Chilling on the California Coast
“Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.” That’s sound advice from a wise mariner. But what about when smoke from California wildfires plunges The Coastside into darkness and the blood-orange sky persists at midday? We went for a drive to immerse ourselves in the weirdness.
Continue reading “Cruising The Coast Beneath Apocalyptic Skies on the San Francisco Peninsula”
Every hike begins with great expectations. And while the redwoods at Russian Gulch State Park proved less grand and the fern canyon less lush than expected, we still found plenty to enjoy. Continue reading “Great Expectations on the Trail at Russian Gulch State Park in Mendocino”
Weekly hikes in the Santa Cruz Mountains have been a highlight of our socially distant summer. Sadly, our recent tromp at Wilder Ranch State Park will be our last for a while as the CZU August Lightning Complex fires rip through this coastal range. Continue reading “A Fiery End to a Summer of Hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains”
The last blast from the IXL quarry north of Santa Cruz echoed up Fall Creek a century ago. Today, the gurgle of the creek prevails beneath the descendants of the old growth redwoods that fed the quarry’s lime kilns. Continue reading “A Forest Reborn Amid Lime Industry Relics on Fall Creek at Henry Cowell Redwoods”
Pandemic hiking rules can have unintended consequences. For example, when the one-way trails at Big Basin Redwoods added 4.5 miles, a degree of difficulty and four waterfalls to our day hike. Continue reading “Magical Falls & Pandemic Protocols on the Trail at Big Basin Redwoods”
There’s more to the Santa Cruz Mountains than redwoods, fence lizards and banana slugs. We hiked the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve for views that stretch from the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco Bay. Continue reading “Astride the Crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains at Russian Ridge”