Trail Review: Local Beaches

We haven't been hiking in so long! Well, we actually did take a couple nice, camera-free trips to Mt. Tam and the Purisima Redwoods since I last posted a trail review, but even that was a long time ago. Sadly, there are no real plans for hiking in the near future either, but even when we can't find a moment to get out of our little corner of the peninsula, there is always time to go to the local beach!

I can hardly even believe that I have a neighborhood beach. How did I get so lucky? Our home is at 500 ft. above sea level, and though the beach is only a quarter mile away as the seagull flies, there is a steep, dangerous, eroded cliff to get down and I only found a good way down that doesn't involve driving a couple weeks ago. It is certainly a good way too, with the *best* wildflower display I've seen in the Bay Area yet. It's not even really wildflower season anymore! I can't wait until next spring.

Monkeyflower | Paintbrush

Buckwheat | Milk Thistle | Moonwort

Birdsfoot Lotus | Yarrow

Trail Review: Russian Ridge

Last weekend we took a great hike at the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. I heard this area was good for spring wildflowers, and, my goodness, was it ever! Russian Ridge is located in the hills over Palo Alto, and though it's just a few miles south of the Purisima Redwoods area, this preserve consists of grasslands with a few groves of old oaks and firs.

California flowers

It was very sunny and bright, and we had a great time looking at flowers that aren't seen as much in the forests and foggy areas. California Poppies and lupine dominated the landscape, growing everywhere. I really wish I could capture the look of a glittering grassland covered with flowers in a photograph! Newly identified flowers included Woodland Stars, California Buttercups, and Johnny-Jump-Ups.

Woodland Star | California Buttercup

Views were good, and on a very clear fall day the ocean would probably be bright and blue. These photos may look clear, but there's almost always some water in the air along the coast these days! The bay is visible along much of the Ridge Trail, and at times you can make out the SF skyline in the distance.

My mom is a forest person and my dad is a rock person, and though I love forests, and rocks to a lesser extent, the wide views, birds, flowers, and intense complexity of a natural grassland has always been strangely special to me. I will definitely be coming back to this wonderful spot.

Trail Review: San Bruno Mountain

I've been curious about San Bruno Mountain for some time since we have a great view of it from our living room window (I would include a photo except that we haven't been able to see it for a week with all this fog!). The mountain is situated right south of San Francisco and it's nearly always in sight if you frequent that part of the city or any of the communities that border SF to the south. The lower slopes of the mountain have been developed, but the upper part is a protected conservation area largely due to the presence of the endangered Mission Blue and San Bruno Elfin butterflies. The mountain also is supposed to have great wildflower displays in the spring, and since yesterday was foggy, as it has been nearly every day for at least a week, we thought it would be a good day to check out some flowers!

We did the Summit Loop Trail, with a little side trip along the Ridge Trail for an easy hike of 3.5 miles, 750 feet of gain. The trail winds up the mountain on the bay side, and then heads back down on the ocean side, but with the fog it got disorienting quickly. The top of the mountain is covered with radio towers, satellite dishes, and other electrical equipment to remind you that this little piece of nature sits smack in the middle of a very urban area, though you probably don't need reminding on a clear day when you can actually see the city and surrounding communities anyway!

Maybe because we went into it expecting truly spectacular wildflowers, we were a little disappointed with the amount and variety at the time. There are certainly flowers everywhere, but the grassy slopes weren't exactly brimming with them. I was looking forward to seeing more lupine varieties and the butterflies that coexist with them as well, but there was hardly any. I appreciated the amount and variety of flowers a lot more, though, when sorting through photos, and I'm looking forward to going there a few more times this spring. I plan to go on one of their free guided walks offered on Saturdays to learn more about those butterflies from an expert as well.

