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.