REI is offering free paddling demos at bodies of water near stores in Alaska, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas and Washington State. In the Bay Area: Berkeley Location: San Pablo Reservoir/Recreation Area (510) 527-4140 Date: 4/19/09 Time: 10 am…
Hiking
Cool cartography site: Mappery.com
by tom • April 2, 2009 • 0 Comments
Mappery.com has at least one map for every country on the planet, each of the 50 U.S. states and all the Canadian provinces. It also has a host of maps from previous eras. Here’s a slice from a 1948 Yosemite…
Hiking
El Toro in Morgan Hill hike update
by tom • April 1, 2009 • 0 Comments
If you went in a previous year and were hoping to repeat this year, you’re too late. It happened March 28, 2009. I just noticed that people who Googled “El Toro Morgan Hill” were getting linked to a preview post…
Briones Regional Park
One for my to-do list: Briones Regional Park
by tom • April 1, 2009 • 5 Comments
Lots of open hills and sunshine makes Briones Regional Park worth checking out in the springtime. I’ve heard tell of massive California poppy blooms here in years past. I’ve driven around Briones once but haven’t gotten around to hiking it…
Hiking, Links
Latest local hiking links
by tom • April 1, 2009 • 1 Comment
Camping blogger on coping with mishaps. Flirty n’ dirty checks out Marin’s Pine Mountain Road-Kent Lake Loop. Uncooped comments on using panties for a compass. BondGURL’s first hike of Trail Challenge ’09 goes to Roberts Regional Recreation Area & Redwood…
In the news
750,000 California acres get wilderness designation
by tom • March 31, 2009 • 1 Comment
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,…
Wildlife
‘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…
Hiking
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…
McNee Ranch State Park
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…