John Fedak sent me this e-mail from a posting to a Ventana Wilderness listserv: Folks – I just got a call from Patrick Bailey, the Wilderness and Trails Manager for the Monterey Ranger District. He tells me that in response…
Hiking
Ruins along Bay Area trails
by tom • June 24, 2008 • 11 Comments
No matter how much we crave trees, flowers, meadows, mountain peaks, etc., we still like seeing human stuff along the trail — provided it’s suitably old and existing in a state of advanced disrepair. Last week’s water bottlers and PowerBar…
Pescadero Creek County Park
Pescadero Creek County Park, a first hike
by tom • June 23, 2008 • 3 Comments
Add Pescadero Creek County Park to your must-hike list, if it isn’t there already. It’s remote, quiet, full of ambitious young redwoods and a smattering of really old ones that, oddly enough, survived the steam-powered saws of outrageous fortune. Pescadero…
Hiking
All new map of Two Heel Drive hikes
by tom • June 20, 2008 • 1 Comment
I built this with Google maps this morning; it’s built around the park profiles I’ve written for the Mercury News. View Larger Map
Gear
About those SPOT rescue beacons
by tom • June 19, 2008 • 5 Comments
Read this before you buy one. (Read the whole thing, it’s a corker … I won’t spoil it here. It’s about the Backpacker Magazine guy on Denali, in case you’ve seen the coverage on other outdoor blogs.) Previously: Mulling the…
Huddart County Park
Latest Hikes column: Huddart County Park
by tom • June 19, 2008 • 0 Comments
In this morning’s Mercury News: Huddart County Park, built on a Santa Cruz Mountains hillside west of Woodside, is better known for family reunions and Fourth of July barbecues than hikes. The racket of car engines and rowdy kids takes…
Wildlife
Like you need a reason to hike at Purisima Creek Redwoods
by tom • June 18, 2008 • 6 Comments
Well, here’s one from alert reader Barbara Hagin: You’ll have to visit Purisma Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve soon…the baby quails are out in full force. My husband and I hiked from the trailhead to the Soda Gulch trail on…
Gear
Trekking poles for women — any such thing?
by tom • June 18, 2008 • 14 Comments
One of the latest arrivals at Backpackgeartest.org is the Leki Diva Antishock Trekking Pole system (left). This one got me wondering if there’s much need for a women’s trekking pole — they don’t have much to do with boobs or…
Montebello Ridge Trail
Change-of-plans hike: Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
by tom • June 16, 2008 • 11 Comments
So, how did I end up strolling through the blazing sun at Monte Bello Open Space Preserve after I told everybody yesterday I was hitting the redwoods at Pescadero Creek County Park? Two things, both motivated by greed: 1) Pescadero…