The Rain Cometh

I’ve been groping back and forth to work every day this week in driving rain as the SF bay area got pummeled from a bountiful pacific storm system. Not quite biblical proportions but very sustained for this region. This deluge was a welcome addition to the local water table, but when it rained almost all night Friday as well, that made the weekend trail conditions highly questionable for hiking. It would have been easy to write off the day, especially having somewhere else to be in the afternoon, but we decided to go for a short hike at Mt Diablo. We could see that the highest peaks around the area had a covering to fresh snow which always makes a really nice visual effect, so if we had been lucky enough to find a clearing in the weather, we knew the potential views would be awesome. If nothing else we could at least toss a few snowballs around until our fingers got numb and our clothing soaked.

What we saw were scattered and broken views as clouds and fog drifted through all day. The summit road was closed because of the snow, which only made us smile because neither one of us could remember being at the summit when no cars were allowed. The upper portion of the summit trail had turned into watery slush and we had to mush through it because much of the trail was over grown with varied varieties of prickly brush. With the road closed, many sections of the summit road were being used for sledding. The snow was about 6 to 8 inches and very wet, so the conditions for having good sled runs were actually pretty bad, but the kids were having fun. Spontaneous family snowball fights were breaking out all over the summit. Early in the afternoon the road got plowed up to the lower summit lot and a flood of cars headed up creating a crowd. On the way back down we used the paved road to get as far as the Juniper campground. That was where the rangers had been parking the cars until the road got plowed. Once below the snow line, we found the Juniper trail and used that to head down. There were hang gliders at the ready from the launching point near the campground but they didn’t seem to like the conditions for flying that day. The trails lower down were in good shape, and we had a nice hike back down to our car.

Two Fav Peaks

The weather here remained consistently grey, chilly, and overcast with lots of clouds and haze. All the reports have strong rain coming in for the next few days. But we still had an opportunity to ward off cabin fever on Saturday, even though the conditions aren’t the best. We decided to do a 2 peak hike from Ed Levin County Park in Milpitas. The Sandy Wool Lake trail head provides access to two different trails that can take you up to Monument Peak. We like to go up the Monument Peak trail, and sometimes return on Agua Caliente tail. These east bay hills have a lot of serpentine rock which have been showing a lot of interesting multicolored lichen in the wet season. The coloration becomes much more vivid when the conditions are moist. I’ve been seeing a lot of this lichen in Henry Coe lately too, and it gives the rock outcrops an interesting sort of seasonal airbrushed look. The Monument Peak trail makes good use of the terrain, and provides lots of opportunities for checking out the rock formations. On the way up the views out over the bay are usually good depending on the conditions, but at times you can’t help but notice a bit of low vehicular noise from route 680 far below. A few sections take you amongst some old stately oaks and sycamores near the little creeks. Sometimes there are cattle grazing, and there’s a resident flock of turkeys usually found in here. We saw a couple of groups of hens foraging around together. Coyote and deer are commonly sighted along here too.

We hiked up to the summit of Monument Peak but the wind was strong, so we found a place on the lee side just out of the blast to take a break with a view to the northeast. I was grateful for having my soft shell jacket back from last week. The views of the bay were mostly hazy and obstructed by drifting clouds and fog anyway. We didn’t hang around long before hiking on headed to Mission Peak. The trail passes behind Mt Allison which kept us mostly out of the wind. Burrowing ground squirrels are everywhere through here, and they seem to attract a lot of raptors looking to make a meal out of them. Along this section the views shift to the east to the grassy ridges along the Diablo Range. You can easily spot Maguire Peaks in Sunol Regional Wilderness, and trace the terrain all the way to Rose Peak in the Ohlone Wilderness. As we were approaching Mission Peak the trail runs alongside some rocky serpentine outcrops. As we were hiking up a golden eagle appeared above the rocks soaring close to the surface, probably searching for food. We did not see it until it appeared over the rocks about 10 feet above our heads. It cocked its head downward and I could swear I made eye contact. At that distance, the visual detail was awesome. We could see it using its tail and feathers to navigate in the stiff wind. I immediately struggled to get photos, but it was cold and I couldn’t get my gloves off and camera powered up in time to get a close up photo. The magnificent raptor circled a few times and I was able to some dark, slightly blurred, photos at distance. We had seen a golden eagle in Sunol a few years ago. I also noticed that some INCH hikers recently got photos a golden eagle sitting in a tree near Rose Peak. Wouldn’t it be great if eagles were making a comeback in the east bay hills? Wow. This was definitely the high point of this hike.

