About time I got some actual hiking done around here. After a four-week break (the longest in four years) I decided Sunol Regional Wilderness would be an excellent re-entry point. Sunol is my default venue if I’m too lazy to…
Trails
News flash: Monte Bello Open Space gets hot in the summertime
by tom • August 11, 2008 • 2 Comments
Chalk this up to market capitalism: when you hike for pay you do things like: Go solo because you can’t afford to be distracted. Walk fast but stop constantly to take scads of meticulously framed pictures in the hope that…
Addressing my public at Sunol Wilderness
by tom • August 4, 2008 • 5 Comments
This is a first: meeting not one but two Two-Heel Drive readers for the first time on the same day. I decided to tag along with Mike Wimble’s FOMFOK gang because they were heading out to my all-time favorite Bay…
Final Hikes column: Pescadero Creek County Park
by tom • July 21, 2008 • 1 Comment
This’ll be the last one I do for the San Jose Mercury News. Tucked into a remote section of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of La Honda, the park is one of three grouped nearby. The other two – Sam…
Moonlight hike at Mission Peak
by tom • July 18, 2008 • 13 Comments
I made a snap judgment Wednesday to check out Mission Peak at sunset, which I had been fixing to get ready to do for ages. Winehiker Russ loves to lead this hike (just under six miles with 2,000 feet of…
Tahoe Rim Trail links
by tom • July 10, 2008 • 8 Comments
Fedak left for two weeks on the Tahoe Rim Trail yesterday without so much as an aloha or arm wave, but I don’t blame him: overexposure to my ramblings no doubt left him two options: go out of his mind…
Next up: Henry Cowell Redwoods
by tom • July 9, 2008 • 2 Comments
I’m finally going to get around to checking out Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, which has two sections in the woods near Felton in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I’ve been to Cowell’s Fall Creek Unit a couple times (hikes here…
Another hike at Pescadero Creek County Park
by tom • July 7, 2008 • 4 Comments
I covered a slice of Pescadero Creek a couple weeks ago but I knew I’d have to come back. The park delights my inner wannabe social historian — mercilessly logged by previous generations, now hiked by few who realize how…
Latest hikes column: Monte Bello Open Space
by tom • July 3, 2008 • 0 Comments
From this morning’s Mercury News: If you’ve got a mind to do one crazy thing this summer, try hiking in the hot sun at Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. The park in the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Los Altos…