So I spent the summer avoiding the East Bay cattle and wandering most of the properties of the Midpeninsula Open Space District, which announced the other day that it’s planning to allow cattle grazing in a few grassy areas: The…
Best Bay Area Hikes
Dan at Muir Woods
by tmangan • October 26, 2007 • 5 Comments
Dan Mitchell went to Muir Woods the other day … I keep thinking I’ll check out The Woods, though I have a hard time convincing myself those woods are that much better than the ones we have down here in…
Hiking
Healthy Trails Challenge sign-up available
by tmangan • October 26, 2007 • 5 Comments
I wrote about Santa Clara County’s Healthy Trails Challenge awhile back, before it was possible to register for the challenge — which asks county residents to take five hikes in the next year, log the experience, mail in the log…
Hiking
Road-tripping to Bodega Bay
by tmangan • October 26, 2007 • 1 Comment
Contra Costa Times has a story about taking a scenic drive up to Bodega Bay, which Alfred Hitchcock defamed for all eternity in “The Birds.” Mile 20 Sonoma Coast State Beach, Bodega Head: Stretch your legs at this rugged promontory…
In the news
Fire danger closes Las Padres National Forest
by tmangan • October 25, 2007 • 3 Comments
The huge national forest running down the California Coast has been closed because of all the So-Cal fires. Due to extreme fire danger, the entire Los Padres National Forest has been closed to the public, a move that may be…
Blogs
Utterly unrelated to hiking, but…
by tmangan • October 25, 2007 • 0 Comments
I stumbled across the blog of an Ontario writer who calls the site Burning Silo. The account of how the blog got its name is a hoot. The main page does have some excellent outdoor pix from a visit to…
Gear
Pointless but amusing fun of the day
by tmangan • October 25, 2007 • 0 Comments
Design your own Doc Martens boot. Here’s one compelling entry: Just off hand, I’d suggest not putting pictures of loved ones on your boots, though I can see how one with, say, George W. Bush’s mug might move a few…
Hiking
Hunting and hiking in the Warner Wilderness
by tmangan • October 23, 2007 • 0 Comments
The editor of the Chico Enterprise recounts eight days in the South Warner Wilderness of Modoc County, way up in far northern California: I got to sit at the base of a frozen 300-foot waterfall and listen to it break…
Wildlife
Plastics piling up in the Pacific Ocean
by tmangan • October 23, 2007 • 2 Comments
A story in the Chron notes that a massive flotilla of disposed plastic is littering the Pacific Ocean between the West Coast and Hawaii: The enormous stew of trash – which consists of 80 percent plastics and weighs some 3.5…