I never tire of the Marin Headlands. I drag all my visitors to see them — I even took my Mom up there in the middle of a blinding rainstorm (“there’s a spectacular coastline over there,” I promised, pointing to…
Monthly Archives: April 2008
Henry Coe’s recovery covered in the Mercury News
by tom • April 19, 2008 • 4 Comments
I edited this story at work last night. Spring is bursting at Henry W. Coe State Park. Fiddleneck flowers stretch their yellow mohawks toward the sun. Migratory birds skim the surface of the ponds, calling to each other. Star lilies,…
Link-athon
by tom • April 18, 2008 • 3 Comments
I haven’t done this in ages, and nobody has complained, but what the heck, let’s have a round-up of what’s happening in the outdoor blogosphere. On the local scene: Calipidder’s redesign puts a pretty wrapper on many impressive improvements at…
Latest Hikes column: Santa Teresa County Park
by tom • April 17, 2008 • 0 Comments
Santa Teresa, wildflower and mountain biker hub of south San Jose, gets the treatment. The park at San Jose’s southern edge is a magnet for mountain bikers who delight in molar-rattling rides along the rockier trails. Riders were out in…
This just in: A poll!
by tom • April 17, 2008 • 9 Comments
(There used to be a poll here, but I took it down because it seemed to be causing system difficulties. I’m leaving the text intact because the questions generated interesting feedback). I figured out how to add polls to the…
Backpacking for the absolute beginner
by tom • April 16, 2008 • 9 Comments
1) Take a course: The Sierra Club holds them every spring around the Bay Area, for instance. (Alas, this year’s Loma Prieta Section course is already under way). 2) Rent gear the first couple times: A quality backpacking kit can…
Monday at Henry Coe: another Mount Sizer epic
by tom • April 15, 2008 • 11 Comments
My pal Vindu Goel is jetting off to Brooklyn this weekend to launch his new life as an tech guru for the New York Times, but he had to get one last Henry Coe hike out of his system. Not…
Sunday at Skyline Ridge, Russian Ridge
by tom • April 15, 2008 • 11 Comments
I’m scouting Skyline Ridge for a future column, and because you really can’t go wrong hiking there. It has ponds, easy trails, varied terrain, and a fair amount of wildflowers. Russian Ridge is far less sexy for the hiker purist…
Cool tool: PictoBrowser
by tom • April 11, 2008 • 5 Comments
It allows creation of photo slide shows from Flickr pictures. For instance, here’s an album of wildflower pics I created the other day: Here’s my Carrizo Plain album: Nifty, eh? Link here.