A Perfect Day at Ano Nuevo State Park

The weather was perfect yesterday for my College of San Mateo field trip to Ano Nuevo State Park. Because the point sticks out into the ocean it can be cold and windy any time of year. At the entrance station we got a visitor permit to enter the Natural Preserve Area, where the elephant seals hang out.

Our first stop was the Marine Education Center, which is in an old dairy barn. This is a good place to be introduced to the elephant seals and other marine life found on the point. From there we headed west about 2 miles to North Point, where most of the juvenile elephant seals are congregating. Along the way we passed a small reservoir where some of us got a glimpse of an endangered San Francisco garter snake.  Just beyond the pond the land rises where it crosses the Frijoles Fault. There are some turnouts along the trail with excellent views of the rugged coast.

There is a small interpretive center and outhouse at the entrance to the Natural Preserve Area. No eating is allowed beyond this point. We followed the trail through the sand dunes, pausing to see stone and shell fragments left by Ohlone Indians centuries ago. At the northern most North Point viewing area we saw lots of juvenile elephant seals. Some are only a year old. Others are a couple of years old, and some of the juvenile males are old enough to make the distinctive guttural sound of their species and engage in mock combat in preparation for

when they will have to fight for mating privileges.  There is a docent at the viewing area to answer questions.

On our return, we descended the trail to Cove Beach, which is at the pond. This is a great place for lunch. It is scenic and the coastal bluffs shelter it from the wind, though that wasn't a problem on this hike. I washed the sand off a leaf of bull kelp and then cut it into pieces to taste. It tastes pretty good, though a bit salty. One student suggested that it could be used as lasagna pasta to make seaweed lasagna. For dessert I brought out my bay nut brownies.

The Ano Nuevo  Natural Preserve Area is open to the public with a permit from April through November. Entry is limited to guided walks from December through March.

TO GET THERE... The main entrance is west of Highway 1 about 19 miles north of  Santa Cruz and 23 miles south of Half Moon Bay.

A Rainy Day Hike on Long Ridge Open Space Preserve

My De Anza College class took a 4.5 mile one way hike through Long Ridge Open Space Preserve today. The day started out rainy and ended up with cloudy weather and a bit of sun. Unfortunately,  the great views which are one of the joys of this route were obscured by clouds. For that reason I have posted a photo of what it would have looked like if the weather had cooperated, along with a photo from near that same spot as it actually appeared.

We met at Grizzly Flat, which is along Skyline Boulevard, about 3 miles south of Page Mill Road. From there we carpooled south to the parking lot at Saratoga Gap, where Skyline Boulevard intersects Highway 9. We then crossed Skyline Boulevard and proceeded west and downhill on the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail on the Old Toll Road, which was built in 1871 to haul lumber. We then took the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail to the right and across Highway 9 to connect with the Achistaca Trail in Long Ridge Open Space Preserve. From there we hiked north 1.7 miles to where it intersects the Hickory Oaks Trail, and then on to the Long Ridge Road. From there we headed downhill on the Peters Creek Trail to our lunch stop beside a beautiful little pond, which is actually on Jokoji Zen Center property. We then continued on the Peters Creek Trail and on to Grizzly Flat.

Though we missed the magnificent views due to cloud cover, we saw lots of beautiful oaks, Douglas fir trees, madrone, manzanita, and big-leaf maples as their fall leaves turn bright yellow. We also saw a few banana slugs.

TO GET THERE.... The Grizzly Flat trail head is along Skyline Boulevard between Page Mill Road and Highway 9.

A Wetfoot Loop through Pescadero Creek County Park

Here is a 6 mile loop through Pescadero Creek County Park that shouldn't be attempted during the rainy season when the water level in Pescadero Creek is high. In fact, even in October, when the creek flow is at its lowest there is the risk of wet feet during the two creek crossings.

Start at the Hoffman Flat Trailhead on Wurr Road, which is between San Mateo County Memorial Park and Pescadero Creek County Park. Take the Old Haul Road for .6 miles and then turn left (north) onto the Pomponio Trail to Worley Flat. This route involves a bridgeless crossing of the creek. You can either balance on a log connected to rocks, take off your shoes and socks and wade across the creek, or just charge through the water with your boots on. If you choose the first option a walking stick will come in handy.

This route passes a grassy meadow called Worley Flat, where a large dam was proposed in the 1960's. The Pomponio Trail continues on through oak woodlands and second growth redwoods as it crosses Jones Gulch and Towne Creek. You will probably see lots of banana slugs along the way.  The Parke Gulch Trail is a .5 mile side trip that passes some impressive old-growth redwoods, especially one huge burnt-out redwood with a cavity big enough to hold at least 15 people. Just beyond is a good place to stop for lunch.

