This morning’s Mercury News covers President Obama’s signing of legislation that gives official wilderness protection to 2.1 million acres across the United States. With Obama’s signature, wilderness designation was extended to roughly 750,000 acres of federally owned land in California,…
Monthly Archives: March 2009
‘World Heritage’ designations and the black-helicopter crowd
by tom • March 31, 2009 • 0 Comments
An alert reader sent me a link to this post at Miller-McCune.com about the history of U.S. participation in the UNESCO World Heritage Site program, which pays tribute to the world’s famous natural wonders. The post drags on a bit…
Best time to hike in the Bay Area
by tom • March 30, 2009 • 4 Comments
It’s right now: The last couple weeks of March through the first couple weeks of May. This two-month span is the time to put off all your weekend household projects (you’ll have nice weather all summer), start shamelessly evangelizing your…
Latest hike: Montara Mountain/McNee Ranch State Park
by tom • March 30, 2009 • 8 Comments
Bring a windbreaker. Leave your expectations of what a state park oughta be at home. McNee Ranch State Park has perhaps a half-dozen picnic tables, a similar number of dedicated parking spaces, one porta-potty, a couple old fire roads for…
Today’s hike: McNee Ranch/Montara Mountain
by tom • March 29, 2009 • 0 Comments
Gonna see how the coastal hills look at this time of year. Probably will post tomorrow…. lots o’ miles to cover from the South Bay.
Hiking in Heels checks out Cataract Falls
by tom • March 28, 2009 • 0 Comments
Cataract Falls has scant parking nearby so you’re better off checking it out on weekday, but any day you get there is apt to be a good one. Hiking in Heels enthuses: The beautiful trail was lush and very green,…
Someday soon we’ll be able to hike to the top of Mount Umunhum
by tom • March 28, 2009 • 2 Comments
So says Paul Rogers in this morning’s Mercury News. After more than 22 years of bureaucratic inaction, efforts to clean up a former Air Force radar station on a scenic mountaintop above Silicon Valley and open its summit to hikers,…
Lights out for Earth Hour
by tom • March 28, 2009 • 0 Comments
Do-gooders of the world, unite, and turn everything off for an hour at 8:30 p.m. We should try this around the newsroom tonight, should be way fun. It’s almost certain that the planet will thank us with the usual array…
Did you do El Toro in Morgan Hill this year?
by tom • March 28, 2009 • 0 Comments
Drop a link in the comments if you did. I have to work all day Saturdays these days so I couldn’t get away for today’s festivities. A scene from El Toro Hike 2008.