On the summit of Mission Peak it looked like some kind a youth convention. I think there must be some local youth group that does regular hikes up there. I frequently see large groups of kids up there. The views were forgettable this trip due to the poor conditions, so we headed back down without spending any time. I snapped a few photos just because, ….well, to ignore them later I suppose. Somehow it just seems wrong to leave a peak without any photos. On the way back we noticed that we were being watched by a coyote high atop a tall hill off trail with his ears pricked up. I couldn’t get photo of him either. There were a lot of hang gliders and parasailers making flights during the afternoon. I did get some photos of them. We were watching rain falling in the Santa Cruz Mountains and we hoped we would make it down to the car before it moved in here.

Click here to see my photos

Soft Shell SAR

How many times have you ever had a gaff and said to yourself “I can’t believe I did that”? If you’re like me, and probably like most people, it’s more times than you are willing to admit. My latest one starts like this. I got up early on Saturday morning and began getting ready to embark on my favorite pastime, hiking. Sometimes I have not even made a final decision on where to go yet before I have already eaten some breakfast, put my gear on, checked the weather reports, and packed up to go. In that case I usually have some tea and peruse our collection of maps. This time of year I am sure to be using my trusty, well broken in, REI branded soft shell jacket, along with what ever other layers I think I need underneath. It’s great for being active because it really does breathe pretty well. It repels moisture, does a very good job of cutting the wind, plus it’s light and durable. I went to find it in my closet, but it was not there. I looked around and it was not in my gear storage or in my car either. This didn’t make sense at first, but then it finally hit me. Last week I did my Happy New Year hike to Vasquez and Rock Spring Peaks in Henry Coe. During that hike I had gone off trail a bit and taken a little siesta by leaning against some rocks up on Vasquez Peak, and I remembered using my folded up soft shell as a pillow. Doh! It became apparent to me then that I must have left it there. Curses! Of course this could have been a fairly good excuse to buy a new one. The technology keeps getting better and the newer ones even look better. I know the prices on soft shells have been coming down as popularity has risen, but I bought mine at least 6 years ago when the soft shell jacket was still a fairly new concept. I remember paying somewhere north of $200 for it, so I am loath to donate it to the squirrels and spiders, or the next passer by. Besides, it’s kind of like an old friend.

I thought about the place where I had left it. I had picked a nice quiet spot which was not real close by the trail, so it would not have been immediately visible. Also the color of the jacket is actually very close to the light greenish lichens covering those rocks camouflaging it quite well, which probably helped me miss it when I was leaving. Besides, that trail is not a busy route. Occasional long range hikers might use it, but it’s not a normal day hike route, and it’s kind of out of season for back packing. Anyway, all things considered, I figured that the odds of finding it still there were very good if I went back. So I decided to attempt a rescue.

The weather was overcast and foggy. I decided to use the most direct route to the peak where I hoped the jacket would still be. I went to the Hunting Hollow trail head and used the Lyman Wilson Trail, to the Bowl Trail, to connect with Vasquez Road. I began hiking briskly up the ridge to build heat. It would have been really nice to have a soft shell. Duh! But I made due with what I had. I paused for a moment to watch a young bobcat, which was also intently watching me sitting under a tree. I didn’t realize it but its mother was nearby too. I tried to move a little closer to take better pictures using the bushes as cover, but it didn’t fool the cats. They began moving away into the thick brush down in Coon Hunter’s Gulch. I had not seen the larger cat until they moved, and only got the one photo of the young one at about 25 yards. I made good time, reaching the junction at Vasquez Road by 9:00 am. I marveled at the sight of a blooming gooseberry bush. I have never seen gooseberry in January before. There were also some cattle grazing right along Vasquez Road. They kept moving away from me as I approached, but only further down the trail. I kept encountering the same group of cows who seemed to think I was after them. I tried to be careful not to startle them too much, and finally got past them. When I reached the place where the rocks were, there was my jacket right where I left it a week ago. I considered it a kind of a victory, even though it was quite stupid of me to have left it there in the first place. Plus I have now lost my excuse to get a new one. But I just like the way this one feels. Ok, here it comes; I can’t believe I did that! On the way back it warmed up so the jacket was just extra bulk in my pack, but I’m glad I found it again. I also spotted a lot of milk maids blooming just like last week. January wild flowers. Wow! I added some additional pictures to my photoset from last week.

