joe, Casey, Jun, Meg, Chris, Annaka, Dave, and TJ rounded out the group. 1-4 Sept 2006: First few pictures from Toulumne climbing trip (Jun, Dave, Sarah), arranged by Joe. My first multipitch climbs! 29 April 2006: Our second ride of the spring season. Old La Honda and West Alpine loop.. It was nice on the east side... 24 December 2005: Hike to Mindego Hill, Christmas Eve day . It was positively balmy weather, and above the fog. 17 July 2005: Climbing at Summit Rock. It was a somewhat toasty day, but fun. 16 July 2005: We did "the" coast bike ride. It was a warm, but not hot day, until we hit some fog on Stage Road near San Gregorio (which was unfortunate for the views south of San Gregorio, but quite pleasant for the stretch up to Hwy 1). A wonderful ride, great company, and food and drink at the end. A great way to spend a Saturday! 28 May 2005: Henry Coe China Hole hike, loads of wildflowers: Here's the pictures, with a brief writeup on the hike. Sunday, 30 May 2004: Rebecca, Casey, and I took a somewhat leisurely ramble around the Marin Headlands and Fort Cronkite on Sunday. The weather was nearly perfect, kept pleasant by a light offshore fog and a breeze (a stiff wind down at sea level, but just a pleasant breeze up on the hills). See the link for more details, and some pictures. Saturday, 22 May 2004: Casey and I went for a short hike to Aquarian Valley (the upper portion of Peter's Creek canyon). See the link for some pictures, and the trip report. Saturday, 17 Apr 2004: You all missed a great hike today! We ended up going to Joseph Grant park (up on Mt Hamilton) instead of Henry Coe because we feared the rain storm might be headed that way. We saw lots of wild flowers, hiked about 11 to 12 miles and did about 2100 to 2200 feet of vertical gain. We treated ourselves to dinner at The Grand View restaurant afterwards. Quite nice! We had some photos but the servers have gone away... I (Dave) took some also, but haven't even finished with my pictures from the Pinnacles trip yet, let alone yesterday's hike at Joseph Grant. Sat/Sun, 27/28 March 2004: Bike Ride and Rock Climbing Writeup by Casey. Pinnacles National Park, Saturday 13 March 2004 It was a nice trip, but the consensus is that it wasn't as nice as the trip last year. A bit too soon for the wildflowers, and a *lot* more people (we started at the east entrance this time, and for some reason, there wasn't a single empty parking spot in any of the lots, although we didn't have to wait too long for a couple to open up. We did go through the Bear Gulch cave which is longer than the Balconies Cave. I saw one bat in a crack in the cave. It's only open for a short period, so we were lucky to catch it. We did an out and back hike, since we got started a bit late, and were trying to get back reasonably early. Great rocks, nice weather. We went several miles up from the visitor center, heading up the Chalone Peak Trail after we got to Bear Gulch Reservoir. Sunday, 15 Feb 2004: We did a nice loop at Windy Hill. We headed up Hamm's Gulch, with the clouds starting to build up after a beautiful morning. By the time we got to the top (after stopping for lunch at the rock outcrop near the top of the trail), we had some rain, and by the time we headed down Spring Mtn, there were real raindrops falling, although never very heavily, fortunately. The lighting was interesting, and we could even see a long curtain of rain drops falling from the clouds over the bay. A nice familiar hike for most of us, new to some. Full moon, February, 2004: Mt Shasta Snowshowing, eating, and Cross-country Extravagana. Casey found a cosy little cabin (3 stories, sleeps around 12 (they say 8 in the ad), isolated (1.25 miles in on a dirt road, no other houses or cabins on the road), with it's own pond and stream. Oh, did I mention a wood-fired hot tub? Anyway, here's a selection of pictures, pretty much all uncaptioned, but hopefully telling the story on their own. There are also a couple of movies. I took most of them, with a few pictures by other adventurers. We drove up Thursday, settled in (and had the first of our fine dining experiences, thanks to the master chef, M'sieur Leedom), and then rented gear at the Fifth Season in the town of Mt Shasta. They have reasonable rates, and a good selection of equipment, but we had a number of equipment failures, so if you rent there, be sure to look over your gear very carefully before leaving the shop. Friday