Month: January 2016

Squeezed in one more hike this month! A friend recommended Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, so there we went. The views were gorgeous.

Some steep uphills and brutal wind, as well as leftover mud from the rain a couple days ago, but nothing unmanageable (although we did manage to to choose a direction where the muddy parts were uphill for us). Also, the banana slugs were out in force.

Went with a friend; we got a late start, so we went to the closest hiking spot. I’ve been here several times and consider it more of a newbie-friendly area, thanks to a farm that kids can visit and wide trails.

We took the Coyote Trail to part of Rogue Valley trail, then took Mora (which was mostly paved) back to the parking lot. Pretty chill and plenty of other hikers out there. The highlight was the deer:

Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, New Year’s Day

Chosen thanks to the incomparable bahiker.com (Bay Area Hiker) site. Official site. Photos.

I originally had a computer gaming date set up for New Year’s Day, but it struck me that hiking would be a better start. One of my good friends had the same plan; she’s in a different area or we might have gone together. She in turn knows someone who’s making a resolution for 52 hikes in the year; that’s too much for me, but 26 might be more doable. Hence this log.

It took a windy drive which I thought was actually quite fun (I stayed at a safe speed at all times, which is more than I can say for some of the drivers I passed on my way back). I can see why one review complained that the drive took longer than the hike.

There were only two cars in the lot when I pulled up, but almost as soon as I figured out the right direction to head in, I met a group of four hikers heading out. We exchanged “good mornings” and I soon learned that the past rain had left some mud — and also frozen-over puddles.

I’ve lost all my cardio capacity, thanks to a still-healing foot injury, and I was dismayed at how much I was puffing with the first incline. But once I got some elevation, I was rewarded by the views.

There were some hiker-only paths, but I also found myself on some obvious equestrian-permissible trails. And there were some recent tracks that I think belonged to a coyote:

There were also a couple of lakes: the smaller Alpine Lake, which I did circle around despite the presence of families with noisy kids (nothing against them; I was just looking for a more peaceful environment), and the larger Horseshoe Lake, which I decided to just pass by because a group of bicyclists caught up to me and seemed to be heading in that direction. (They were perfectly polite! The first one even warned me that three more were coming. Just, again, peace.)

I ran into some extremely muddy areas on my way back to the lot — I slipped and slid a couple of times, and am just grateful I didn’t fall. When I got to the parking lot, I saw where previous hikers had scraped the mud off their boots and followed their lead, but still ended up scrounging up some plastic bags in the car to hold my hiking boots, and switched to a spare pair of running shoes I keep in the trunk.

All in all, a successful venture. My foot was a little tired, but in the way that speaks of a good workout. Mostly wasn’t nervous about being a solo hiker except when I thought the coyote tracks were a bobcat’s and the space between my shoulder blades itched. And despite the mud, I’m happy to have visited this place in the winter, as there were plenty of stretches of trail that had no cover. I had three layers and felt slightly overheated at some points as it was.

I did pass several other signs for open spaces and may check those out.