Hikes taken

10/18-19/2014. Overnight with AJ and JMcD at Castle Rock State Park. Ridge Trail from parking lot to small campground, then Loghy Woods to Skyline to Saratoga Gap Trail loop back to campground. Out on Sunday via Saratoga Gap Trail. Very fun! Lots (7?)of acorn woodpeckers at campsite, plus a red-breasted nuthatch. Lots (7? 10?) of Western Scrub jays and a junco or two. Perfect weather.

2/3/13 — Xcountry skiing at Royal Gorge with B and HB

4/15/2012
Tilden — Inspiration Point to Conlon. Newts! Coyote! Northern harrier! Baby cows!
3/25/12 Berkeley Stairways
3/17/12 Berkeley Stairways
3/5/12 Tilden — south of Inspiration Point
3/11-15 Death Valley! with Maddy/ Golden Canyon-Gower canyon loop
2/13/12 Marin — near Rodeo Valley, with Anne and Amelia
2/1/12 Sunol! With Dan and Celeste and Anne and Andy
1/30/12 (bikeride) — Bay trail with Betty and K
1/20/12 Berkeley Stairways with Anne and Amelia and Matt

12/10/2011
Briones — usual route.

12/3/2011
Briones reservoir. Out and back. (4 miles? 3 miles?)

11/2011
Tilden park. Inspiration point down trail to campground and back — 3 miles

10/30/2011
Shiloh Ranch. Very pretty hike. Nice woods, nice views, nice lunch in Healdsburg afterwards.

9/11/2011
Angel Island. A perfect hike — not too strenuous after the first little climb. An incredible view of about 5 sailboat races.

7/3/2011
Mount Wittenberg

6/26/2011
Briones

May 2011
Diablo Foothills
Redwood
Kennedy Grove

4/23/2011
Morgan Territory. Gorgeous. Killer hill at the end. Tons of wildflowers — pansies! woodland star, hill star, goldfields, butter and eggs, larkspur! chinese houses, poppies, monkeyflower, blue-eyed grass, blue dick, purple sanicle
4/15/2011
Ducktrap River — Tanglewood preserve, Northport (or Lincolnville?), Maine.
4/16/2011
West Island — Fairhaven, Mass
4/9
Sunol
4/3/2011
Sutter Buttes
4/2/2011
Briones

3/27/2011
Bodega Head
3/26/2011
Don Edwards regional Wildlife Reserve
3/12/2011
Palomarin Trail to Alamere Falls. Should have been nice but it was like a freeway — first sunny day in a while and everyone and their mother was out. Went with M, A, A, and S. Best thing was a vernal pool (i.e. puddle) in the pathway full of firebellied newts. Otherwise, meh. 7.7 miles though — we were pretty destroyed when we got back. Have to step up the training, I think.
3/6/2011
Wildcat Canyon, in the rain

2/26/2011
Nasketucket Bay State Reservation, Mattapoisett, MA
2/19/2011 & 2/27/2011
Ring Mountain, in Marin. Short hike, gorgeous views, petroglyphs, wildflowers to come.
2/12/2011
Garin/Dry Creek, with A,A,S and P! A lovely hike — huge climb. 2 coyotes, a burrowing owl and a white-tailed kite. Flowering fruit trees. Nice!
2/5/2011
Tomales Point again, this time with A, A and S. We saw: elk, seals, a downy woodpecker, an osprey, ravens, an american kestral (female), a burrowing owl, an eagle, a stripey-headed sparrow, a (cooper’s?) hawk iris, a poppy (the coastal kind), strawberries, calla lilies (?). It was amazing.
Stopped for burgers on the way home. Yum.

1/29/2011
Wildcat Canyon via Mezue Trail to San Pablo Ridge Trail with D and W and AS and SS.
1/22/2011
Briones, from the Reliez Valley Road entrance, with A and A
1/15/2011
Gary Giacomini (Marin Watershed) — pygmy forest of sergeant cedar — with A and A and D and W
1/10/2011
Tomales Pt. with Maddy — tons of elk!
1/4/2011
Mt Wittenburg, with Maddy
1/2/2011
Pt Reyes — Bear valley Trail to Divide Meadow, with Maddy, D and W.

12/28/2010
Briones, Bear Valley entrance, Nora and Maddy
12/5/2010
Del Valle Regional Park (with A and A)
Finished our walk just before a storm, and stopped at Mr Pickle on the way out, which was fabulous.
A nice walk. Magpies at the start, and possible some kind of woodpecker, too, and near the end we say a granary tree stuffed with acorns.
It almost felt like a miniature walk, because no sooner did you walk a short bit when you reached whatever the next goal was. The hills, for instance, were over before you felt you couldln’t stand it.
Lots of prints — bobcat, racoon, skunk, deer.
Lots of mistletoe!
Pretty.

