I’m on vacation for the next two weeks, so the first order of business on Day One had to be a hike. I chose Alum Rock Park, which is run by the city of San Jose. It used to be…
Sunol Regional Wilderness
Sunol after the rain
by tmangan • April 10, 2005 • 0 Comments
Saturday dawned gray and bleak, a gloomy reminder of the storm that drenched the Bay Area on Friday (and hailed all over Melissa’s freshly planted garden. She’s still a little miffed). Within a couple hours, though, the skies were back…
Long Ridge Open Space Preserve
Ridge roving
by tmangan • April 3, 2005 • 0 Comments
The mountain range facing the Pacific Ocean has oodles of open space set aside for hikers, bikers and others who like to gawk at green stuff. I went with Mike, Kathy & company on Saturday to trod some of the…
Ed Levin County Park
At the park down the road
by tmangan • March 27, 2005 • 2 Comments
Yesterday it was back to Ed Levin County Park, the one just down the road from our place. The park attracts lots of people trying to catch fish at Sandy Wool Lake or imitate soaring birds with the Wings Of…
My Gear list
Das Boot, a war story
by tmangan • March 20, 2005 • 2 Comments
Nothing but one rainy day after another lately, which has washed away my urge to spend hours on the trail finding pretty pictures to post here. But I have scored one private victory of late that seems worth gabbing about.…
Pinnacles National Monument
At the Pinnacles
by tmangan • March 13, 2005 • 3 Comments
A stand of strange, wonderful rock formations called the Pinnacles National Monument lies about 80 miles south of San Jose. Getting a good look at the place means four hours of driving for five hours of hiking. I went with…
Joseph D. Grant County Park
Pausing among petals
by tmangan • March 7, 2005 • 1 Comment
It’s the beginning of wildflower season, which draws hikers to the hillsides to gawk at blooms that sprout by happenstance. I joined Mike, Kathy, Joanne & Peggy on Saturday at Joseph D. Grant County Park — soon to be Wildflower…
Sunol Regional Wilderness
Sun and Sunol
by tmangan • February 27, 2005 • 0 Comments
Another Sunol Wilderness hike; I was going to go here last week with Mike & Kathy, but that one got rescheduled to yesterday. Same hike, same club, different day. I can’t get over how great this park is. Small crowds,…
Murietta Falls
Off to Murietta Falls
by tmangan • February 21, 2005 • 3 Comments
I’m sore, tired and reeking with self-regard, having finished one of the most brutal hikes in the Bay Area today. It’s six and a quarter miles into the heights of the Ohlone Wilderness to a weak excuse for a creek…