60 Hikes in 60 Miles: San Francisco

At Tomales Bay State Park, Hearts Desire, Shell Beach, and Millerton Point parking and day use areas have been closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays since October.

Olompali has been closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays since October.

Jack London will be closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays starting December.

Sugarloaf State Park will be closed from December-February.

Several websites offer suggestions and seek your support:

Save Our State Parks

California State Parks Foundation

If you value California State Parks, please help any way you can.

Friday, November 18, 2011

What a pleasure to hike at Edgewood, with such nicely graded trails, birds to watch, and flowers to spot. Before I hit the trails I stopped at the new Bill and Jean Lane Education Center -- it's a cute little building with thoughtful displays about Edgewood's flora and fauna. When the EC is open, volunteers are available to answer questions and offer hiking advice. Check it out.

Other than the Education Center, nothing new or different to report from the trails. I'm looking forward to spotting Edgewood's first blooms of winter in January.

Sweeney Ridge

I escaped City fog and enjoyed perfect weather at Sweeney Ridge this week. Happy to see that all trails are now signed, there's an information signboard at the trailhead, and a new composting toilet at the ridgeline junction with the paved and dirt road. I am bummed that the entrance stile makes it impossible for folks in wheelchairs to access the trails. Some smart designer out there should come up with a new entrance, one that would prevent access to motorcycles but allow strollers and wheelchairs through.

I saw the usual scrub jays, vultures, and hawks, spied one chipmunk, and noticed a good amount of coyote and bobcat scat on the ridge. Nearly every pile was studded with fruit pits and that perplexed me, since there's hardly any edible fruits this time of year at Sweeney Ridge. Coffeeberry? No, not in November. Hmm, pondered for many steps until I spotted a cluster of something edible up on the ridge. Aha! Twinberry! Mystery solved.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Lace your boots -- I need your help!

I'm working on the third edition of 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: San Francisco, and I need your help field checking hikes.

Here's how it works:

Go to http://60in60sf.blogspot.com/2011/08/tentative-hike-list-for-3rd-edition.html

Browse the list of hikes

Choose one or as many as you like

Hike them, following the directions on the webpages

Post comments on http://60in60sf.blogspot.com/2011/08/tentative-hike-list-for-3rd-edition.html

I'm looking for comments such as:

updates to driving directions

changes in access or entrance fees

changes in trail names

changes in trail conditions

new trails

removed trails

anything different than the text

anything good or bad in your hiking experiences

anything interesting you see or experience while hiking

Every hiker who field checks a hike and posts a comment will receive thanks in print in the book. The twenty most useful comments (judged by me) will earn their owners a free copy of the third edition.

Thank you for your help -- your comments have shaped my website and books and I appreciate you!eful comments (judged by me) will earn their owners a free copy of the third edition.

updates to driving directions

changes in access or entrance fees

changes in trail names

changes in trail conditions

new trails

removed trails

anything different than the text

anything good or bad in your hiking experiences

anything interesting you see or experience while hiking

Saturday, August 27, 2011

One hot Russian (Ridge hike)

I tried to get to Russian Ridge early to beat the heat on Thursday, but as I pulled into the parking lot at 10am I knew I would be suffering in 2 hours, since it was already uncomfortably hot. At the start of my hike Mount Diablo poked above a blanket of valley fog to the east. The views south were tremendous and I could see the mountains south of Monterey Bay quite clearly.

I crossed paths only with 4 mountain bikers in 2 1/2 hours -- I suppose the more sane hikers were (wisely) trekking in the woods. I was hot but had a great hike anyway.

There are few wildflowers left in the grassland so late in the season, just some smatterings of clarkia and California fuschia. I spotted white-tailed kites soaring over the hills, and

throughout the hike there were many cliff swallows flitting about. I was pleased to see fat snake squiggles in the dust and the trails are so dry right now that coyote and bobc

at tracks were visible as well. Not far from the trailhead I came across this massive scat which m

ust be from a mountain lion -- I put my camera case next to it for scale and the case is 4 inches so the scat was more than 8 inches. Yow!

