I took the dog up to Fremont Older yesterday by myself, cuz Roya is getting ready for science camp (so jealous!). We did the usual hike - up the Cora Older trail, over to the Hayfield trail, and then up to Hunter's Point. It was a beautiful clear day, and you could see the whole bay area - awesome.

Elliott was being his usual crazy bunny-hopping self, and at one point, he found a patch of long fresh green grass, and laid down in it for a short rest. There were a ton of blooming wildflowers, and I'll mention one in particular: Gnaphalium californicum. Here's a picture:


Pretty ordinary, right? Well, in case you go hiking with your dog, and he or she tends to barrel through grasses and plants beside the trail, here's something to note. 

This plant makes your dog smell like maple syrup. 

Yup. 

I woke up this morning to my dog jumping on my bed, thinking that someone, somewhere was making pancakes. 

Seriously. 

Can I get a Hell Yea for Google, folks? :) 

Note to self - don't take long breaks from hiking.

This was not our fastest hike - sitting it out for a few weeks after hiking 3-4 times a week put us very close to back where we started - panting up the damn hill again. Grr.

But hey, we made it once again to Hunter's Point:


On our way down the hill, we passed the Monday hiking group, which now has morphed into a sort of "hike with your dog" group. Copycats.

(Also, on our way down, we heard some, uh, screaming. We're almost totally completely sure it was a peacock. We think. Or there's a crazy mountain people cult up there. But that's probably not what it was. It was for sure peacocks. probably.)

We took the Creekside trail back to Prospect Road this time - very pretty now that the mud has dried up. Anyway, it was a good segue back into the hiking habit, and we should be out again in a few days.

So - Roya has been sick, it's been raining, and I've been lazy. So, when Roya suggested we walk near Lake Almaden, I was totally in. And, judging by the pace we set, it was a good call.

I had never been to Lake Almaden before, just driven past it on Almaden Expressway on my way to other places (Hi, Bobby!).  We actually went to a trail that starts right at the end of Winfield drive and runs alongside Alamitos creek. The dogs enjoyed it in their own special ways: Elliott barked at all the dogs, and tried to catch all the squirrels and birds. Koda was far more well-behaved, only snarling at one puppy, and making us laugh by wading in the stream and coming out looking like a small gray alpaca.

heh. Koda the Alpaca. Still gets me every time :)

Google Maps says that our walk was 2.3 mile, and that feels about right - a good post-time change, after work beginning :)

Waiting for the weather to clear sucks when you're trying to start a hiking blog. And you know, actual hiking. The dog and I tried yesterday to walk through a field near my house, and as it turns out, fields generally get kinda muddy when it rains. And dogs get muddy when they wander muddy fields. Funny how that works... 

So yea, looking forward to actual trails, less mud.