we went snowshowing in moderate snow (not much wind) from Bunny Flats. We were all pretty much snowshoe novices, so we didn't go very far (up towards Horse Camp), but we had fun with it. Saturday we went cross-country skiing at Castle Lake, which included the required climbing of hills and swooshing down again, watching the ice fisherman, and looking at the rather amazing views of Mt. Shasta and the crags (not to mention skiiers and snowboarders who walked way up the slopes and who were skiing down). Sunday we went snowshowing again, at the McCloud River falls, heading down first to the lower falls, then up along the river to the middle falls, and deciding to skip the upper falls, back to the car. A minor navigational mistake meant that some of us were expecting an easy stroll back to the trusty Subaru, but instead, was pretty much the same distance back as we had done outward bound (about 1 3/4 miles; not all that much to the experienced, but plenty for us!) Monday morning was cleanup, and heading back home. All agreed it was a fun experience, to be repeated soon and often. Boxing Day, 2003: Hike at Hidden Villa. Nice hike, with changeable weather, including a brief hailstorm. Review and pictures by Dave 13 December 2003: Pescardero Creek, a beautiful park mostly in redwood forest. (review by Dave) Writeup, and pictures (including some poor pictures of the bobcat we saw) 6 December 2003: Castle Rock (in the rain, with fog to boot) (review by Dave) Brief writeup, and pictures Thanksgiving, 2003: Death Valley trip. Review by Grigsby. Day hiking the canyons in Death Valley 2 November 2003: Fall Harvest hike/gathering/baking Review by Casey, and pictures 25 October 2003: Angel Island trip. (Or "Where Haven't You Been in the Bay Area?)" A nice description of Angel Island and its history. Review by Dave. It was a fantastic day to be out on the bay and on Angel Island! No real review, but I do have a set of pictures of the trip (still about 120 of them) with thumbnails. 18 October 2003: Oktoberfest at Fort Mason, etc. Casey's review 11 October 2003: Big Basin, headquarters to Berry Falls Review by Dave 5 October 2003: Forest of Nisene Marks and Bonfire on the beach Review by Dave 5 October 2003: Bonfire on the beach Review by Casey 4 October 2003: Bike trip to Pescadero Review by Casey 28 September 2003: Pt Reyes Hike Review by Casey Hiking bookmarks, stuff in our area Top of Page I have updated and verified that all of these are valid, as of January 2009. The Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Association links page and The Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Association home page with membership information, etc.. California State Parks (Dept of Parks and Rec; links to parks keep changing URLs) California State Parks home page County of San Mateo - Huddart Park Bay Area Hiker: Home Page Mount Tamalpais Interpretive Association Hiking with CyberHikes - The California Hiking Trail Experience (San Francisco) Bay Area Backcountry - Santa Cruz Mountains Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Big Basin Redwoods State Park Mount Tamalpais Interpretive Association Castle Rock SP (San Francisco) Bay Area Backcountry - Santa Cruz Mountains Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District Bay Area Ridge Trail I've hiked most of this near my home; someday I'd like to hike the whole thing (it's getting closer to completion each year) GORP - Great Outdoor Recreation Pages - Central California A good site for a lot of activities around the whole country, actually, although sometimes a bit arbitrary. Hiking with kids links BA Hiker Kid's hikes Parent's Press parent groups, including hiking Stroller Hikes, with calendar Biking bookmarks, stuff in our area Top of Page I have updated and verified that all of these are valid, as of January 2009. Index of /~bushnell/bike/ride_stories (Sacramento) Valley Spokesmen Bicycle Touring Club SF Bay Area Climbs Lucas Pereira's Cycling Gradiometer Page KLIMB Bike Mapping Program San Francisco Bay Area Bicycle Ride Catalog Silicon Valley bicycle Coalition Bicycle Maps Guide to rides on Chain Reaction website Western Wheelers Bicycle Club: Southwest San Francisco Bay Area Climbs Route Sheets for CA Centuries & Double Centuries Conejo Valley Cyclists Links South Bay Bike Ride Start Locations Santa Cruz County Cycling Club (Santa Cruz Mountains Challenge) Cascade Bicycle Club (Seattle to Portland ride, etc.)