Mount Tam to Stinson Beach 5/18/08

Wow...what a beautiful day this was! This is probably my favorite hike in the bay area. I've hiked the Matt Davis / Steep Ravine loop a few times, but since we had kids with us, we opted to hike down to Stinson Beach and then take the bus back up. We hiked (mostly) down hill for about 3 miles on the Steep Ravine trail through the most amazing "coastal rain forest". The kids were amazed and kept commenting that it looked like we lived in South America instead of North America! When we finally emerged from the canyon, it was obvious from the amount of mist and fog that we were close to the ocean! The Steep Ravine Trail intersects the Dipsea Trail at this point and we took the Dipsea Trail the remaining mile or so into town. We searched for that little "Mexican" restaurant where Rob and I ate before, only to discover that it isn't a mexican restaurant afterall - they just have good fish tacos and margaritas! After a liesurly lunch, we went to the beach, played in the surf and sand, browsed the gift shops in town, then took the bus back up to the parking lot. Great day!!

Here are some links to some photos of the hike. The Flickr photos are courtesy of Eric Stanger!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vonstanger/sets/72157605135990949/

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=219562842/a=30783122_30783122/t_=30783122

Augustin Bernal Park, Pleasanton 4/19/08

Hi Everyone!

This weekend, we hiked up to the top of the Pleasanton Ridge via Augustin Bernal Park. It was a cool, breezy day which made the hike up very pleasant indeed! However, we couldn't stay at the top to enjoy the views due to HURRICANE FORCE WINDS! We made it to the top and immediately hurried back down the trail toward the relative shelter of the hillside! Rob, Laura, Jordan, Jacob, Kris, Jean and I all made the 4 mile hike. Good time and a nice kick butt workout on the way up. Enjoy the pictures (although Laura's camera had a low battery so there aren't as many as usual!).

See you next time!

Eline

Uvas Canyon County Park 4/11 - 4/13

Happy Birthday Laura!!!!

What a fantastic trip this was! Great group of people, perfect weather, pretty little park, nice hike, the works! We arrived Friday afternoon/evening; Mike, Arlene, Kathleen, Jeff M, Laura, Jordan, Jager, Rob, and myself, (Jeff R. joined us Saturday morning early enough to make the hike), set up camp, had some dinner and celebrated Laura's birthday (and a belated one for Kathleen). The next morning was the hike, and what a hike it was! Up...up....up.....up....up.....a little farther up.....whew! This was a challenging hike that we weren't quite prepared for, given the unseasonably warm weekend (mid 80's), the fact that we thought it was a pretty little 3 mile waterfall loop (it was more like a steep and treacherous 5 + miles), and that we were up late the night before sitting around the campfire having cocktails and conversations that I can't repeat here. But we made it!! We saw one somewhat un-inspiring waterfall (picture above), but the trail was quite nice once you acclimated to the heat and high altitude! We made it back to "base camp" by 12:30 - had a great lunch, sat around for several hours nursing our various hiking injuries and our Bloody Marys (thanks Mike, you have no idea how good those were!), then started another round of dinner, campfire, cocktails, and conversations that I just can't repeat here! Thanks everyone for making it such a great time!

Portola Redwoods State Park 3/30/08

This hike was beautiful (and quite an adventure)! Jeff, Rob, Laura and I started out at 10:30-ish, meandering through the giant redwoods. Jeff pointed out an edible plant. We let him try it first, watched him closely for any signs of distress, then tried it ourselves - tasty, it might work in a salad! We later realized that Jeff's survivor skills in the Redwoods could quite possibly save our lives!! We managed to get lost (early spring, sketchy trails, sketchy map, downed redwoods, and several other excuses!). We found another lost hiker - a nice Chiropractor named Adam (see Laura's photos). We banded together in our time of crisis, sent out scouts to check on possible trails, scaled canyon walls, leaped across raging rivers, until finally...we found our trail again. O.k. so it wasn't quite that dramatic - but it's all true! There was never any real panic - just the short, brief kind that you experience when you realize that you really are off the trail! It was great fun and after several hours we made it back to civilization! The Volcano Chicken Wings at the Brewery made everything right again with the world!