Happy New Year

This is the 2nd of January and I am happy to report that I have been on a hike every day of the year so far, and if only I could keep up that ratio throughout the year, I’d be an incorrigibly happy man. The holidays are winding down now, and soon I will be returning to the anthill, with my next paid holiday being a full 5 months from now. But at least I’m lucky enough to still be employed. I will be salving my psyche with vacation planning and local hiking until I can get away again.

I really wanted to see some long range views, but with the weather reports being mostly cloudy I put those thoughts on hold for now. I decided to get back out to Henry Coe, utilizing the Hunting Hollow trailhead for a hike to Vasquez Peak, and Rock Springs Peak. My wife and I have a big loop route that we like to hike from here, but today being solo, I wanted to hike some of the other trails in the area just for some fresh perspective. Sorry, no GPS data this time. I just wanted to keep it simple, and didn’t even think to charge the batteries. The route I used was to hike up the Lyman Wilson Trail to Bowl Trail, and on to Wilson Camp. From there crossing over Wagon Road to Vasquez Road, descending into the gully to transition over to next ridge. Vasquez Road could take you all the way up into the area near Dowdy Ranch, but I was not going that nearly far. It was a cloudy cool morning, lousy for photography, and I was happy for the uphill to build up some heat. The creeks along Hunting Hollow Trail are starting to get water in them now so as the season gets wetter, and I hope it will, you need to be prepared to deal with that. Generally some trekking poles are enough to help me use the rocks to get across. I was really enjoying hiking up Lyman Wilson Trail because the variation in route provided unique views making it seem like a different place. With the loop we usually hike I tend to think of this area as being just one sweeping ridge, but actually there are several distinct ridge systems leading up to it, each with their own perspective. I was enjoying the views down into Braen Canyon and Coon Hunters Gulch as you climb amongst the mossy oaks. I could see a massive fog bank over Monterey Bay which stayed there all day, and there was also a bank of glaring white mist way amongst the far away peaks off to the northeast. I spotted a bobcat using the trail which scampered off the other way before I could get a good shot. I got a photo of its hind end as it pranced away only tepidly fearful. These handsome felines always seem prudently cautious, yet supremely confident in their abilities to move and evade. I’ve seen them make some really awesome moves.

These 2 peaks along Vasquez Road really are really not “peaks” the way I think of a peak being a distinct high formation. The term is somewhat misused here, as they are really just the highest points along a rolling grassy ridge top with a few moderately interesting lichen covered serpentine outcrops. The most distinct peak in the area is actually on private property, and therefore not hike-able. I had spotted it from a distance and thought it was Rock Springs Peak shown on the map as the highest. But this section passes right along a park boundary. Denied! But I had a nice time, and the Coe style up ‘n’ down route provided some good muscle burn. I had time for a brief little back country siesta as the sun made a fleeting attempt to provide some warmth. I was hearing to a lot of hawk cries, but only spotted a few, and witnessed some sort of aerial battle between to Red Tails from a distance. I’m not sure what behavior that was, but it was impressive. My return route was back to Wagon Road, to the Serpentine Trail, over Steer Ridge and a very steep decent down Middle Steer Ridge Trail while savoring the views. On the way back I was actually seeing a few Milkmaids blooming along some of the trails. It seems they are always the first wild flower out of the ground any year, but I was amazed to see them on the 2nd of January. I was seeing a few the previous day hiking with Sue at Rancho Canada Del Oro, but I was thinking that must be some kind of fluke occurrence. Wild flowers on New Year’s Day! Wow! Never would have thought that would happen. It was also interesting that Rodeo Pond was teaming with life. There were no waterfowl, but I could hear large toads croaking loudly as I approached, but then would quiet down and hide as soon as I approached. I could hear their splashing as they bolted away timidly, and I could also spot what looked like newts slowly swimming around in the murky waters, and little dragonflies were buzzing around. Once over Steer Ridge, I broke out my trekking poles for this knee-killer of a downhill along Middle Steer Ridge.

Click here to see my photos on flickr

Welcome to Winter

And new toy report

It’s very encouraging to be getting some light weather systems in for early winter. Fall only brought minimum rainfall with the biggest system being the leftover remnants of a pacific typhoon. I didn’t get a chance to hike in the recent snow, but at least by now the ground has absorbed some moisture, and is primed for receiving more rain without eminent danger of slides.

