Redwood Park Hike

The rain was coming. I could sense it. I could hear the wind. The clouds in the sky, but I wasn't feeling it. It was time for a hike/photo opp. Started out from one of my favorite trailheads - Skyline gate in the Oakland Hills. The lot was half full w/ people coming & going. I threw on the backpack(peanut butter & jelly on board) & set off out West ridge. After a half mile I was about to head down French Trail when I saw this older couple I had ran into a few weeks back. Some people are curious as to where I'm going, wearing a backpack. I answer by telling them I'm a backpacking guide and just out getting some exercise. Back to the couple - we say Hi! & the lady asks if I have those business cards yet. Like an excited school kid I answer; Yes! & reach into my pocket & produce one. She said they were hoping they would see me to get more information. I thought great. Hopefully some future customers.

So down the French I went. This is one of the coolest trails in the East Bay. Monterey Pines to start, then Manzanita further down and finally my favorites; Redwood trees. Something about these amazing trees - I just can't explain - their awesome! Further down the trail there are Live Oak & Bay Laurel covered in moss(super green). Then I start to hear a familiar sound, which occurs in winter. The creek is really flowing from the recent rains. Such a beautiful sight. There are numerous small creeks from all the rain we have been receiving. After taking a few random shots of the trees and creeks, I start the climb up French out of the valley. Its a challenging steep climb to the junction of Redwood Peak trail. I take that trail up even further to West ridge. Up here the wind is really blowing and the Eucalytus trees are swaying and making lots of creaking noises. I decide to walk really fast to get away from these weeds & head down West ridge. I head down Fern enroute to Stream. This trail drops about 600' in 3/4 of a mile. Yeap it goes down quick. I hit Stream & start heading back up to the trialhead. Along the way the stream is flowing rapidly as I walk up the trail. Its really cool sound as one is hiking. With maybe a mile or so to go the first drops start to fall. Funny its just not a few drops. It just starts to pour literally within about 30 seconds. WTF - I jump under my favorite tree & pull out my Gore-tex jacket & start marching up the final hill in the pouring rain( w/ a smile on my face).

Back at the trailhead there are very few cars. The rain is pounding the ground like in the movies(its so loud - almost exaggerated like a movie). The crazy thing is this young lady gets out of her car w/ her dog & starts out east ridge. But shes wearing cotton sweats - WTF? I guess she has a limited time to walk the dog?

This park is so nice, I sometimes don't even want to tell anyone, but its not in my nature(no pone intended).

Sunol day hike

Had the opportunity to hike Sunol Regional Wilderness a few days ago. The weather was questionable, but the rain held out for the hike. The hike was designed to be a recon. trip for the upcoming Ohlone Wilderness 3 day Backpacking trip(April 9 - 11). I started up the McCorkle trail. The trail takes off right after the suspension bridge. About .60 of a mile the trail curves left w/ a huge old Oak tree to the right, when all of a sudden a Coyote appears about 100 yards away. We stare at each other for a moment. I move up the trail and he moves. We do this for about 5 minutes keeping the same distance the whole time. Then cuts back towards the Oak when another Coyote comes from behind the tree. This one is smaller, so it must be the female & maybe they have a den near the tree. They disappeared over a hill & I continued on.

After about 3.5 miles of up & down I reached Backpack camp & decide on a future campsite for the trip. After that its an easy mostly downhill hike back to the car.

The hills are very green. In a few months, the trip will be very special w/ all the wildflowers in full bloom. I"m looking forward to a great trip.

Snowcamping trip #2

Trip #2 to the snow was this last weekend. Went up to Round Valley near Boreal Ski Resort(hwy 80) The snowshoeing hike was fairly mellow(3.5 miles) w/a small climb over Castle Pass(8000'). We made camp in the valley looking up at Basin Peak & Castle Peak. Wow what a view. This was quit a place to be.

The second day after Breakfast half of us ventured up Basin Peak. After making our way to the summit, we traversed the ridge line enroute to Castle Peak. The view from both these Peaks was breathtaking. When climbing to the summit of Basin, I looked across the horizon west and could see Mt. Diablo in the Bay Area.

The third day morning came w/a night of restless sleep. At least I learned on this trip how to stay warm at night. We all had breakfast, packed & were ready to head home. Both trips were very fortunate considering both trips had amazingly good weather.

Snowcamping 101(Sierra Club)

Snowcamping 101. Left for the town of Arnold on Friday Jan. 29th. This was going to be a great experience w/ the Sierra Club. We started Saturday morning on Hwy 4 near Bear Valley Ski Resort. All 27 of us hiked(snowshoe) & skied for 2.5 miles past Lake Alpine up over a ridge to our final destination, just above Duck Lake. What a view. The frozen lake below and incredible Mountain ranges in the distance, made for a great campsite. We all got busy digging our snow shelters(trenches).

The next task was to dig out a snow kitchen. What a cool thing it was to have almost 30 people enjoying a meal watching the sunset. Everyone worked in unison either cooking the meals or boiling snow for drinking water.

As evening became later most went off to our trenches for a nights cozy sleep. Believe or not, inside a trench the temperature stays around 30 degrees(if built properly). Climbed in the bag w/ my two warm Nalgene bottles and instantly was warm. It got a little cold around 4 in the morning, but ate some brownies & drank some water, which was still warm.

Morning came and it was clear as can be. We all sat around & had breakfast. Bacon is quite popular with campers. I choose oatmeal. Pack loaded, snowshoes strapped on and off we went back up the ridge. A few hours later taking our time we arrived back at the cars. It was an amazing experience in the snow.