Dan's Outside

A new twist on an old hike

Every so often I hike at Calero County Park south of San Jose, often taking the Peña Trail to the Javelina Loop Trail, which I tend to hike in a clockwise direction. Near the furthest point from the trailhead the Javelina Trail crosses a ridge and then drops down towards Calero Reservoir.

Last May I detoured off the trail at this high point, crossing a small rise and a meadow to climb to the top of a rocky ridge where I could watch birds. Today I climbed out of the tule fog to this same point and saw a trail running back along the open grassland on the top of the ridge. Although it is not marked on the map it is clearly a real trail, so I decided to follow it.

It more or less follows the top of the ridge between the two legs of the Javelina Trail. Today this meant that I was just barely above the fog most of the time, dipping in and out of the top of the fog back as I traversed the ridge, finally descending to the old corral at the junction with the Peña Trail.

Above the fog on the Javelina Loop Train. Calero Park. January 23, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell

This view was not typical on today’s hike. Almost the entire morning was spent hiking through very heavy fog – except for breaking out when I crossed this ridge.
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January 23, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on A new twist on an old hike

Not again!

I found another web site that is swiping my content verbatim: http://www.mylatestnews.com/moreshopping/Outdoors.asp

The RSS feed from dan’s outside is for personal use only and may not be repurposed for on public web sites without permission from Dan Mitchell.

It is fine to link to pages on this web site but it is not OK to insert the content into other sites without permission. Doing so consititutes a violation of copyright. For further information see the copyright notice at dan’s outside.
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January 23, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Not again!

Copyright

Photographs and other materials at dan’s outside are copyright Dan Mitchell unless otherwise indicated. Photos may not be used without written permission for any purpose. The RSS feed from this site is for personal use only and may not be inserted verbatim into other web pages. Please see my Copyright Notice.
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January 23, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Copyright

Looks like spring

Oak and grass covered ridge near Webb Canyon. Almaden Quicksilver Park. January 22, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell
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January 22, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Looks like spring

Bay Area Bears?

No, I’m not thinking of Cal’s football team. According to Tom Stienstra in SFGate:

The Bay Area’s greatest wildlife mystery — the chance that a few bears are roaming the region’s 1.2 million acres of surrounding greenbelt — gained new credibility last week with the return of the “Swanton Road Bear.”

I like the idea that there could be black bears in the Bay Area and I’d love to spot one on one of my hikes.

January 21, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | 1 Comment

Thanks!

“Grant” sent a very nice email today:

Your photos of Almaden Quicksilver park are AWESOME.  Most excellent.

I first hiked it as a kid in 1962 when it was trespassing.  I think the park looks better now that the cows aren’t grazing.  There used to be a tarantula “city” up by the ridge by Guad-dam.  Must have been 300 of them.

I really appreciate the compliment – and the bit of Almaden Quicksilver history.

By the way, the photos are here and here.

– Dan
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January 18, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Thanks!

Ski Report

I’m back
from a quick ski trip to Squaw Valley to practice my telemark technique. No pictures this time: I took my camera and was thinking about putting it in my pack as we left the car but one of my skiing partners accurately pointed out that I was there to ski, not photograph. So I skied.

It was a stunningly beautiful day. We got a very early start – getting onto the slopes before the crowds arrived. Lake Tahoe is visible from the upper mountain, as is a good chunk of the surrounding Sierra Nevada.

We drove to a friend’s place in Elk Grove (outside of Sacramento) on Friday and “camped out” in sleeping bags on the floor. This was a lot warmer than our original plan to camp in the backs of our cars at the rest stop on top of Donner Pass. We were out the door at 5:00 a.m., arriving at Squaw Valley at about 7:10 and getting a parking space only 50 feet from where later arrivals pay $20 day for close-in parking.

I made more progress towards my goal of becoming a competent telemark skier, managing to get down some intermediate runs in decent style this time.
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January 16, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Ski Report

To the snow!

Finally, a weekend without a blizzard! I’m joining some friends for a one-day blitz at Squaw Valley. Some of us will be on telemark gear and others may be on who knows what.

I leave in 5 minutes!
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January 14, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on To the snow!

Working on a photo

Lake along Tioga Road. September 25, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell

I am still working on this photo.
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January 14, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Working on a photo

Lamarck Col Tarn

Tarn at Lamarck Col. August 12, 2004. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell
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January 9, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Lamarck Col Tarn