I haven’t been posting much lately, but I have been getting some hikes in; mostly short loops close to home while keeping one eye on the weather. The skies have been mostly cloudy which plays havoc with me trying out my new toy. My recent hikes haven’t been much to talk about, so I might as well do a post about that.

Last year about this time I had done a blog post called Christmas Week, in which had lamented the lack of extended performance in my trusty little Cannon PowerShot SD 450. This tiny, inexpensive, point ‘n’ shoot has been a sweet little hiking companion; carefree, compact, lightweight, and always accessible. Perfect for carrying on my belt while hiking, and it delivers what I conisder to be exemplary picture quality for its class. The vast majority of the over 3000 photos on my flickr account, and virtually everything displayed on this blog were taken with this innocuous little “idiot” camera, which has never given me any problems. But despite its good points, I have missed countless photo opportunities because it does not provide much control, and because it has very little optical zoom. I recently created a wildlife photo set in my flickr account for all the half decent wildlife photos I have been able to get during my hikes in the past few years. Most of them aren’t really that great, but I have missed a great many more simply because I simply don’t have the capability to get better. And the ones I have gotten leave a lot to be desired. Anyway; after getting terrible photos of those vintage aircraft last year on Mount Diablo, I decided I would look for something better. However, I am far from being some professional photographer, and I don't want to lug a lot of equipment around. I'm just some guy who wants to document my hiking excursions, and other interests. I needed something affordable, and it had to be capable of riding on my belt during hikes so it’s instantly accessible. After some careful consideration, and reading a lot of reviews, and considering that I thought Cannon really deserved to get some product loyalty out of me, I bought a Cannon PowerShot SX200 IS. It’s a bit larger, and heavier, but is quite a bit more sophisticated. It allows me to preselect various shooting modes, and even go totally manual. It also has 12x optical zoom plus a wider angle available, and shoots 12.1 megapixels. I’ve been trying it out under the less than optimal conditions of late, but I am still waiting for some really clear weather. I have a few minor criticisms so far. I still don’t have the capability of using external filters for glare. And owing to the larger optics in such a compact body, it’s a little hard to grip properly. I am still refining my technique for pulling it out and holding it. The flash always pops up, even if you have flash turned off, and the tripod mount is not centered. But overall I like it and I can't wait to give it a real trial in clear weather and good lighting. The photos in this post are some "test" photos, which were mostly taken under challenging conditions, and it's also still new to me. I still have not even tried to use many of the features and modes.

Fall at Coe

Fall is a good time of year to be hiking the Diablo Range. With cooling temperatures the exposed high ridge tops and steep elevation changes are not quite the punishing ordeals they can be in the heat of summer. Long range views are usually better simply because of the effect of heat on the photochemical smog that normally permeates the air. The winds pick up a bit overall and there’s more moisture in the air which has a cleansing effect. And of course when the rains begin, the precipitation provides a through bathing of the airspace all the way down to sea level. On a good day the views you can enjoy from the high places are well worth stopping to admire, and you can notice the difference in air quality, especially when you’re breathing hard climbing up some trail.

We like to get out to Henry W. Coe State Park during this quieter time of year. We went to Hunting Hollow at the south end of the park to hike the Steer Ridge loop. We decided to go up the Steer Ridge trail mostly because we both prefer climbing a wicked steep trail section like this to steep descending. And it is quite steep, trust me. The consensus seems to believe that the Hobbs Road "short cut" is steepest, but this trail must be second. There was a bank of fog hanging around along the bottom of Hunting Hollow making it very chilly, but it didn’t take long to get some heat going once we began climbing. And soon we were above the fog which was isolated to that little valley. After that the weather was great as long as the sun was out, but if it moved behind a bit of cloud, then I would contemplate a warmth layer. The skies were mostly blue with thin scattered cloud systems moving slowly eastward. Overall it was just too nice to be inside.

On the way up Steer Ridge I finally spotted an illusive tarantula moving in the grasses. First one I’ve seen this year. This one had more of a brown coloration compared to most of the others I’ve seen in this area which are usually darker, almost black. It occurred to me that the only time we ever actually see the tarantulas is when they happen to be crossing the trail at the same moment we’re hiking past. You might spot something large like a deer or coyote off in the bush, but you could almost walk right over top of a tarantula and not see it when amongst the grasses. Plus this one seemed to be camouflaged fairly well. It was the only one we saw all day, but their migration will continue for a few more weeks.

