04/26/15: Eagle Peak - The Second Time!

this was the second time that we came to this park to hike. we took the same way up to eagle peak but took a different route down. the first time was actually our first training hike this year that i never got around to writing about, so i'll probably share some of the pics from that time here too. (basically anything sunny was this time and anything cloudy was the first time.)

at the top of eagle peak! elevation = 2369 ft

hike description

we got the paper at the visitor center and they have a lot of great maps and other hike suggestions. we followed the hike described here the first time and this time we did the alternate route listed at the bottom, which is a little more than a mile extra.

and here is a link describing the hike we did but in the opposite direction.

http://www.everytrail.com/guide/mitchell-canyon-to-eagle-peak-hike-at-mount-diablo-state-park

route

    

it's a loop

-> mitchell canyon rd

-> oak rd

-> mitchell rock trail

-> twin peaks

-> eagle peak trail

-> right on meridian ridge rd

-> deer flat

-> mitchell canyon rd

elevation and distance

took us a little over 4 hours. and may was silly and forgot to change the setting from run to hike. psssha, as if we run. and as you can see from the elevation map, there's a small third hump for this route compared to taking back creek loop.

our experience

our friend jody joined us for the hike this week! may went to play volleyball earlier in the day with jody and her husband, chago, in walnut creek so we decided on doing this hike since it was close by. jody was able to ditch the kids and spend some time with us.

the three of us at the top of eagle peak

and lemme tell ya, this lady was booking it! i guess all that trail-running she does keeps her in great shape. it's nice to have other people come with us since it gets us motivated to go a little faster.

on the way up, you get a view of these guys. not really sure what's going on but it totally reminds me of madonna's pointy boobs.

taken from the first hike

it's pretty much an uphill climb from the start of the hike to eagle peak, where you get beautiful views on a nice day.

panorama on my new phone! excited it actually works and doesn't keep crashing

on a cloudy/rainy day, it's a little bit easier since the way up is pretty much all exposed.

haha so this place is 2 for 2 for me falling on my ass. the first time, it was crazy muddy on the way down and i slipped and got mud all over my butt, the bottom of my bag, the bottom of my jacket, and all over my hands. the second time, it was pretty dry out and dusty so i slipped again. both times, i ended up with a bruised butt.

we spotted a couple of lizards along the way. they were mostly brown so harder to spot until they moved. we even saw some bunnies! but they were too quick so i wasn't able to get a picture of any of them.

one of the bigger ones we saw

here are some other nice views we had along the way.

you can just make out the windmills in the distance

on the way back, we walked along a mostly dried creek. the trail is covered so it's a lot cooler and we even saw a deer.

when you're about a mile away from the visitor center, there is an interpretive trail with signs labeled from ten to one (since it starts from the visitor center). i'm sad that i forgot to grab the guide that actually explains everything. i think if we go to this park again, i wanna do this hike but in reverse, like the link at the beginning. this way, we can start with the guide and not miss it again.

04/18/15: Purisma Creek Redwoods Open Space

another beautiful hike in the redwoods!

hike description

http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Purisima/Purisima.html

easier alt: http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/purisimahiggins.html

route

    

it's a loop

-> purisma creek trail

-> left on craig britton trail (formerly known as soda gulch trail but i kept referring to it as the connie britton trail)

-> right on harkins ridge trail

-> left on north ridge trail

-> left on whittemore gulch trail

the alt route from bay area hiker has you turning left on harkins ridge trail, and that takes you back to the starting point.

elevation and distance

start = 479 ft; max = 1810 ft; gain = 1671 ft

the hike is 9.1 mi but we got a smidge more b/c may started tracking from the parking lot, where we managed to get a spot!

our experience

joe said that he hurt in all of the right places after the Briones hike so he joined us again!

who needs a selfie stick?!?!

most of the hike was shaded, except for a section near the highest points, on like harkins ridge & north ridge trails.

since we were walking along a creek, we saw way more banana slugs this time! i was very excited. we counted at least 52!

banana slug #50, and the most poop-like one we saw
(not counting #1, which was actually hanging out on poop)

like i said last week, i love hanging out in the redwoods. they are so beautiful and amazing! but so many of them have fallen over.