Trails were in great shape and I encountered no changes or mistakes that would require updating or fixing for the next edition. I'll likely extend the Russian Ridge hike from 3.6 miles (as it stands in the second edition) to 4.7 miles, substituting Hawk Ridge Trail for the unnamed connector between the Ridge Trail and Mindego Trail, and requiring a longer stretch on the Ridge Trail to return to the trailhead -- I think Hawk Ridge (a singletrack) is a prettier trail and an easier ascent.

PS: Apologies for the funky formatting and line breaks here -- I can't figure out how to insert photos without this happening!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Tentative hike list for 3rd edition

After sorting through feedback, I've decided to drop 3 hikes on the geographical fringe of the "60 Hikes in 60 Miles" concept. I still believe it's worth the long drive to Henry Coe and Mount St. Helena (so I've kept them in the next edition), but readers have asked for more hikes closer to San Francisco, so I'll be adding three new hikes in the City proper. You can still read about the dropped hikes (Wilder Ranch, Loch Lomond, and Pinnacle Gulch) on Bay Area Hiker.

NORTH BAY (including Marin, Sonoma, and Napa Counties)
1 Angel Island State Park
2 Annadel State Park
3 Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
4 China Camp State Park
5 Jack London State Historic Park (will be rewritten to reflect new trails)
6 Marin Headlands: Gerbode Valley Loop
7 Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve
8 Mount Tamalpais: Phoenix Lake
9 Mount Tamalpais State Park: Matt Davis-Steep Ravine Loop
10 Mount Tamalpais State Park: Mountain Home-Muir Woods Loop
11 Mount Tamalpais State Park: Cataract Falls-Potrero Meadows Loop
12 Point Reyes National Seashore: Bear Valley to Arch Rock
13 Point Reyes National Seashore: Muddy Hollow (new page coming soon)
14 Point Reyes National Seashore: Tomales Point
15 Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve
16 Skyline Wilderness Park
17 Robert Louis Stevenson State Park
18 Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
19 Samuel P. Taylor State Park (book version is slightly different -- I can mail copies of this hike)
20 Tomales Bay State Park
EAST BAY (including Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)
21 Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve
22 Briones Regional Park
23 Anthony Chabot Regional Park
24 Coyote Hills Regional Park
25 Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve
26 Las Trampas Regional Wilderness
27 Los Vaqueros Watershed
28 Mission Peak Regional Preserve
29 Morgan Territory Regional Preserve
30 Mount Diablo State Park: Donner Canyon Waterfall Loop (an updated hike is planned with Hetherington, Bruce Lee, Donner trails connecting to Cardinet Oaks Road)
31 Mount Diablo State Park: Mary Bowerman Loop
32 Mount Diablo State Park: Mitchell Canyon-Eagle Peak Loop
33 Redwood Regional Park
34 Round Valley Regional Preserve
35 Sunol Regional Wilderness
36 Tilden Regional Park (book version is different but the web hike -- I can mail copies of this hike)
PENINSULA AND SOUTH BAY (including San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties)
37 Almaden Quicksilver County Park
38 Año Nuevo State Reserve
39 Big Basin Redwoods State Park: Waterfall Loop
40 Castle Rock State Park
41 Henry W. Coe State Park
42 Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
43 Edgewood Park and Preserve (DONE)
44 Joseph D. Grant County Park (planning a hike with different trails for 3rd ed)
45 Montara Mountain (book version is different -- I can mail copies of this hike)
46 Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
47 Portola Redwoods State Park
48 Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve (planning a hike with different trails for 3rd edition)
49 Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve
50 Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve (book version is different -- I can mail copies of this hike)
51 Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve (planning a slightly different hike for 3rd edition)
52 San Bruno Mountain County Park (planning a slightly different hike for 3rd edition)
53 Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve
54 Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve (book version is different -- I can mail copies of this hike)
55 Sweeney Ridge (DONE)
56 Uvas Canyon County Park
57 Windy Hill Open Space Preserve
SAN FRANCISCO
58 Lands End (DONE)

59 Mount Davidson (DONE)

60 Lobos Creek Trail, the Presidio

Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Final (hopefully) list of hikes for 3rd edition

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Upcoming park closures