Uvas Canyon County Park 2016-01-25

Uvas Canyon County Park, a hidden gem that comes alive in winter after good rains with picturesque waterfalls provided just the perfect spot for a special hike to ear mark my 100th outing. Located at 8515 Croy Rd in Morgan Hill, the park can be reached by driving the 4+ miles in Croy Rd from Uvas Rd, passing through Sveadal, a private property belonging to Swedish American Legion. There is a $6 fee to enter the park.

Lower Falls

There are five falls by the Waterfalls Loop Trail and two outside of it. We started our hike by Swanson Creek Trail to Lower Falls, one of the two outliers. The trail goes right by Swanson Creek much of the way before going around a Indiana Jones-esque hill and a long flight of stairs before coming to the site of Lower Falls. Located where the smaller Swanson Creek and larger Uvas Creek meet, Lower Falls is a powerful waterfall in Swanson Creek, not very tall, but voluminous and impressive. 

Granuja Falls

From Lower Falls, we went back to the main road, retracing our steps. The Waterfalls Loop Trail that starts right across the road is also a nature trail. Do pick up the nature trail guide along with the park map; it will provide a great description of not just the waterfalls but also the flora by the creek and other interesting information. The trail crosses the Swanson creek more than once by wooden bridges and the first one is actually right in front of Granuja falls, the smallest falls we saw today.

Black Rock Falls

The loop trail goes on either side of Swanson creek. Water was flowing in both the hillside dry washes carrying run off from the recent rains. Black Rock falls comes next after crossing the fourth bridge over Swanson creek. From there, the trail goes by a level area called Myrtle Flats before coming up on yet another wooden bridge.

Knobcone trail

A side trip to Knobcone Point is possible from here. This is about a mile round trip, but this would involve climbing more than 400 feet in half a mile. Apollo and I did the relatively steep hike to Knobcone Point. As the trails climbs up hill, you will get to walk by the dry and sunny hillside with the sound of the water flowing receding to the background. 

Basin Falls

Right by the cut-off to Knobcone trail is Upper Falls. And to its right is Basin Falls. Both of them were impressive. I could walk right in front of Basin Falls for some excellent close up views.

Upper Falls

Instead of returning to the parking lot walking the other side of Waterfalls Loop trail, I decided to take the 1.5 mile Contour trail and extend our hike. Contour trail goes right by the Upper Falls providing yet another view of this waterfall. 

Contour trail

About 1/4 mile into the hike by Contour trail, the path crosses the creek, requiring you to walk across the fast flowing stream. It was passable today, but there are warnings to the effect that it may not always be passable. It was a gradual climb up by Contour trail before we came up on a fork and a sign asking hikers to "keep out of restricted area".

I doubt if this is a trail...

I took the fork to the right and it quickly became apparent that it was not the trail. I have marked this point in the map below with a note to stay on the left at the fork.  Back on Contour trail, it continues to ascend for a while more before going through a long stretch of easy and gentle downward slope through a heavily wooded forest. 

Manzanita Pt.

Contour trail ends at Alec Canyon trail. From here, it is possible to head back to the parking lot. Instead, Apollo and I had headed to Triple Falls, the other outlier, a 3/4 mile hike from here. Alec Canyon trail is a wide dirt trail that is much like Knobcone trail, albeit not so steep. It goes by a vista point called Manzanita Point with impressive views of the mountains surrounding the valley. 

Triple Falls

While Triple Falls did have a nice flow, it wasn't as voluminous as the previous ones we had visited. Still, the 1.5 mile round trip was certainly worth it. We wrapped our hike essentially retracing our way back to Contour trail junction and continuing further for another 1/2 mile to the parking lot. 

All in all, we did more than six and a half miles today in little over two and a half hours. The route I took today involved climbing about 1700 feet. The uphill portions are from Lower Falls all the way to Knobcone Pt. and the first 1/2 mile of Contour trail. 

More photos from my 100th hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #UvasCanyonCountyPark #UvasCanyonPark #WaterfallsHike 

Presidio (West Side) 2016-01-20

Presidio, located at the northern tip of San Francisco was an army post for more than two centuries. Today, it is a national park open to public with rich history, miles of hiking and biking trails with several impressive vista points overlooking the bay and San Francisco. Parking within the park is not expensive (by San Francisco standards) and is capped at $7. Free parking is also available in the streets outside of the park with posted restrictions.