Sunol Regional Park 3/22/08

Today our group had some time constraints so we decided on the relatively short but beautiful hike up the Camp Ohlone Trail to Little Yosemite in Sunol. It was really nice to be able to walk along the wide trail, enjoy the warm spring day and have some great conversations, all while getting in a great little hike! When you are pressed for time, or just want something a little less strenuous, the Little Yosemite hike is a great "go to" hike because of it's proximity (at least for those of us in the Fremont/Pleasanton/Livermore areas!), and you just can't beat the waterfalls and crystal clear pools of Little Yosemite! We did this 2 or so mile hike in just over an hour with a nice rest stop at the falls. Be sure to check Laura's photos (link in the upper right hand corner of this page) - she got some great shots!

Fremont Older

What a beautiful little hike this was! A perfect blend of sun and shade, uphill and downhill. Laura, Jeff, Christa, Kathy and I met at the Prospect Road parking lot, headed up the Cora Older trail and looped around through some shaded canyons, and up to some amazing vantage points. Jeff, Christa and I (Christa with a twisted "trail injury" ankle, no less) made the short steep trek up to Hunter Point, caught our collective breath, snapped a couple of pics, then headed back. Kris met us at BJ's for lunch even though she didn't quite make the hike...it was nice to see her anyway!

Next weekend, we're thinking of a Saturday hike, probably East Bay - either the Black Diamond Mines Regional park, or a hike through some historical graveyards (this will be a kid friendly "Adventure Hike"!).

Central Oregon

Well, Glen, the dogs and I decided on an impromptu hike/picnic today. We drove up the beautiful Cascade Lakes Highway to the miles of hiking and biking trails. We got hailed out! We ended up letting the dogs run around and ate our food in the truck. The weather changes quickly around here and as I'm typing this, it is sunny and lovely.

Del Valle - East Shore Trail 3-1-08

What a great day! We had 6 hikers and bikers on this trek. The trail started at the Arroyo Road Staging Area on the north end of the park. Rob and Jeff R. biked in 5 miles to just above Badger Cover and back, giving them 10 miles to add to their biking log. Kathleen, Jeff M., Christa and Laura hiked to just about half way to Badger Cover. We estimate it was about 4 to 4.5 miles round trip....Oh lets just call it 4.5 miles because the first hill at the beginning of the trip was a pain in the butt...literally! We ended our day cruising down the road to Wente Winery for a couple of glasses of chardonnay! Check out the link on the top right hand side of this blog to see all of the pictures in the album for this hike and the albums of the other California Chapter hikes we have taken! See you in two weeks on the next trek!

Del Valle Regional Park

Hey all you Hikers and Bikers!

This weekend, March 1st, at 1oam, we are meeting at Del Valle in Livermore at the Arroyo Road trailhead for a 10 mile out and back mountain bike ride along East Shore Trail to Badger Cove, OR a 5 mile out and back hike! We may stop at Wente Winery afterward for a little "refreshment" (since it's a block from the trailhead!). It looks like we will have sunny weather and a large group! Be sure to check back after the hike for the photos (courtesy of Laura Nichols - our official Hike and Bike photographer)!

Hike on with your bad selves!!!

Eline
P.S. - next weekend we will be vacationing at a lovely little cabin in the Redwoods so we will not be hiking or biking...at least not here!

Rain, Rain, go away!!

Well fellow hikers and bikers - looks like we're going to get rained out this weekend! We may still run out for a quick hike if the clouds part, but everyone is on their own! The weather is a bit too "iffy" to plan anything.

We're up to 8 miles logged! (12 if you biked the last one) And that's not bad considering we're just getting started!

Just a note: The hikes will probably get increasingly difficult as our "fitness level" increases (except for the kid friendly hikes). And since we can't all always make the specific hike times/places - no need to get behind on the mileage! If you make it out this weekend (or any other time), feel free to post your own adventures and miles logged on the blog!

Happy Trails!!

Eline

Redwood Regional Park

Yesterday we hiked a 4 mile loop at Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland hills. It's amazing that there is such a gem of a redwood forest right in the middle of the bay area! It was beautiful! Laura and I hiked it while Rob biked the more strenuous 8 mile loop.

Way to go Em!!

This is pretty cool! I have never blogged anything!! :0)
Now I really have to go somewhere soon!
Im super excited to tell everyone that... I know the founding members of:
Hike 'N Bike Mountain Madness!

Test

Just gettin' the kinks out before we "go live" lol

Thanks Em!!

It's a start!

Ok, now we've got a blog. We need to post pictures, log our miles etc. Looking forward to this!