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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.
If you've got plans, let me know!
Trip reports
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.
2013
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On Saturda, 23 Mar 2013,
we hiked the normal route out to
Pedro Point
, but then wound down to the top of Grand Ave, and then back up and down again
to the houses on Olympian Way. First time we had been down those trails.
Starting to be a lot of wildflowers! Some of the nasty erosion sections are
undergoing restoration which was nice to see. I tried to get a few pictures
through the tunnels before opening (from the north end), but could not quite
get high enough above the road to get the angle.
Not sure what the parking
situation will be after the tunnel opens... I do not expect to see the
"Tunnel Closed Ahead" signs very often, from now on!
Opening day for the tunnels is Monday!
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On Sunday, 6 Jan 2013
I hiked up to the
knoll above the middle creek
(concrete bridge on Pedro Mtn
Rd), then cross country around the back of two small valleys, then back onto the trails, and back on the beach. Cross country was mostly pretty easy, except crossing the creek valley (pretty thick brush). The waves at Montara Beach continue to be quite dramatic, as they have been for the past week.
2012
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On Saturday, 24 Nov 2012 A group of us did a shuttle hike from the top of
Devil's Slide, up over San Pedro Mt., then back on the old Pedro Mt. Road.
This is the google map showing the route, except that we took the shortcut down the North Acess road, rather than winding down the last part of Pedro Mt road to Martini Creek.
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On Saturday, 1 Sep 2012,
we went down to the
Montara reef
with Jeannie and Amy, and had a bonus of a
Hobo fort with bottle organ, flock of birds feeding on some kind of
marine life, four sailboats, and (rare in my experience on the reef)
several harbor seals on the rocks.
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On Saturday, 31 March 2012, we went for a hike on the
San Pedro Valley Park waterfall loop, up the waterfall trail
and back on the Montara Mt. trail.
It was a bit overcast, and not huge amounts of water, but a nice hike, and starting to be lots of flowers.
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On Sunday, April Fools day, 2012, I went for a short hike on
Ember Ridge
I'd been looking at this on google satellite, and it looked like it might be possible to get all the way to the top of Montara Mt., so I decided to explore. I met somebody hiking who said that 20 years ago, he had no problem hiking to the top, but that it's gotten pretty overgrown from about 2/3 of the way up, and is now bushwacking. I didn't get quite that far, because it was late, and I wanted to be home for the sunset, so more exploring for the future. There were plenty of early wildflowers, though.
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On Sunday, 19 Feb 2012, Gale and I on the
beach at Pedro Point.
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On Saturday, 18 Feb 2012, I hiked from
Ember Ridge in south Moss Beach
past Alamo St, up the ridge to the end of the trail, and
beyond into the eucalyptus.
A fair number of wildflowers (but windy enough
that it was hard to get pictures), and I got a short
movie of a young coyote. The end of the trail is on the ridge up above
the end of Rivera St (Montara). I'd wanted to get further up to the
eucalyptus in the past, but couldn't find a way through the chapparal.
Somebody has done enough brush clearing to make it possible to find
a way through now, with some effort. There's evidence of an old fence
line, and perhaps an old tail, but I still haven't found a way to get
through the chapparal above the eucalyptus.
As best as I can tell
from google aerial views, I wound up at
37.549919,-122.48539,
and there appears to be a GGNRA land corridor continuing all the way to the North
Peak.
It looks like I could easily go down the hill through the eucalyptus
to the end of Rivera St., which is (unfortunately for being able to do
an interesting loop) still private. You can get the new
GGNRA map for
Ranch Corral that shows the start of the route (as well as the rest of
the area).
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On Super Bowl Sunday, 5 Feb 2012,
I went down to the
reefs at various points from Montara down to Moss Beach.
Medium surf, warm day, even met a few other people on the reef. More or less low tide for most of it, and towards the end, got an interesting overcast.
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On 29 Jan 2012, I took an afternoon hike up
Montara Mt and saw a whale.