Lobos Valley Overlook

We entered Presidio from the 14th Ave gate. We took the Anza trail, heading west, crossing 15th Ave and quickly coming upon Lobos Valley Overlook. From here, we continued on Anza trail to the Immigrant Point Overlook. For a while, this trail shares the sidewalk of Battery Caulfield Rd before becoming a dirt trail.

Immigrant Pt. Overlook

Immigrant Point Overlook has great views of the ocean and Marin coast, although today, visibility was low with fog. From Immigrant Point, we took the Connector trail - a long flight of steps that descends more than 200 feet to the Coastal trail.

Pacific Overlook

Coastal trail is a dirt trail and runs along the Pacific coast. In a short distance, it passes by Rob Hill on the right which has a World War II Memorial before coming to the next vista point, Pacific Overlook. You will have excellent views of Golden Gate Bridge from here as well as the next vista point.

GG Overlook

Continuing further by the Coastal trail, we came to Golden Gate Overlook with the best views of the historic bridge yet. All through, the trails pass by several erstwhile army battery buildings and other buildings that are actively used within the Presidio today.

Crissy Field

The trail goes under the GG Bridge & Toll Plaza to get us to the Welcome Center on the other side of Hwy 101. It is easy to access Crissy Field and the beach from here. We, however, stayed on Presidio Promenade and skirted by Crissy field from an elevation to come to yet another vista point, Crissy Field Overlook. 

From here, Presidio Promenade heads in a southerly direction, leaving the coast behind. All through, there are plenty of informational boards present. I was attracted to the one on Buffalo Soldiers by the Cavalry stables. It is easy to get completely absorbed in the two centuries of history in Presidio!

Cemetery Overlook

Leaving Presidio Promenade, we took the Park trail to wrap up our hike. The scenery also changes from an urban, multi-use trail to a rugged, hiking only dirt trail that goes through a thick forest. The trail also runs by the National Cemetery on the left. A short detour from the Park trail allowed us to stop by the last vista point for the day, National Cemetery Overlook. 

From here, we took the connector to the Bay Ridge trail, turning right to connect back with the Park trail at Park Blvd & Amatury Loop. Our home stretch on the Park trail passes through the Presidio Golf course before becoming somewhat non-descriptive and reaching the 14th Ave gate.

We covered the trails on the west side of the park with several impressive vista points. The park is very well directed. I have highlighted in bright yellow the trails we covered today. Feel free to print this map if you want. We will visit the Presidio to cover the east side one of these days.

More pictures from our 5.4 mile hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #Presidio #PresidioSanFrancisco #GGNRA #CoastalTrail

Half Moon Bay Coastal Trail (Miramontes Pt.- Wavecrest) 2016-01-15

Wavecrest

Half Moon Bay has several beaches and miles of coastal trails. Dogs are allowed in most trails, but only in specific beaches. The section of the coast we covered today was from Miramontes Point until Wavecrest Open Space. I had parked at the end Redondo Beach Rd where free parking is available for about 20 cars.

Ritz Carlton

Apollo and I started our walk from Redondo Beach parking lot heading south. After going by couple of private residences, the coastal trail enters the Ritz-Carlton property. As you would expect, the cement surfaced trail has a manicured look as it cuts through the posh property and lawns. 

As the trail goes south, technically exiting Ritz-Carlton and entering Half Moon Bay Golf Links, the upscale experience continues. Set on top of a bluff with the ocean on one side and a golf course on the other, this is as good as it gets. I am glad that the trail is open to public and allows dogs.

Manhattan Beach

About a mile south, a flight of stairs led us to the pristine Manhattan beach. One of the nicest beaches in the area, Apollo had a field day running around, initially by himself, subsequently with other dogs in the beach. 

Red-tailed Hawk

The trail crosses a wooden bridge south of the beach and goes south about half a mile more through the golf course. In this stretch, I noticed a red-tailed hawk sitting at ground level in the golf course. The predator showed no fear we walked by it and approached it close enough to take a good photograph. 

The trail ended abruptly at the edge of the golf course. I could see a rough trail going ahead, but that is through a private property and not a formal trail.  We turned around, little more than a mile and a half from where we started and retraced our steps back to Redondo beach parking lot.

It was sunny, crisp and felt very fall like - and I decided to hike north for a while. If the south section was manicured and upscale, the dirt trail in the north side had a rugged beauty to it. The trail was muddy, but we could walk close to the edge of the bluff several times, with really impressive views of the precipice and beach below.

