The Bay Area Ridge Trail from White Hill Preserve to Samuel P. Taylor State Park travels southwest from Castro Valley up a moderate grade through grassy meadows and groves of mixed trees. The trail flattens out at the Gary Giacomini Preserve and becomes incredibly rocky as it reaches stands of pygmy cypress that grow in the thin serpentine soil along San Geronimo Ridge. The rocky surface finally yields as the trail drops steeply into a canyon filled with ferns and redwoods before leveling off at the state park, paralleling San Geronimo Creek for the final two miles.
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Continue reading “A Toe-Stubber at San Geronimo Ridge on the Ridge Trail”