The views up on the ridge were not the best I’ve seen, but were still a delight. We had a good time visiting Wilson Peak and hiking through to Wagon Road. The serpentine rock along the ridge has brilliant swatches of orange, green, and yellow lichens. The grassy hills in this area have green grasses from the last storm that passed through, the latent effects of a Pacific typhoon. We followed Wagon Road all the way down, giving back all the altitude, to Hunting Hollow trail at the bottom of the valley. A little bit of fall color is evident down here amongst the maple and sycamore, and many oaks are dripping with mosses. There's lots of green grasses that could almost rival even the best manicured lawns back in the city.

Click here to see photos from this hike

Favorite Places

Surely everybody who hikes regularly has one or more favorite spots. Familiar places they keep going back to because they possess some special appeal on a personal level. I don’t mean some far flung location requiring travel and an overnight stay, but rather someplace you keep going back to once in awhile whenever the urge arises. A place you can visit on a spur-of-the-moment basis that you tend to think of as “your place”, or perhaps “our place”. It’s great to have the choices we do in the bay area, but wherever you may live there’s probably someplace that you think is just cool in a special way.

For me Chalk Mountain, in Big Basin, is one of those places. It’s not a marquee destination, but I suppose that fact accounts for some of its appeal, at least for someone like me. It’s extremely quiet and still there. In fact you rarely ever see other people there, whether mountain bikers, horseback riders, or hikers. The summit is only a shade over 1600 feet, but even still, it provides some of the best long range views available in Big Basin easily rivaling the more popular Buzzard’s Roost. The general area around it is mostly exposed making unobstructed viewing possible. On a good day you get an unbroken 360 degree panorama, which unlike Buzzard’s Roost, includes views of the Pacific Ocean off Ano Nuevo, and weather permitting, south to Monterey Bay. The surrounding ridgelines and valleys vary in character from dense mature coniferous groves, to scrubby open terrain having a shale-like quality.

The hike to get there can be challenging depending on which route appeals to you the most. The easiest way is to use the Whitehouse Ridge Trail originating in Ano Nuevo State Park. You will need to drive in to the trailhead using the unpaved Whitehouse Canyon Road. An easy to miss turnoff from highway 1. But I usually prefer to use one of the various more challenging and less traveled routes. And of course the route that Sue and I took on this day was the same one we used for our first hike (alone) together on which we shared our first kiss (blush). We had done an out-and-back along the Westridge Trail originating at Waddell Beach. Access is from the Skyline to the Sea Trail along the hiking only route that follows a little ledge high above the little farms near Rancho del Oso. Before re-joining the fire road past Twin Redwoods trail camp is the Clark Connector which switches back up through the trees allowing you to gain the ridge top. The Westridge Trail is designated as a horse trail. It’s ok to hike it, but I think it’s designated that way because it’s not properly graded for hiking. Rather than being carved into the terrain, it climbs up and over every rise and peak in the natural terrain, and conversely descends into all the little gullies. It’s a roller coaster of a trail, and much of the terrain is very susceptible to erosion damage, which is in great evidence. Some sections are wicked steep down, and then immediately wicked steep back up, and very rough. So to use these trails, you want to be well informed, and up for the challenge.

A funny thing happened when we reached the summit on this hike. We had not seen anyone since leaving the beach area, so were not expecting to. There is a little hill that has a picnic table out at the end. The little trail leading there is hidden by brush on each side. Out at the end is a great view, but you cannot really see down to the trail from there, nor see up to it until you get there. This spot makes a great place to rest up and have a nice trail lunch. This is also the very spot that is special to Sue and I that we remember from our first hike together. As we approached on the trail, there was some movement out at the picnic table. It seems that we had arrived at an awkward moment for some other couple who were not dressed. Hmmm, interesting. I won’t elaborate on what they were doing, but I’m sure you can imagine without much help (wink, wink). Obviously this spot is also quite special to at least one other hiking couple. They scrambled into the bushes grabbing for their clothing and looking sheepish. Sue and I turned around quickly, but didn’t quite know how to deal with this obviously embarrassing situation, so we just walked away over to the other view point near the famous Chalk Mountain outhouse-with-a-view. We took a break there while the others quietly slipped away.

We had a great day and returned to our car with time enough to check out the new location of the Santa Cruz New Leaf store on Fair Street. Just around the corner from their old location. Great place to shop for local produce.

Click here to see the pictures from this hike.
Click here to see the photos from last years solo hike to Chalk Mountain