S some other hikers pointed out a whale, just south of Gray Whale Cove. Then I stopped at the old mine shaft,
headed up the rocks, on to the top, and then down one of the mountain biker
trails to the saddle. A very nice day.
This the first time I've seen a whale from on land. We've been told
we should be able to see quite a few towards March.
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On Martin Luther King's birthday (16 Jan 2012),
I started from home late in the day (almost 4), and made it almost to
South Peak on Montara Mt and whale
. before sunset.
I started up the North Access Road, then Old Pedro
Mt Road to the saddle, then east up the mountain bike trail back up
to the North Access Rd, then up to the ridge, over to South Peak, and
then straight down the ridge trail back down to Montara. Pretty clear
(Farallones visible in first few pictures, a bit of Point Reyes, Diablo,
and a bit of the bay just as I got to South Peak. It was quite chilly,
particularly on the way down after sunset. It was a very nice way to
end a 3 day weekend.
2011
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On Saturday, 17 Sep 2011,
Gale and I hiked up the
Montara Mountain
ridge route (which led to Gale getting poison oak; getting rather
overgrown), then back down the North Peak Access Rd, and the last part of
the Gray Whale Cove trail. We started and ended at our home.
It was a clear day on top, for once!
2011
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On Saturday, 17 Sep 2011,
Gale and I hiked up the
Montara Mountain
ridge route (which led to Gale getting poison oak; getting rather
overgrown), then back down the North Peak Access Rd, and the last part of
the Gray Whale Cove trail. We started and ended at our home.
It was a clear day on top, for once!
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On Sunday 10 Apr 2011,
we went for a hike at the southern end of the coast trail extension at
Cowell Beach.
We encountered a guard llama and a donkey near the beginning, saw a number of hawks, some wonderful reef views (including seals), a cascade from Purissima Cr., and the reason that the trail isn't yet open (a slide taking out part of the road, a bit north of the creek). A wonderful day for a walk along the coast.
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On Saturday 2 Apr 2011,
We walked up the
Moss Beach coast,
from Juliana Ave to the lighthouse, and back, on a mostly cloudy day
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On Saturday, 26 Feb 2011 ("snow day" that wasn't), I
finished up a chilly day with a
raptor walk at Wavecrest, and took a few sunset pictures
afterwards.
We saw red-shoulder, red-tail, and Coopers hawks, kestrels, kites
(including kiting, where they hover for up to a minute), and lots of
owl pellets, as well as a few non-raptor birds. Not great photography
conditions for a simple digital camera (long range), and I had forgotten
that the camera was set to black and white...
I did get a few movies of kites flying.
-
On Saturday, 5 February 2011,
We hiked from the
top of Devil's Slide
up to the high point of San Pedro
Mt. Rd. Early wilderflowers are out (a few iris, some blackberry,
goose current, etc.). A beautiful, warm, day. We spent a few minutes
at Gray Whale Beach afterwards, where we encountered a large remote
control helicopter with a camera mounted underneath.
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On Monday, 17 January 2011, I hiked at
Wilder Ranch, near Santa Cruz,
then over into the UCSC Reserve, and down to (or near) Henry Cowell State Park. I starte up the Englemann loop, and came down Chinquipin and the south part of the Eucalyptus loop. I saw (and took pictures and movies of) a bobcat on the Long Meadow trail, and got some interesting sunset and moon pictures on the way back down the hill. A nice day's hike; warm enough to take my shirt off on the way up the hill.
2010
2009
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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.
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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.
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On Saturday, 26 Sep 2009, Gale and Dave went for a walk up the coast
from Miramar to Moss Beach.
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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.
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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).
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TJ, Greg, Marci, I, and 9995 others did the
Seattle to Portland bike ride the 2nd weekend in July, 2009.
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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!
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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.
2008
- 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)
2008
- 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.
2006
- 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...
2005
- 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.
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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.
2004
- 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.
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Sat/Sun, 27/28 March 2004: Bike Ride and Rock Climbing
Writeup by Casey.
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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.
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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.
2003
- 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
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