We then continued to  the Shaw Flat Trail Camp, which has campsites with iron rings for campfires. There is even an outhouse. From there our plan was to take the Shaw Flat Trail downhill and across the creek in order to connect with the Old Haul Road. Our plans were scuttled by a sign warning that the trail ahead was dangerous due to damage from winter storms. As a result we returned to Shaw Flat and took the Towne Fire Road. This route crosses the creek at a wide spot, where the creek is shallow. About half of the class carefully stepped from rock to rock in order to avoid getting wet feet. The other half just said the hell with it and charged through to the other side. From there it was a 1.4 mile walk back to the parking lot via the Old Haul Road.

TO GET THERE... From La Honda take Highway 84 south and turn left onto Pes

cadero Road and turn left on Wurr Road. If you reach the entrance to San Mateo County Memorial Park you have gone too far.

A Loop Hike through Portola Redwoods State Park & Pescadero Creek County Park

Today was a beautiful day for a 6 mile redwood loop through Portola Redwoods State Park & adjacent Pescadero Creek County Park.

My De Anza College class carpooled from the Saratoga Library parking lot to the Ramada Group Day Use Area in Portola Redwoods State Park. Just before reaching our starting point we stopped at the park headquarters to pay the entrance fee. We started our hike by taking the Old Tree Trail to view one of the biggest and oldest redwoods in the park. We paused to examine one of many banana slugs we encountered due to the rain last Thursday night. After returning to the Ramada Day Use Area we began our loop hike by heading south on

the Service Road to where it intersects the Old Haul Road, which marks the boundary between Portola State Park and Pescadero Creek County Park.

We then headed west on the Old Haul Road, which was the route of a narrow-gauge railroad that transported redwood logs to the many sawmills in the area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We then turned right onto the Bridge Trail, which heads north toward Pescadero Creek. Along the way we encountered a newt that was crossing the road. Before reaching Pescadero Creek we walked a few hundred feet up the Snag Trail to see a giant dead redwood with unusual black & white spiral stripes.  We then continued to our lunch stop along Pescadero Creek.

After lunch we headed north on the Bridge Trail and then right (east) on the Pomponio Trail, which returned us to Portola State Park and our cars.

TO GET THERE... From Skyline Boulevard take Alpine Road west and then turn south on Portola State Park Road.

A (nearly smokeless) Hike at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve

I was concerned about going ahead with the scheduled field trip for my College of San Mateo class last Saturday, October 14. The problem was that smoke had been drifting south from the big wild fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties, resulting in unhealthy air quality. I arrived early at the main Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space parking lot on Skyline Boulevard with no idea how many, if any, of my 30 students would actually show up.

Fourteen students arrived, and because the sky was blue and there was only the slightest hint of smoke in the air they all wanted to do the entire 6 mile hike. From the main parking lot we carpooled about 2 miles south to the small parking area at the uphill end of the Purisima Creek Trail. This turnout can be hard to identify because there is no sign along the road to tell you that this is a trail head. If there isn't parking in the lot you can park along Skyline Boulevard nearby. Just make sure you are not parked on the wrong side of the white line.

I like to do this car shuttle route because it offers a  good and scenic hike without the necessity of descending all the way to the bottom of the ridge before climbing back up to Skyline. This route took us downhill on the Purisima Creek Trail to the where we headed

north on the Craig Britton Trail, which is also part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. We stopped for lunch at a bridge over a creek. We then turned right at the Harkins Ridge Trail and ascended the steepest part of the route to a scenic overlook with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and coast north of Half Moon Bay. On the way back we stopped for a glimpse of the legendary "Ohlone Whisper Tree", which is said to whisper to you the words you most need to hear. Much to our delight there were  even some asters in bloom nearby.

TO GET THERE... The main entrance is on Skyline Boulevard about 4.5 miles south of where it intersects Highway 92.

Creek Freaking in San Mateo County Memorial Park

Creak Freaking is a form of hiking that involves hiking down creek beds as if they are trails. My favorite creek freaking destination in the Santa Cruz Mountains is the section of Pescadero Creek that runs through Portola State Park, Pescadero Creek County Park, and San Mateo County Memorial Park. Of course, you need to creek freak in the summer, when the weather is warm enough and the water level is low.

Before embarking on your creek freaking adventure you need to put on shoes and clothes that you don't mind getting wet, and you need to put anything you don't want to get wet in sealed plastic bags. You will also need one or two trekking poles for stability while walking on the uneven creek bed and for probing water depth. Be sure to have a dry set of clothes to change into at the end of your hike. Keep in mind that it takes a lot longer to hike on a creek bed than on a trail.