11/28/10
Point Pinole (with K, A and A)
Large hawk hopping along on the ground, a flock of pigeons, flocks of birds wheeling up from fields, 2 birdwatchers looking for a brown thrasher.
11/21/10
Point Pinole (with mom, d and w, n and m)
11/14/10
Black Diamond Mine. 3.5 miles
One of the best yet. Not much wildlife — some ground squirrels, vultures and no hawks — but very beautiful. Sandstone escarpments here and there. Coulter pine. Manzanita. You feel like you’re in the sierras. Nice up and down. The cemetery, which looks sort of odd from far away, is quite pleasant when you’re there.
11/11/10
Coyote Hills in Fremont. 5.1 miles
So much wildlife! Tons of birds in the marsh — giants egrets,  hawks, hawks and hawks, waterbirds, pelicans, just incredibly amazing.
Also, beautiful views.
On top of Glider Hill, a bunch of painted lady butterflies chasing each other.
Interesting geology, too — looks likes sediments that were tilted up.
11/7/10
Sibley, again.
It rained all morning and stopped about 3, which was just enough time to drive to Sibley and do the loop — about 3 miles, maybe? I got back to the car just after dark. The sunset was lovely, casting a red glow on all the red rocks. I was happy to be out.
11/6/10
Bort Meadow. Eh. Sort of okay, but basically not that interesting. We saw some redtailed hawks and a pretty little black snack with a red collar and and stomache, but otherwise not much of interest. Some nice big leaf maples, which are beginning to turn, ots of poison oak (pretty!) oh and a deer carcass — which we assume was killed by a mountain lion or a coyote. I continue to ask people about this mountain lion, and they seem to think I have nothing to worrry about. Hmmm.

10/31/10
Briones again — same hike as on 10/9, again with A and A and the Dog. Lovely. It’s been raining, sot he trail was a bit muddy and there were far fewer butterflies, although still a few sulphurs, a California sister, possibly a tortoiseshell and one buckeye. A flock of bluebirds was perched on the fence. Another flock of goldfinches bounced through the grass. Ground squirrels and again lots of hawks. A beautiful red tail. Maybe a sharpshinned hawk? Maybe a large coopers hawk flew away and another sitting in a tree for a long long time? The Buckeye trees are now bear and silver, with gleaming golden fruits dangling. Very clear, with a few puffy clouds. Great.
10/23/10
Kokosing Gap Trail
part of it, anyway — the short distance from the KAC to the BFEC.  Lovely trees — lots of sycamores near the creek. And wished I had a longer time to look at the prairie at the BFEC.
Bought a hiking book at the kenyon bookstore and now I want to hike around Ohio. It was apparently a hunting ground for the Indians, and you can see why. Interesting also to drive from the central, agricultural part to the eastern mountainous part. I really do want to go back and look around more.
10/19/10
Morgan Territory hike — 6 miles
Very very pretty, and not horrible until the end, which is at least in the shade. Lovely oak forests, open meadows, creekside forest. Evidence of lots of wildlife. I saw:
Buckeye butterflies
California sister butterfly, and I think a red admiral, too.
ground squirrels
deer on the drive in
cows (didn’t seem to mind me)
either a red-tailed or red-shouldered hawk — it looked all checkerboarded underneath, which maybe could be either? and I did hear it. Perhaps the flight was more like the red shouldered? I don’t know.
10/18/10
Sadly abbreviated Sibley Volcanic trail — it was raining and some of us were underdressed. Went with a dog! which was fun. Fog drifted in as we walked. It was lovely.
10/9/10
Briones loop from Bear Creek Trailhead
What a great hike! I’m beginning to understand the rating system. “Easy” means you are not quite dead at the end. “Moderate” means you are.
What a great park, though. Lot’s of other trails to investigate. This one is a climb to the top of a ridge and then a loop around, with lots of little lakes and tons of wildlife. I saw:
Butterflies:
Lots of common buckeyes on the road in.
a few cabbage whites
some sulphurs — pretty on the yellow flowers
blues at the bottom of the valley trail.
a checkerspot same place
a red admiral road in
a coyote hunting
about 12 hawks all circling together on the bayside, one of them crying. I wonder what was going on?
lizards
a ground squirrel
squirrels
an interesting bird that looked sort of like a sparrow, but larger and with a distinctive black eye.
2 deer
Incredible — views in all directions, inclugin mount diablo and some peak to the north of here, Martinez and the bay and across the bay.
I will come back.
10/2
Tilden Park (Nimitz)

9/26
Las Trampas Regional Wilderness
Went with BL. Too hot and nearly killed us, but amazing views from the top, and we did see the seashells in the stones. Try again when cooler.
9/18
Sibley Volcanic Preserve
Went at dusk and too worried about being eaten by montain lions to enjoy. Intereting, though. Go back earlier in day. (Later saw lots of people walking their dogs and realized  I was not in danger of being eaten.)
9/11
Huckleberry Botanic Reserve
Lovely — Huckleberries ripe! Take longer loop — it’s easy.