Posted today at www.mercurynews.com Uvas Canyon County Park inspires hikers to pray for rain. Mountain springs keep a trickle of water running down the park’s steep canyons most of the year, but the rainy season turns the park into a…
Day hikes I’ve done
Latest Hikes column: Mission Peak
by tom • December 20, 2007 • 1 Comment
Posted today at www.mercurynews.com A few hours at Mission Peak Regional Preserve might make you wonder if the United Nations has a West Coast hiking club. Fremont’s signature peak attracts people from everywhere. I’ve chatted with hikers from India, China,…
Uvas again
by tom • December 17, 2007 • 2 Comments
So I’m sprawled over a creek bed trying to set up my Gorillapod and get a good picture of this: Hey, it ain’t all loveliness out there in the wilderness… but anyway: Nature’s eloquence at punishing the inept unfolds, (spills,…
A plug for Don Edwards National Wildlife Sanctuary
by tom • December 12, 2007 • 2 Comments
A story in this morning’s Chron describes a billion-dollar plan to open up old Cargill salt ponds, build strong levees and let nature take its course, which should mean hundreds and perhaps thousands more birds and other wildlife in the…
My Uvas Canyon adventure
by tom • December 10, 2007 • 10 Comments
It took me a full two days to get one good hike in at Uvas Canyon County Park, which is odd considering the park has only seven miles of trails to begin with. It might’ve gone smoother if it hadn’t…
Latest Hikes column: Mount Diablo
by tom • December 6, 2007 • 3 Comments
Posted today. The intro: December is a gift to hikers drawn to Mount Diablo, the peak dominating the East Bay landscape. It’s a month when occasional rains wash smog from the sky and open amazing vistas (you’ll see snowcapped Sierra…
Rescue practice at Henry Coe
by tom • December 5, 2007 • 0 Comments
Cynthia caught a squad doing a helicopter rescue drill at the park over the weekend.
Parking fees in Santa Clara County Parks: A rip-off?
by tom • December 5, 2007 • 6 Comments
Arlene, a local hiker/reader (last seen at this post about Ed Levin County Park), dropped me an e-mail this morning with the news that she’d just learned you don’t have to pay to park at Joseph D. Grant County Park…
More great Mount Diablo trails
by tom • December 4, 2007 • 0 Comments
Seth Adams of Savemountdiablo.org, which just issued a massive new hiking map of the area around Mount Diablo State Park, passed along some of his favorite Diablo hikes. … you’ve done some nice hikes, the loop around the summit is…