Yesterday I joined three friends for a creek freaking adventure through San Mateo County Memorial Park. We started at the Hoffman Flat Trailhead on Wurr Road, which intersects Pescadero Road just east of the main entrance to the park. At the bridge we made our way down to the creek and then walked downstream. We passed the remains of the old dam that formed a swimming area for many years before being removed in order to encourage the migration of steelhead trout and Coho salmon.

Along our way we encountered children playing in the water, lots of crawdads (crayfish), leopard lilies in bloom, and a rope swing attached to a branch that hangs over the creek. The biggest obstacle was an enormous log jam that took a while to climb over.  Continuing downstream, we saw houses on the left side of the creek, indicating that we were leaving the park. We climbed out of the creek at the Wurr Road bridge and then hiked back to Hoffman Flat via Wurr Road. It took us nearly five hours to creek freak this segment of the creek, but only about thirty-five minutes to hike back to our starting point. That is because the creek has many twists and turns, we stopped for lunch and to look at things along the way, there was a big logjam to climb over, and the creek bed is uneven and sometimes hard to see through the moving water.

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park Loop Hike

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park consists of two units near the town of Felton. Many people are familiar with the 40 acre old-growth redwood grove near the main entrance to the southern unit of this park. As my De Anza College class discovered yesterday, there is far more to this ecologically diverse park than that little grove.

After carpooling from Los Gatos we met at the main parking lot in front of the store. From there we walked the western half of the Redwood Grove Loop Trail, which was saved by Joseph Welch as part of his nineteenth century resort.  After some of our group crawled into the hollowed out Fremont Tree we left the grove and headed toward the Pipeline Road. We stopped to examine a rare albino redwood.

We continued south on the Pipeline Trail, through groves of second-growth redwoods and then headed uphill on the Eagle Trail. We took a short side trip to examine a gnarly old-growth redwood and a beautiful display of fragrant azaleas. As we climbed higher we left the redwoods behind and entered the unusual sand hill ecology, with many flowering plants, knob cone pines, and ponderosa pines. We saw great numbers of sticky monkey flowers and bush poppies. This unique ecosystem is the result of sand that settled in shallow seas 12 million years ago and then being uplifted. There are several species of plants, including a species of manzanita that only grows in this environment.

From the Eagle Trail we turned right on the Pine Trail, which took us to our lunch stop at picnic tables atop a large concrete cube at the highest point on the hike. We gained about 500 feet from where we started. We enjoyed views of the surrounding mountains, a glimpse of Monterey Bay, and the antics of several acorn woodpeckers on a dead ponderosa pine.

After lunch we headed downhill on the Ridge Fire Road,  which reenters the second-growth redwood forest. We crossed the Pipeline Trail and continued west and turned right on the Rincon Fire Road. From there we turned left on the River Trail, which took us along the beautiful San Lorenzo River. After intersecting the Pipeline Trail we continued back to the Big Trees Grove and then walked the eastern half of the Redwood Grove Loop Trail, where we enjoyed the sight of many magnificent old-growth trees.

After returning to the parking lot most of the group joined me for a short excursion just beyond the park boundary to the property of the Roaring Camp & Big Trees Railroad. In addition to watching the old steam train pass by we examined an old steam donkey, which used a one-piston engine to pull heavy logs by pulling a steel cable around a spool

. We also saw the remains of an old nineteenth century sawmill.

TO GET THERE... The main entrance is just south of Felton on Highway 9. There is an entrance fee.

A Figure 8 hike in Calero County Park

Calero County Park, south of San Jose, contains a reservoir and 3,476 acres, with trails that continue into adjacent Canada Del Oro Open Space Preserve. On the dry east side of the Santa Cruz Mountains, this park is hot and dry from late Spring until early Fall. I like it best from late March until mid-May when the grassy hills are green and there are lots of wild flowers.

Yesterday I lead my College of San Mateo class on a 6.1 mile figure 8 loop that left from the main parking lot off of McKean Road. With some steep uphill sections this was the most strenuous of the three field trips for this class. We took the Los Cerritos Trail uphill, past a little pond, and then turned left and up a steep section of the Pena Trail. We stopped to admire beautiful blue oaks, live oaks, and white oaks.

At an abandoned corral amid a bay tree woodland we continued on the Javelina Loop Trail to a small pond with a picnic trail, where we stopped for lunch. From there we continued uphill, past a serpentine grassland, and then downhill where we enjoyed a view of the reservoir. We then headed east on the Javelina Loop Trail to the Bat Inn, a structure that houses thousands of bats during the day. This section of trail has some steep uphill parts. Back at the corral intersection we hiked the Figueroa Trail, which parallels Calero Creek back to the parking lot. Some of us took the short cut by climbing over the gate.

