We assembled at the Monte Bello Open Space parking lot on Page Mill Road. We started by examining some conglomerate that was transported 23 miles over about 1.5 millions years of fault movement from the western flanks of Loma Prieta. We then hiked the White Oak Trail, which took us past some magnificent white, black, and live oaks and down to the Stevens Creek. We paused to enjoy the sight of mariposa lillies and globe lillies. On the way we witnessed the rough alligator lizard mating ritual. The male clamped his teeth onto the head of the female.
As we approached the Canyon Trail Liz Foreman saw something round and white in the forest duff next to the trail. At first I thought it was a mushroom; but when I picked it up we were surprised to find that is was a perfectly intact egg, without a crack in it. It was about 2.6 inches long, and it appeared to have been laid where we found it. If it had fallen out of a nest is would have broken. I have no idea what kind of bird egg this is.
After stopping for lunch, we headed north and uphill on the Canyon Trail, where we observed a pressure ridge on the San Andreas Fault and a sag pond where a bend in the fault caused the land to subside. We then crossed Page Mill Road and entered Los Trancos Open Space Preserve, where we followed the San Andreas Fault Trail for more evidence that we were walking on the interface between two massive continental plates. Posts mark the course of where the land ruptured during the 1906 earthquake. An offset fence provides evidence of fault displacement.
TO GET THERE... The main parking lot is on Page Mill Road about 7 miles west from Highway 280 and 1.4 miles east of Skyline Boulevard.
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