The trails here have more than one option to go from one point to the other as it runs criss-cross on top of the bluff. Some stretches hug the precipice, others take you away from the edge, but they all head generally in the same direction. 

We walked north close to two miles, enjoying the scenic beauty laid out before us. And turned around at Wavecrest Open Space after learning little more about the fauna and flora of the region from the educational boards in that location. 

For variation, I tried to choose different stretches of the coastal trail. The beaches below the bluffs, at Wavecrest and Redondo were tempting, but I had to pass on them today. We retraced our steps back to Redondo Beach Rd. 


More pictures from our 6.6 mile walk.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #CoastalTrail #HalfMoonBayCoastalTrail #WaveCrest #RedondoBeach #MiramontesPoint #RitzCarltonCoastalTrail

Morgan Territory Regional Preserve 2016-01-10

After two hikes in an urban setting, I decided to go rugged at Morgan Territory Regional Preserve fully cognizant that the trails will be wet and muddy after the rains of last week. Tucked away 10 miles north of Livermore in Contra Costa County, this preserve is rich with Native American history, miles of trails, rolling hills, expansive views of several ridges and Mt. Diablo and more. To reach the staging area, from Hwy 580, take N Livermore Rd exit, travel north and turn right onto Morgan Territory Rd, following the one lane road to the parking lot. 

Apollo and I started our hike by Volvon trail. As I expected, the trail was quite muddy and slippery. Even though we hiked in the afternoon, the fog had not lifted this desolate park and the temperature was barely in the 40s, making our hike a proper wintry outing.

A brief stretch of Volvon trail had gravel making it that much easier to walk. From Volvon, we took Blue Oak trail, both of which essentially head in the same direction and meet ahead. Blue Oak trail opens up to large open grass lands which proved a blessing today as we could walk in the grass rather than the muddy trail. 

It was satisfying to see several ponds filled with rain water. Blue Oak trail also goes through a patch of oak trees before it connects back to Volvon trail. We continued north on Volvon trail. You will have the option of doing the mile long Volvon Loop trail, but we skipped it and took the shorter segment to reach the intersection of Stone Corral trail.

The park felt expansive with rolling hills and ridges all around in this section. I am sure walking round the Bob Walker ridge by the loop trail would have offered even impressive views. Along the way, we did pass several herds of cows grazing, now a reasonably sure part of most of our hikes in open preserves.

Our hike so far was kind of easy, gradually sloping down. Stone Corral trail took us down even more. Our progress had been slow given how wet the ground was. I decided to take the shorter Coyote trail, a single track, hiking only trail to wrap up our hike today.

Coyote trail descended somewhat briskly to the creek. And ran parallel to the creek for about half a mile. The narrow trail proved somewhat challenging and treacherous to negotiate, especially as it started climbing back up from the creek level. 

Coyote trail climbed some 700 feet in less than a mile. This was the only properly shaded section of our hike that was otherwise completely exposed. However, today, the ground saturated with water made it extremely slippery to climb back up. As we exited Coyote trail, we came upon another small pond filled with rain water with clear reflection of the surroundings.

More pictures from our 5+ mile hike. Morgan Territory will make a perfect spring hike, especially when the trails are dry. 
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #MorganTerritoryRegionalPreserve #MorganTerritoryPreserve #EBRPD

Iron Horse Regional Trail 2016-01-08

Iron Horse Regional Trail is a 32 mile long multi-use trail that runs from Concord to Pleasanton, spanning two counties and a dozen cities. Apollo and I walked the Alameda County portion of this long trail, starting at Santa Rita Road & Stoneridge Dr. in Pleasanton. You can find street side parking on Santa Rita Rd. near Navajo Ct. 

This regional trail is in a completely urban setting. Our walk today can be broken into three separate segments. The first segment was from Santa Rita Rd. until Dublin BART station. The second was from BART station to Amador Valley Rd. And the final segment from Amador Valley Rd. to Alcosta Blvd.

The first segment starts off running parallel to a canal and Arroyo Mocho trail briefly before turning right, heading in a north westerly direction. Little more than a mile and a half, this is the newest segment of this trail, done fully in concrete. The trail runs through a residential neighbor. Along the way, it also passes through two neighborhood parks in the city of Pleasanton.

The trail crosses several main roads along the way. It was interesting to see the trail's name called out at multiple pedestrian crossings. In addition to the parks and residences, the trail also passes by commercial buildings belonging to Valley Medical Care and Kaiser Permanente before crossing Owens Dr and reaching BART station.

