School Is Out
I managed to get the last test scored and grades turned in on Thursday, so now I’m more or less free for a couple weeks. Today I drove over to the coast near Pigeon Point Lighthouse and visited the Waddell Creek entrance to Big Basin Park. More to come…
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An Indoor Weekend
As a teacher, I often have more opportunities than most for hitting the trail – but not this weekend. This is the last week of the fall term and finals start next week. Consequently, I have a lot of papers to grade today, tonight, tomorrow…
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Park corrals a rancho
***Huge addition to GGNRA virtually undeveloped
– SFGate:
Rich Allen rode his horse up a trail above the San Mateo County coast Wednesday and watched as a coyote trotted 100 yards away and a red-tailed hawk swirled overhead.
He was thrilled that Congress voted unanimously the day before to add nearly 5,000 acres surrounding his Moss Beach Ranch horse-riding operation to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He and others hope the public will be able to hike, ride horses and perhaps bicycle there in a few years, while enjoying some of the Bay Area’s most sweeping vistas.
Yet another new park. (OK, an addition to an existing park, but still… :-)
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Season's First Ski Trip
I’m just back from Squaw Valley where my buddy Owen and I put our telemark skis back on for the first time this season. We’ve had one storm (last week) that was a bit warm, but the snow on the upper mountain was absolutely wonderful. Surprisingly, there were very few skiers sharing the slopes with us.
It was a long drive. I’m tired. That’s all for now…
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Rancho Cañada Del Oro Park Opening
Park Opening. Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve. December 3, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
I made it – just barely – to the opening ceremony for the new Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve in South San Jose this morning. And, yes, it really is inside the San Jose city limits, though you would never know it from your surroundings.
By the time I arrived for the 10:00 a.m. event (at about 10:05) the main parking lot was full and many cars had been directed up the road to an overflow lot. There were well over 100 people in attendance, perhaps as many as 200 all told. I was quite surprised since the first I had heard of this was yesterday and because the park is not in the most obvious or accessible location. Perhaps the beautiful, clear late-fall day had something to do with it.
Although I recognized almost no one in the crowd, Tom Mangan (of the Two-Heel Drive hiking blog – see photo at right) introduced himself, and we ended up hiking the loop trail to the top of the ridge together. Tom is an interesting guy. Although he is newer to this hiking business, he knows quite a bit about trails in the Santa Clara Valley, especially some in the east hills that I am not as familiar with.
The obvious route would go straight up the valley from the parking lot. However, if I understood correctly, one condition of acquiring this land was that the road used by existing landowners would not be open to the public. So our trail left the valley floor and contoured up and to (more or less) the north, finally intersecting the Bald Peak trail from Calero Park at a very high and open viewpoint. We continued up this ridge trail for awhile, getting to perhaps a half mile from the point where I ended my hike last weekend. Although I would have liked to have continued on to that point and then to the Serpentine Trail, time was getting short. We descended a steeper and shorter route back to the parking lot where I met Debbie Cashman (who works at my college) and her husband.
This seems like a nice addition to the chunk of land around and south of Calero Reservoir. There were still beautiful fall colors along the creeks and plenty of oak forests on the hillsides above, and views from the highest ridges are expansive.
(Note: Tom has told me that he posted his story on this event at his blog: http://tommangan.net/archives/cat_hiking_rancho_canada_del_oro.html)
Prospect #3 Trail
Prospect #3 Trail. Almaden Quicksilver Park. February 26, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
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El Capitan, Merced River, Fall Colors
El Capitan and the Merced River. Yosemite Valley. October 30, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
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October Foliage
October Foliage. Yosemite Valley. October 30, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
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Proof That I'm No Bird Expert
Earlier I posted some photos of a bird I saw during a hike at Calero park this week. I identified the bird as a “hawk” – even though that was pretty much a wild guess on my part. (I’m definitely no bird expert.)
My friend Tom Clifton wrote in to set me straight. He tells me that the characteristic shape of the wings shown in the photo clearly identified the bird as a turkey vulture. I’ve corrected the labels on those pictures. Thanks, Tom!
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Dan's Outside 
Dan's Not Outside
At least not during the past week or so. It is the last week of the fall term here where I teach, and I’ve been too busy to get out. I barely left the house last weekend as I had a big pile of ungraded papers staring me in the face. However, my last final exam is tomorrow and I’m hoping to get back out very soon – and bring back photographs.
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December 14, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Dan's Not Outside