Hiking the Coast at Wilder Ranch State Park

Despite showers the previous night, the weather was ideal for a one-way hike of about 4.7 miles along the spectacular coastal bluffs between Four Mile Beach and the Cultural Preserve at Wilder Ranch State Park.

To avoid the $10.00 park entrance fee, my class met at the parking area along Highway 1 just south of the park entrance. We then organized car pools to take us about two miles north to our trail head at the access to Four Mile Beach. This parking lot is on the left (west) side of Highway 1 just past a green farmhouse (also on the west side of the highway).

From there we walked downhill to Four Mile Beach. There are two outhouses just before reaching the beach. We then ascended to the top of the coastal bluff and headed south on the Ohlone Bluff Trail. On the right are spectacular views of the the churning Pacific smashing into the rocky coast. Though the weather was calm, the ocean was quite agitated, probably because of a storm far out at sea. To the left we saw great fields of Brussels sprouts and artichokes. We took a steep shortcut across Three Mile Beach, where we found a broken surfboard, and then continued on to Strawberry Beach, where we had lunch.

After lunch we continued south, pausing to watch harbor seals bobbing in the waves. We then took another shortcut trail across Sand Plant Beach and on to Fern Grotto, which is one of the highlights of the hike. The Grotto is a sea cave that has been uplifted by tectonic forces and watered by a perpetually dripping spring that keeps a lush garden of hanging ferns looking fresh and green all year. One of our group went hundreds of feet back into the cave, where it is quite dark.

We enjoyed many more spectacular scenes of precipitous cliffs plunging into pounding surf  as we finished up the Ohlone Bluff Trail and then took the Old Cove Landing Trail to the Wilder Ranch buildings. I timed this hike to correspond with the annual Harvest Festival at the Cultural Preserve part of the park, which includes a cluster of historical building, including two nineteenth century ranch houses, an adobe built in 1839 by the first family to farm here, a horse barn, a cow barn, a workshop, and a garage that housed the first gasoline powered automobile in Santa Cruz County. My favorite exhibit is the workshop, with its many tools run by belts powered by Pelton Water Wheels. Only on special occasions like the Harvest Festival can you see this workshop come to life.

TO GET THERE... The main entrance is along Highway 1 about 2 miles northwest of Santa Cruz and 42 miles south of Half Moon Bay.

A Tour of the San Andreas Fault

Twenty-five years and one day after the Loma Prieta Earthquake, my De Anza College class toured a section of the San Andreas Fault in Monte Bello and Los Trancos Open Space Preserves.

We started at the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve parking lot on Page Mill Road. From there we followed the Stevens Creek Nature Trail into the oak and bay woodlands along the headwaters of Stevens Creek. We paused to sample berries from two madrone trees with an abundance of fruit. Near the junction with the Canyon Trail we noted a proliferation of galls on an old white oak.

We then headed north on the Canyon Trail, which involved a steep uphill climb in places. We caught our breaths while admiring a large artists pallet fungus on a bay tree. Lunchtime occurred at exactly the right time to stop at a large sag pond on the San Andreas Fault. This pond, which was open water when I first visited in the late 1970's, is now filled with cattails.

After lunch we hiked north on the Canyon Trail and then crossed Page Mill Road into Los Trancos Open Space Preserve. From there we toured the San Andreas Fault Trail, which loops through some evidence of fault movement during the giant 1906 earthquake. We saw benches, pressure ridges, a displaced fence, and two oak trees that were knocked onto their sides by the quake but sent up vertical shoots. The highlight was the sight of a magnificent buck and doe. Being the rutting season, they were inseparable.

TO GET THERE... the main parking lot is on Page Mill Road about 7 miles west from Highway 280 and 1.4 miles east from Skyline Boulevard.

Pescadero Creek County Park from the Wurr Road Entrance

My College of San Mateo class enjoyed a 5.7-mile loop hike through the redwoods in the western part of Pescadero Creek County Park. From Skylonda we carpooled to the Hoffman Flat Trailhead on Wurr Road, which is just south of Pescadero Road and just east of San Mateo County Memorial Park.

From the trailhead we hiked east on the Old Haul Road, which was once used to haul redwood logs long before San Mateo County acquired the land. We then headed north on the Pomponio Trail, which took us across Pescadero Creek. Because there is no bridge across the creek, this route is only feasible during the dry season. Along the way I turned over a log and found a yellow-eyed salamander. The trail passes through a large grassy meadow called Worley Flat and through a forest of coast live oak. We continued on the Pomponio Trail to the Parke Gulch Trail, which passes a massive three-trunk old-growth redwood that was hollowed out by fire over the centuries. We ate lunch beneath this magnificent tree.

After lunch we paused at one of the campsites at the Shaw Flat Trail Camp. From there, we walked south on the Shaw Flat Trail, where some of us climbed into another fire-hollowed giant redwood, and then made our second crossing of Pescadero Creek. Though I encouraged hike participants to bring water shoes or sandals, they were not necessary this year because of the low water level. We saw lots of salmon or steelhead fry in the pools along the creek bed.

From the Shaw Flat Trail we took the Old Haul Road 1.8 miles back to the trail head. Across from the trail head parking lot is a large old pear tree bearing lots of fruit. I used my hiking stick to knock pears to the ground. Though they look rather knobby and unappealing on the outside, these pears are sweet juicy, and delicious

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TO GET THERE... From Skyline Boulevard at Skylonda, take La Honda Road (Highway 84) west, Just beyond the town of La Honda, turn left on Pescadero Road. Turn left on Wurr Road and continue south about a third of a mile to the parking lot. Wurr Road is just beyond Camp Loma Mar. If you pass the entrance to San Mateo County Memorial Park you have gone too far..

Big Basin Hike to Mount McAbee Overlook

Today was one of the hottest days of the year, but it didn't deter my De Anza College hiking class from a 5.5 mile trek through the Big Basin redwoods and on to the the overlook atop Mt. McAbee.

We started with a brief tour of the Big Basin Redwoods State Park park headquarters area, where we paused for a photo op at the "Auto Tree" (which doesn't allow autos inside the tree anymore), and then to the 1930's era visitors center, where we admired a large photo taken by park founder Andrew P. Hill.

Next, we toured the Redwood Loop Trail, which visits some of the most impressive trees in the park, including the Mother of the Forest and the Father of the Forest. We then left the city slickers behind as we crossed Opal Creek  and charged uphill on the Skyline to the Sea Trail. At the top of the first ridge we headed west on the Howard King Trail and then uphill on the Hihn Hammond Fire Road, which took us to our lunch stop at the Mount McAbee Overlook. Because there was no fog on the coast, we enjoyed spectacular views of Waddell Canyon and the Pacific Ocean. Because it was so hot we all found shady spots to sit while eating lunch.

After lunch we headed downhill on the Howard King Trail and the Hihn Hammond Road and then followed the Hihn Hammond Connector Trail back to the Skyline to the Sea Trail and on the the trail head.

TO GET THERE... From Skyline Boulevard take Highway 9 southwest and turn west on Highway 236 at Waterman Gap or at Boulder Creek.