Milkmaids

Out of all the lovely flowers, there were two standouts this trip: Milkmaids and Cow Parsnip. Complex, intricate flowers are certainly beautiful, but I've always been drawn to sweet, simple little flowers and milkmaids might be my new favorite. Cow parsnip, on the other hand, is a huge plant with big flower clusters, but it's also a favorite to see on the trail and was just everywhere on San Bruno Mountain.

Cow Parsnip

Here's a sampling of other flowers spotted. There are more varieties that didn't make it into this post, or didn't even get a photo taken! I was feeling a bit tired on the hike and even today, so I didn't take as many photos for identification as usual and even some of these are unidentified (for now). Sometimes you just need to enjoy the flowers!

From left to right, top to bottom: California Manroot, Douglas Iris, unidentified, Lupine, Miner's Lettuce, unidentified, two Paintbrush photos, unidentified rodent

Welcome spring!

Spring is probably my favorite season. I love the new flowers coming up, the first few warm days, the way everything feels so fresh and new. This is my first spring in a climate where the seasons aren't so obvious, but even here by the ocean I've spotted new wildflowers and grass. We've also had a lot more chilly fog in the last few weeks than through the winter - signs of summer?

To celebrate spring I brought some daffodils home. They brighten the whole house!

I recently finished a pair of spring-inspired mitts as well. I absolutely love fingerless mitts and wear them constantly. It's amazing how much warmer you feel when the backs of your hands are covered!

I just couldn't get a good photo - they're a bit darker in real life

I used the Vineyard Lace Mitts pattern, free on Ravelry (my project is here). It was a fun pattern to knit up, and I love the leafy lace. No alterations besides making the mitts shorter for use while typing. I used Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn for the first time, and I actually liked knitting with it! I tend to avoid 100% acrylic yarns, but it doesn't have that plastic shine and seems to be holding up pretty well. I have been having lots of trouble with big stitches at the intersection of the double pointed needles, no matter how tight I pull, but didn't have trouble at all with this yarn. Thinking about it, I haven't really had trouble with any yarn except Wool-Ease, which tends to be my most-used yarn due to availability and budget. Has anyone else had problems with Wool-Ease? Any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive yarn that you have had good results with?

Trail Review: Purisima Creek Redwoods

Tall, tall trees

10 miles, 1600 feet. Recommended, with modifications.

My parents came up to visit at the end of last week, and Friday we went out on a hike in the redwoods at Purisima Creek Redwood Open Space Preserve, located in the northern Santa Cruz Mountains. We had a great time but it was a long ten miles, even for my ultra-marathoner parents! The redwoods are spectacular, though, and it's definitely worth a trip. Nearly all of the redwoods in this forest were logged in the late 1800's, so the current forest is relatively young, but stumps show you how big the original trees once were. Amazing! Though there are a few views of Half Moon Bay from the trail, the trees and wildflowers are the main sights here, and it would be a nice hike on a foggy day.

Looking out to Half Moon Bay

I'm just a beginner naturalist, but I'm trying to learn. Someday I'd like to be able to recognize all the plants and animals out there! Anyway, I could be wrong with these identifications... Flowers spotted, clockwise from the big photo: Hound's Tongue, California Manroot, Giant Trillium, Woodland Strawberry, Milkmaids, and Redwood Sorrel.





Details: We did the "grand loop" trail, starting from the North Ridge parking lot, heading down to Purisima Creek Trail, then back up via Craig Britton Trail. It was nice going down, until it sinks in that you've really gone downhill a lot, you've only done 4/10 miles, and you are already getting tired. Not to mention you're in the bottom of a gully and it's gotten hot and humid. It's only a short way to the single-track Craig Britton Trail, though, which I thought was the most scenic part of the hike. Next time I think it would be best to park at the lower Purisima Creek Road lot, then go up the Harkins Ridge Trail, bypass the North Ridge section altogether, and head back down on the Craig Britton Trail. This would cut off three miles and about 500 feet of gain, which I think would make all the difference between a great hike and a nice, but seemingly endless one.