After crossing the BART station using the Hwy 580 underpass, the trail resumes as a paved blacktop road. The second segment goes through a mix of residential and industrial area, crossing Dublin Blvd and Dougherty Rd. Just before reaching Amador Valley Blvd, the trail crosses Alamo Canal trail where Alamo creek and Coyote creek intersect.

Great Blue Heron

The final segment we walked was less urban compared to the earlier ones. Set on the levee of Coyote creek, this stretch is in the backyard of Dublin High School with views of the Dougherty Hills Open Space on the right. I have seen Great Blue Heron walking tall in the past, but this one on the banks of the creek put on a different face, sitting perfectly still as we walked by. We turned around at the four mile mark, just shy of Alcosta Blvd and essentially retraced our way back to where we started.

This trail is a nice option for those interested in training for long distance running or cycling. As well as for those seeking options to walk and avoid the wet rugged trails after several rainy days. The two trails that Iron Horse trail cut across - Arroyo Mocho trail and Alamo Canal trail are interconnected with Centennial trail offering plenty of options to Pleasanton residents for long walks and runs.

When we left home, it was sunny in south bay, the red hue from the rising sun offering hope for a bright hike. Turned out that Pleasanton and Dublin were chill and covered in fog for much of our hike. 

More pictures from our 8 mile walk. 
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #IronHorseTrail #EBRPD

Lands End 2016-01-03

Our first hike in 2016 was at Lands End, a breathtaking location at the northwestern corner of San Francisco that is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). There are multiple parking lots near Lands End Lookout located at 680 Point Lobos Ave where free parking is available. I had parked in the lot closest to USS San Francisco memorial.

While no printed maps of the location is available, the trail system is fairly simple and there are maps of the park in multiple locations with good directions. We started our hike walking north by the Coastal trail. Right of the bat, we were treated to great views of the ocean and the iconic Golden Gate bridge. 

It was a cloudy day with the sun breaking out occasionally. However, the day was clear with no fog allowing clear views of the bridge. Every turn by the coastal trail offered yet another perspective to the majestic Pacific and north coast.  About 1/2 mile into the walk, we came to a flight of stairs that led us down to the Mile Rock beach. 

Half way down the stairs, there was a landing in the bluff, again with impressive views all around. As I was standing there looking at the Mile Rock beach, I saw the crude oil tanker, Pegasus Voyager belonging to Chevron making its way into the bay pass under the Golden Gate bridge. 

Climbing back up to the trail, we continued heading north to Eagles Point. This section involves another climb by a flight of stairs before it reaches Eagles point. The best view of Golden Gate bridge today was from this spot. Towards the end, coastal trail is bordered by Lincoln Park golf course on one side. The coastal trail continues up north to China beach and beyond. 

We turned around here, walking by El Camino Del Mar with the golf course on our right. A short walk got us to the Art Museum, Legion of Honor. On the way to the Legion of Honor was another memorial, this one dedicated in 1984 for world peace. Right opposite the museum is another place of interest, a memorial to the six million victims of the holocaust. 

From here, we continued south walking by El Camino Del Mar trail which runs parallel to the coastal trail, but at a higher elevation. Stopping over at the USS San Francisco memorial, we again took the flight of steps down to the coastal trail but headed south this time.

On the south the trail takes you to Sutro bath ruins and Point Lobos, two impressive attractions in the park. Sutro bath ruins are the remains of a public bath house from 1896 that burned down in 1967. 

Reaching this spot, I would strongly recommend not missing the tunnel in Point Lobos that takes you to a spot with another awesome view of the bay and waves against the rocks.

We walked up ahead of until Cliff House, another iconic location in San Francisco before heading back to the parking lot and wrapping up our walk. The trails in Lands End are generally easy, but it does involve climbing several stairs, especially to enjoy the unique spots this location has to offer. Our 4.6 mile walk today involved climbing about 700 feet.








Update 2016-02-01

Jaya and I decided to spend our anniversary with a hike at this enchanting place. The weather was picture perfect, the views of the Pacific and Golden Gate bridge really amazing.

In addition to the hike, we also covered all the places of interest - Sutro Baths ruins, Point Lobos, the Holocaust Memorial, USS San Francisco Memorial and the Lincoln Park Golf Course.



More pictures from our walk.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #LandsEnd #CoastalTrail #GGNRA #PointLobos #SutroBathRuins