cold canyon stebbins trail

I've been on part of this trail before (the the homestead trail portion), but this time we hiked the loop where you get a beautiful view of Lake Berryessa. It's 4.75 miles, and the middle 1/3 is pretty strenuous...you hike along the ridge of a mountain, along 5 undulating peaks.



When we stopped at the top of the first peak for a snack, we got to see the top side of some flying turkey vultures. and also at one point actually heard the sound of a (crow?) large black bird's wings flapping in the air - pretty neat.

Bishop's Peak

Off Foothills blvd, in SLO. I didn't make it to the tippy top, but it was a good hike with some nice views of the valley.

Stebbins Cold Canyon Hike

A 45-minute drive west of Davis (15 minute west of Vacaville, CA) bring you to Stebbins Cold Canyon and the Homestead Trail. This is part of the UC Davis Natural Reserve System which contains many locations for outdoor activities/research.

When you get to the parking area (marked only by a silver gate), there is no obvious signage to get you to the correct trail, only after you have found it (cross the dangerous road with no visibility, and veer right on the trail) and walked on it for a while, do you find a information placard and sign-in area(also after two very narrow gate passages (we had a bit of a time getting through with the child hiking carrier.




We stopped for a picnic lunch at the cold storage remains at the end of the homestead trail a very shady area with lots of rock foundation to sit on.



The trail is half shady and half exposed with a fun little "living tunnel".

Lafayette reservoir

In Lafayette, CA The Municipal Utility District owns a reservoir which they very generously (for a small fee) allow day use to, you can go on the water with non-motorized craft, you can fish from any of the many docks that surround the lake, and you can run or walk your dog on the 2.7 mile paved trail (I hour of walking) that encircles the lake.

Loch Leven Trail

Off Hiway 80 near Soda Springs, there is a 5-mile roundtrip trail to the Lower Loch Leven Lake. This trail is pretty much all uphill to the lake, and down hill on the way back. You cross a stream over a wooden bridge, train tracks (at your own risk) and lots of boulders. The trails is very rocky in some places, very dry and powdery in others (maybe just at this time of year). The lower lake is very pretty - totally worth the hike...




There is an optional extension to the higher Loch Leven Lake that is a 7 mile round trip hike.

Pony Express Trail

A group of friends and I and our dogs hiked a bit of the pony express trail today. We started off of Sierra-at-Tahoe Road, off highway 50 in California. Part of it goes through a popular snowsporting area (called Sierra-at-Tahoe), it was funny to see the building and runs in the summer.

This is #4 of 10 NPS locations I'm hoping to visit before October

Hidden Falls Trails

I went hiking at Hidden Falls Trails with two friends, we did the long loop at about 5 miles, a lot of the trail is in shade but on super-hot days there are long stretches of exposed trail in some places.


The Placer Legacy Program has done an excellent job on these trails, they are nicely marked, there are great stone stairways and a perfectly beautiful overlook to the falls.


The areas near the creek have many wildflower examples including the one above.

Lower Salmon Lake

Went hiking with some friends near Sierra City, CA. What was supposed to be a short hike turned into a complete trailblazing adventure. When the trail ended about 1/4 of the way around the small lake, We blazed our way around the rest of it and through a section where we had to pick our way across fallen logs over a swamp. Fun Hike!

Martinez Regional Shoreline

Part of the East Bay Regional Parks district, the Martinez Regional Shoreline is a pretty large park with a boat dock, a pier you can fish off of, and duck ponds where you can feed the ducks.

Shell Ridge, Walnut Creek

I went for a hike with my dog at the Shell Ridge open space preserve in Walnut Creek, CA. It's a nice place but be sure to bring plenty of water with you especially in those hot summer months. There Are beautiful views of the valley, and many miles of trails for exploration.

There were a ton of squirrels, and red-tailed hawks out on the day I went, and I saw some blooming campunela flowers in the valleys. There were even a couple of red-winged blackbirds.

Sibley Park

I went for a hike/photo excursion at Sibley Park in Oakland with someone from the East Bay hikers group. The wildflowers were abundant.





Sibley Park is accessed in Oakland has volcanic interest and also labrinths. http://www.bahiker.com/eastbayhikes/sibley.html

Coyote Hills Regional Park

In Fremont & Fullerton, Ca I think this must be a big birding spot, I went here for a class on Bay-friendly gardening put on by Alameda county. There were a lot of people there with binoculars and cameras though, and I saw probably 15 different birds and I wasn't even looking! Worth the trip. Check out their website for hours of operation and bring $5 for parking. You can also bike through on the paths that meander through the park as well.
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They also do nature hike on the second Saturday of every month http://www.coyotehills.org/artman/publish/article_13.shtml

I guess they are under pressure to give up some land to build (guess what...) houses. check out there blog here:

Acalanes Ridge Open Space Preserve, Walnut Creek

I live right near here, but have never gone on this trail. It connects to Briones, I didn't make it that far, but the trail up acalanes was good, you go through a cow pasture, and there is one particular hill they all seem to like, Jamie dubbed it "Poo Mountain," for obvios reasons. She also shared her theory that cows are insidious.

University Falls - Georgetown, CA

I went hiking here with a group of friends. It was a lot of fun. There are swimming ponds and natural waterfalls/slides.

Spooner lake hiking/Sand Harbor

Went hiking today on the east side (Nevada side) of Lake Tahoe. We hiked a NV state park trail that goes from spooner lake to Merrit lake (thought we didn't make it all the way to merrit lake), and then afterward went to Lake Tahoe, and spent some time at Sand Harbor, a NV state park on the lake that has a bar, ice cream and snacks and beautiful spots on the lake to hang out at.