Along the way we stopped to look at Persian clover, wild mustard, rose clover, blue eyed grass, vetch, black sage, coast sage, golden yarrow, blue dick, gilia, Ithurials spear, blow wives, linanthus, poppies, and blue elderberries.

TO GET THERE... from Highway 101 southbound from San Jose take Bernal Road west and turn south on McKean Road to the park entrance on the right.

A Springtime Ramble at La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve

Though La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve covers 5,700 acres, only a small part of it is currently open to the public. And that part is only open by getting a special use permit, driving a private road, and entering through a locked gate. The small parking lot accommodates only six vehicle. You can get a free permit by visiting the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District website.

Yesterday I lead a field trip for my De Anza College class on what passes for trails in this preserve. The trails are mostly old ranch roads and faint routes that may not even be recognizable as trails. We met at the Woodside town hall in Woodside to carpool to our destination. From there we walked uphill to a small private property enclave and then continued east on the dirt road to a telephone pole with the number 8. That marks the .1 mile trail downhill to an old-growth redwood identified on the map as Big Tree.  We then retraced our route back to the house and continued south on the ranch road beyond the concrete garage.

Continuing south over green grassy hills, we enjoyed views of the surrounding mountains and seashore and then entered a second-growth redwood grove with a burnt old-growth redwood and a strange tree with a bulging base. From there we continued to a grassy overlook called Vista Point, where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we retraced our steps to a grassy hilltop with lichen encrusted sandstone outcrops and then took a faint trail downhill and to the west. At the bottom of this trail are pieces of sheet metal where I usually find snakes. At this time all I found was one ring neck snake.  We also saw a blue-belly lizard and an alligator lizard nearby.  From there we took the ranch road uphill and back to the parking lot.

Along our route we saw Douglas iris, California poppies, blue-eyed grass, checker bloom, vetch, blue dicks, wild cucumber, filaree, owls clover, and many other wildflowers.

This property was purchased in the late 1940's by an airline pilot named Dyer, who flew a United Airlines route from New York to Hawaii. He ofter flew over the Santa Cruz Mountains and admired this grassy ridge top amid a forest and decided that it would be a good place to live. When in the Bay Area he contacted the owner of the property and bought it. When he called his wife, she was so excited she loaded up their possessions and drove their Ford pickup truck across the country and joined him. That truck is now in the concrete garage. Because the garage windows are too high to peer into without a ladder, I borrowed one from the woman who lives in the nearby house. I have included a photo.

TO GET THERE... Because this entrance is accessible via narrow roads, one of which is private, and there is a locked gate, you must get a permit before entering.

Wildflower Explosion at Edgewood County Park & Preserve

Wild flowers are blooming in profusion in the serpentine grasslands of Edgewood County Park & Preserve. Great crowds of people are jamming the main entrance on Edgewood Road for free weekend nature walks. To avoid the crowds take Edgewood Road west to where it ends and then turn left (south) on Canada Road, go under the freeway, and park in a dirt parking area on the west side of the road. Across from the parking lot begins the Clarkia Trail, which takes you into the park.

My College of San Mateo class met at the Clarkia Trail entrance to begin a 4.6 mile counter clockwise loop around the park. From the Clarkia Trail we headed right on the Sunset Trail

to the Serpentine Trail, with a brief side trip to see a rare blue rock called blue schist. We then followed the Serpentine Trail, turning right on the Franciscan Trail, left on the Edgewood Trail and then back to the Clarkia Trail by way of the Sunset Trail.

It is easy to see what parts of the park have serpentine soil by the profusion of wild flowers. Serpentine is the state rock of California. Associated with earthquake faults, it is low in calcium, nitrogen, and potassium, and high in nickel and chromium. This chemical composition makes it infertile and a difficult environment for plants that are not adapted to growing there. As a result, non-native annual grasses, which dominate most hillsides do poorly, and plants that evolved to grow in serpentine soil thrive.

Among the many wild flowers we saw sticky monkey flowers, linanthus, tidy tips, purple sanicle, goldfield, larkspur, owl clover, golden poppies, checker bloom, sun cups, cream cups, butter cups, narrow-leaf mule ear, blue eyed grass, and harvest brodiaea. We also saw deer, a wild turkey in a tree, and several fence lizards.

TO GET THERE... From Highway 280 take Edgewood Road west, turn left on Canada Road, and park on the dirt parking lot on the west side of the road just east of the freeway.