It’s supposed to be in the 90s or worse in the South Bay this weekend. Finding some Redwoods is an obvious choice: a few summers back I hiked at Big Basin with a Chinese gent and we found it north…
Author Archive for tom
Cool, hiking as euphemism for hanky-panky
by tom • June 26, 2009 • 5 Comments
Credit: Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gambolin Man does Vasco Caves
by tom • June 24, 2009 • 1 Comment
Only way to see the Vasco Caves is via guided tour — Ol’ Tom from Berkeley provides the next best thing. According to our affable guide, Mike Moran, a naturalist with the East Bay Regional Park District, “a lot comes…
Latest hike: Phleger Estate
by tom • June 22, 2009 • 1 Comment
You have to earn the privilege of enjoying a Phleger Estate hike. Just getting to the best part of it — a sublime grove of redwoods along the Raymundo and Mount Redondo trails — requires a two-mile out-and-back, either from…
Transit and Trails site up and running
by tom • June 19, 2009 • 4 Comments
Finally, you can leave your fossil-fuel-depleting, climate-change-causing automobile at home and travel to your favorite trail head with a clear conscience: Transit and Trails can get you to hiking destinations all over the San Francisco Bay Area. Ryan Branciforte, director…
Where to take your autistic child hiking in the Bay Area
by tom • June 19, 2009 • 0 Comments
Shannon Des Roches Rocha, keeper of the excellent Squidalicious blog, has a son named Leo who is autistic, which means he a) doesn’t like crowds or noise; and b) has oodles of boyish energy that must be burned off productively.…
What was your most awe-inspiring nature moment?
by tom • June 17, 2009 • 13 Comments
Think about your images Five-star camera bags at rei.com A thread at the Backpacker magazine board asks for folks to contribute the experiences that most filled them with slack-jawed amazement. Many mentioned such things as childbirth and awaking next to…
$15 fee to support California parks proposed
by tom • June 16, 2009 • 13 Comments
Park yourself California State Parks, a Day Hiker’s Guide at REI.com Could a $15 fee added to auto registrations save California’s state parks? The California Legislature’s Budget Conference Committee thought so, voting yesterday to remove state general fund dollars from…
Is Half Dome safe? A cautious maybe
by tom • June 16, 2009 • 6 Comments
The summer hiking season of 2009 has barely begun and already Yosemite’s Half Dome has notched its first fatality. But keep in mind that 50,000 people a year climb the harrowing “cables” route to the summit and return home to…