Weekend Hike #2
Today I got up later (6:30, which is late for me) and didn’t get away until about 9:30. I decided to check out Uvas Park which is located a bit further south than my usual hiking location at Calero Park. Although I have been up the road to this park a couple of times over the years, this is the first time I have hiked there.
After driving through the village of Sveadal (what is that place about?) I arrived at the park and decided not to do the typical waterfall loop that the park is known for, but to instead take the very steep trail to Nibb Knob and Summit Road.
And steep it is! The average incline seems steeper than Mission Peak and the English Camp trails, two area trails that I think of as somewhat steep. The climb is unrelieved; there are no downhill sections on the way out, and only a few where the trail becomes briefly less steep. Being steep, the trail fairly quickly climbs out of the lush vegetation in the valley near the park headquarters and then follows ridges toward the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
I passed the lateral to Nibb Knob on the way up and continued on to Summit Road, hoping to find something interesting there, like perhaps a view to the ocean. No luck. The trail tops out at a dusty dirt road about 50 feet from where it ends and across the way from a fairly ugly homestead full of old trailers and cut up wood. I investigated for a couple minutes before descending back to the Nibb Knob lateral, which I climbed to the summit where I took a lunch break.
The rest of the descent went quickly – much faster than the ascent – and I was soon back at the park headquarters, having taken exactly zero photographs. It may have been the harsh midday light or perhaps I just felt like hiking, but I didn’t even take my camera out of the pack.
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Weekend Hike #1
After an early January that did not allow for much in the way of hiking, I finally got out for (almost) the first time yesterday. I was up early and down at Calero park just as the sun was coming up through the morning fog. I quickly loaded up the camera pack and headed the short distance to Los Cerritos pond, thinking I might stop for a moment there before heading off on a long hike.
As I arrived at the pond I thought it might be interesting to take some photos of the foggy dawn, and when a large white egret flew up from behind some reeds at the edge of the lake I decided to set up the tripod and see what might happen.
I didn’t notice how much time had passed – though I did notice how cold I was getting – until almost an hour and a half had passed. Fortunately, I think I got some interesting photographs at this usually nondescript pond, including a couple I posted earlier.
I finally dragged myself away from the pond and made it up the Pena trail to a hill top where the sun was just breaking through the fog. After stopping here for another half hour or so of photography I realized that I was not going to have time for my original hike plans.
Instead, I decided to do explore a cross-country route along a fairly level and open ridge. During most of the year I would not try this since hiking through the tall grass is almost more trouble than it is worth. However, each winter there is a period of a couple of months between the time that last season’s grasses fall over and the new growth begins during which one can hike almost anywhere along these open grassy ridges. So I explored, finally arriving at a trail fairly close to where I had started.
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Los Cerritos Pond, Winter Morning
Los Cerritos Pond. Calero Hills, California. January 20, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (Sales)
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Oak Snag
Oak Snag. Calero Hills, California. January 20, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
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Egret, Pond, and Fog
Egret, Pond, and Fog. Calero Hills, California. January 20, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
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Mount Shasta, Frozen Pond and Frost
Mount Shasta, Frozen Pond and Frost. Northern California. January 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
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A Very Long Drive and a Brief Visit to Mount Shasta
No hiking this weekend – a long drive instead. I had some family business to attend to in Seattle, and it was business that required me to drive there rather than fly. I was able to leave the SF Bay Area a few minutes before 2:00 on Friday afternoon and make it as far as Grants Pass, Oregon that night, finishing the rest of the drive by mid-afternoon on Saturday.
The weather reports from the Seattle area are true – snow, though not deep, is everywhere. I saw it on the ground everywhere as soon as I climbed Siskiyou Pass at the California/Oregon border, and the temperature stayed below freezing the whole time I was in Oregon and Washington.
Having limited time and being somewhat prone to epic drives, I chose to drive all the way back to the Bay Area from Seattle… on Monday. I left before dawn and returned home after 11:00 p.m. I had my iPod and I listened to all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies, a few hours of various local radio stations, two hour plus podcasts, and quite a bit of other music.
And, of course, there was no hiking for me this weekend. Between the driving and my (family) business in Seattle I had little free time. My one brief escape was to drive east on a small dirt road north of Mount Shast on the way home, where I found an a stark landscape offering an interesting perspective on the north side of the peak as the sun set.
Mount Shasta and Frozen Pond, Evening. January 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Mount Shasta and Gate, Twilight. Northern California. January 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
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Gambolin' with the Gambolin' Man
Seen at Two-Heel Drive:
Next hiking meet-up: Las Trampas Feb. 3. Gambolin Man will be the guest of honor/bullseye of blame at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness near San Ramon on Saturday, Feb. 3. For now, let’s make the start time 10 a.m.
Weather will be the wild card. There’s no point making this a rain-or-shine event, because rain will make the trails god-awful mucky, and they’ll stay that way for at least a couple days after the storms pass. I get a perverse thrill from mud hiking, but taking a group of any size along is too hard on the trails. So: Rain will force us to reschedule if it arrives the Thursday and Friday beforehand, too.
Here’s a Google Maps link for the park. Fairly easy to get to from I-680, just head west from the Bollinger Canyon Road exit.
I’ll let the Gamboleer work up a trail itinerary. He’s an adventurous sort so it could turn into a most-of-the-day event.
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Young Aspen Tree, Conway Summit
Young Aspen Tree. Near Conway Summit, California. October 8, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
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Dan's Outside 
Mount Shasta Area Photographs
While I post many examples of my outdoor photography here at dan’s outside, my primary photography web site and photography blog is G Dan Mitchell Photography. You can find a variety of different and more recent images via these links.
Photographs and other materials posted at dan’s outside and at my other sites are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell unless otherwise indicated and may not be used for any purpose without advance permission. Contact G Dan Mitchell at dan@gdanmitchell.com for information about licensing the use of these photos and for information about purchasing photographs.
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Mount Shasta, Frozen Pond and Frost. Northern California. January 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Mount Shasta and Frozen Pond, Evening. January 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
Mount Shasta and Gate, Twilight. Northern California. January 15, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell. (Sales)
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January 16, 2007 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Mount Shasta Area Photographs