The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will mull the matter tonight. Yurts are only part of a five-year effort by the county to attract more campers. Officials recently started putting up Spanish-language posters on buses and light rail advertising…
Cataract Creek Trail
Cataract Creek Trail: Marin County’s miracle mile
by tom • February 11, 2008 • 5 Comments
A steep, slippery mile through the deep woods north of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County tracks some of the best waterfall hiking on the West Coast (as long as the water’s running). I spent far more time driving than hiking…
Los Trancos Open Space Preserve
The fault is mine: an earthquake hike at Los Trancos Open Space Preserve
by tom • February 11, 2008 • 2 Comments
If I had little kids, I’d bring ’em here and drive ’em batty with “did you feel that? … did you feel that …” — scarring them for life because that is a parent’s sacred duty. The San Andreas Fault…
Blogs
Earth to Bay Area bloggers: time to take a walk outside
by tom • February 10, 2008 • 3 Comments
If I could do one good deed during my time on this planet, it’d be this: getting everybody who has a blog off their fannies and out into the woods for just a few hours a week. I blogged seven…
Hiking
Wildflowers: Best Bay Area locales
by tom • February 9, 2008 • 5 Comments
I saw a couple little yellow blooms the last time out, the first hints of the blast of color coming up this spring. So far the weather seems to be pretty good: ample rain but not overdoing it, time between…
Mangan's memoirs
Shout-out to all the lurkers out there
by tom • February 8, 2008 • 12 Comments
Isn’t it about time you stepped up and got in on the fun? You don’t have to have your own blog or podcast — you don’t even have to be much of a hiker (I’m living proof of that). It’s…
Media (books, DVDs, etc)
KQED’s science hikes
by tom • February 8, 2008 • 0 Comments
The San Francisco public TV/Radio station has a bunch of cool outings outlined at its Quest page. Among the highlights: Exploring evidence of earthquake activity along the San Andreas Fault at Los Trancos Open Space Preserve, and checking out the…
Gear
Panting over hiking pants
by tom • February 8, 2008 • 3 Comments
Acquiring gear seems forever fraught with the potential for buyer’s remorse, but one purchase I made a couple years back continues to satisfy: Columbia’s entry-level nylon hiking pants. I’ve logged what must be over a thousand miles in these guys…
Park district events
Yurts proposal for Santa Clara County parks
by tom • February 7, 2008 • 6 Comments
A product sample from the company Pacific Yurts. More on yurts here. I hear tell the parks department in Santa Clara County wants to put up 24 yurts in five of the county’s parks. Here’s a link to the proposal.…