they just sawed a chunk out so that we could step over it

they straight up just cut a whole section out on each side and they counted the rings!

there were a couple of sections where we had to cross over bridges to go over the creek and even some stairs that they put in.

the outside section was hot and of course where it was steepest but definitely not too bad, especially compared to briones.

nice view and always cool to see the trail in the distance

it was my first time trying hiking sticks! not sure how i feel about them though. i think they help a little bit on the uphills but it could be in my head. but i'm pretty sure i got less steps on my fitbit b/c of them! i also liked to pretend i was skiing while using them.

the poppies seem to really love the sun!

there were a ton of stuff growing outside. berry season is starting and you can see some of the bushes with fruit. i kinda wanted to try them but not sure if they are safe.

i wanna say they are blackberries? there is a red one and a purple one

and it doesn't help that they are growing so close to poison oak!

lots of shiny guys to worry about

there were also these spiky balls and based on the shape of the leaves, i'm guessing it's some sort of gourd?

may was excited. she was like, it must be tasty so it has to protect itself with spikes!

and these guys made me think of baby bottle cleaning brushes. they were pretty soft though and not bristly.

i'll just end it with this view.

04/11/15: Big Basin Redwoods State Park

such a great hike! redwoods, waterfalls, shade. what more can you ask for?

the second section of berry creek falls

hike description

http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/bigbasin/waterfallloop.html

http://www.redwoodhikes.com/BigBasin/BerryCreek.html

route

    

it's a loop

-> sunset trail

-> left on berry creek falls trail

-> left on skyline to the sea trail

-> left back onto lafayette ridge trail

elevation and distance

start = 1177 ft; max = 1448 ft; gain = 1827 ft

took us a little over five hours! may was guessing it would take six hours since the elevation at the end looked really scary on the elevation maps we saw.

stopped the mapping a smidge early b/c we decided to check out the store before heading back to the car and didn't want to add the time from that to the hike. i think we could have just paused it though and it would have added another 0.2 mi or something to the trip.

our experience

as you can see from our map, we had a little bit of trouble finding the start of the trail. we had actually parked at a good spot but thought it was closer to the headquarters and store so we walked right past it. though, based on where we ended the hike, there are numerous options on how to get to the sunset trail, so the best way really depends on where you parked, which cost $10.

this is how we got to the trail (excluding the doubling back we did):
walked up towards the picnic loops -> skyline to the sea trail -> dool trail -> sunset trail

this is from the brochure we got when we entered the parking area:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/540/files/BigBasinRedwoodsFinalWeb2015.pdf

man, so much happier this week compared to the hike two weeks ago at briones! i love hiking in the woods, especially when they are redwoods! less sun so i don't get as hot.

redwoods are so amazing

besides the super tall trees, there were a lot of other interesting things to see.

giant stump looking back at us.
and you can sort of see a person climbing off it it 

    

may: "what is that giant hole?"

    

giant is right! burned redwood

mossy rocks

okay, and of course the berry falls! there were four different parts to it. when we hit it, we were at the top. i was actually already pretty happy with this part and didn't realize that there would be more!

at the top section, where we stopped for lunch

here are the other three sections:

walking down between the 2nd and 3rd sections was slightly treacherous. a little muddy but with the rope thinger to hold onto, it wasn't too bad

slow and steady since i did NOT want to fall on my ass again

we also saw a lot of clovers on the hike. it was cool how they kinda droop down and look like arrows when they're in the sun.

saw some other cool looking flowers too.

nature loves threes!

i'm a little bit sad that we only saw one live banana slug!

looks less like a braj from this angle

and one of the most unexpected things during the hike was the random part where we were actually not in the woods. it was a little bit before we hit berry creek falls trail. we actually were worried that we missed a turn somewhere b/c it was so different.

there was sand on the ground!

sitting on the sandstone, where a lot of people carved stuff into it

we even found this! and you know i didn't do it b/c it would have said "C+M" instead

manzanita trees

overall, i really enjoyed this hike. i wish the map had the distances between the trails but the signs were pretty good. and they had maps labelled with "you are here" at the intersections of trails.

pretty much where the slow uphill starts

thatsmypark.org is such a great url