hikes around California
The Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve is a wonder of nature. It’s a saltwater lake that is 2-1/2 times as salty as the ocean and very alkaline. It’s the birthplace of 90% of all California seagulls with more than 50,000 of them returning here annually to nest. An estimated 1.5 million eared grebes stop …
The Mammoth high country in the Eastern Sierras (just to the east of Yosemite) offers great camping and hiking away from the national park crowds. This easy hike southwest of the winter ski town of Mammoth Lakes gives you a taste of what the high Sierras have to offer – pristine lakes, amazing oft-snowcapped mountain …
China Camp State Park gets its name from the historic fishing village that thrived along the shoreline here in the 1880s. At one time the fishing village had more than 500 residents, mostly immigrants from China. Today the park offers a nearby Bay Area getaway, a historic look back at the former fishing village, walk-in …
The stretch of the Coastal Trail from Tennessee Valley to Muir Beach is one of my all-time favorites in the Bay Area with postcard perfect views of the Pacific shore that are truly breathtaking, especially on clear days (though foggy days have their own eerie appeal). The hike is made even better with a swing …
Muir Woods National Monument is a major tourist destination in the Bay Area with good reason. The majestic redwood trees are a wonder of Mother Nature as the only old-growth coastal redwood forest remaining in the Bay Area. The gurgling Redwood Creek runs through a forest that is lush and green with ferns, banana slugs and …
Saturday’s hike was our longest yet, 5.5 hours and a perfect round 12 miles (we walked a little extra distance in the parking lot to get it to that perfect 12). Though I’m familiar with many Mt. Diablo hikes, this is one I hadn’t done before. We started in the Mitchell Canyon parking lot, on …
Last weekend was a “buddy hike” in the Marin Headlands. For those who have been following the blog for awhile, you’ve heard that phrase before. Basically every weekend we have a team hike (each one getting progressively more difficult and longer) to train for the big hike in September, but interspersed are occasional buddy hikes …
San Bruno Mountain State Park is pretty unassuming. You drive past it on Highway 101 as you pass South San Francisco from SF. From the roadway beneath it looks like a relatively tree-less expanse of hills, covered in grass or brush that goes from springtime green to summertime brown. While not entirely untrue, the thing …
Our latest hike was a buddy hike: a smaller hike with our buddy group instead of the entire team. It was also a shorter hike – only 4 hours. I think they are being nice to us the weekend before our big simulation hike next weekend at Mt. Diablo – hiking down and back up …
