The last time Dina came down from Benicia, I dragged her along on one of the usual hikes, Fremont Older. I figured the shorter hike would be best, since she normally walks on flat trails. It was a beautiful Sunday, and we managed to get up to Hunter's Point with fairly minimal whining (heh):


There was a very nice couple that passed us on the way up, and they offered to take our picture - Dina asked to have some vines in the background, but I don't think they're in this shot. As usual, we heard some gunfire from the nearby shooting range, and I practiced my "action movie zigzag run". You know, to avoid getting shot.

Ahem.

We also heard some peacocks - kinda scream-ish, kinda babies crying-ish.

All in all, a very satisfactory morning hike :)

Today we only had a few hours, so Roya suggested a hike she had done before with her mom, but driving closer, so we would get the "fun" part. So, off to Santa Teresa County Park we went. We took Almaden Expressway to the end, took a right at Harry, then a quick left on McClean. After about a half mile, we turned left on Fortini - it's a small residential street, blink and you'll miss it. Fortini dead-ends at the base of the hills, and there's a small parking area at the trailhead.

We got the beasts to stop wrassling in the back seat long enough to leash them up, and got started. The trail is all uphill at first, a rocky switchback path between bunches of bright orange poppies and other grassy plants. By the time you get to the top, you realize that it's not really the top (dammit!) and you keep going a bit more. The view is totally worth it:


 It was really a beautiful day - and we started early enough that it wasn't scorching. We kept on going, Roya quicker downhill than me:


Around this area, we briefly heard a rattlesnake - let's just say that properly motivated, we can BOOK.

At the bottom of this downhill section, there is a small wood bridge that goes over an even smaller stream - and right under the bridge, it's only a few inches of water, and a whole lot of mud. Of course Elliott started it - hops right off the bridge and starts nibbling on some plants. Then Koda decides to one-up Elliott, and hops right into the muddiest, wettest section, and LAYS DOWN. Roya and I were trying vainly to get both of them to get out of the mud, while hordes of bicyclists came hurdling down the hill toward the bridge. Luckily, they stopped to reminisce. (Or, you know, mock us from where they had a better view).

Ahem.

After the bridge, we went back uphill, then back down another hill, and the trail started heading to the right, then back in the general direction of where we parked. We stopped at pretty much the only shady section to see if the dogs would rinse themselves off, and sure enough, they were game:

 
We took a few minutes for the dogs to cool off, then got back on the trail. Just after this point, we actually saw two horses - Elliott was convinced they were giant dogs, and barked at them. Luckily, the horses were mellow and the riders were amused. A few minutes later, past a few rural yards and barking dogs, and we were back at the trailhead and civilization.

Ah, a sunny Friday! By law, you must leave work early, and so I did. Drove home, changed, grabbed the dog, and headed off to pick up Roya. We made it to the trail by 5:00, which gave us at least 2 hours of sunlight, and so decided to take the longer trail that had been closed until recently.

Phew.

I had forgotten just how much longer that trail is - and as the one who suggested it, I was not allowed to bitch (those are the rules). Roya however, had no such restriction, and there was quite a few "are we there yet?"s. I was right there with her.

For those of you who would like to follow our path, here's the trail map, with our path marked in red: 


On the way up, we took the Cora Older Trail until it connects to the Seven Springs Loop (Zero springs were seen by these hikers, although we were a bit loopy toward the end of the hike) We followed the Seven Springs Loop down the side of one hill, then back up the other, running into a fair amount of mountain bikers. We saw a good number of indicators that horses had also taken the same route, but I have yet to actually see a horse on any of the trails.

Since it's still spring, almost all the plant life is full and green, and there are wildflowers everywhere:


One of these days, I'll bring my Audubon wildlife book, and see what I can identify.

We came out from the Loop right below Hunter's Point, but neither me, Roya, or the dogs felt like scaling that hill. We decided to head downhill:


We made it back to the car by 6:30 - which, considering our fairly leisurely pace, was pretty damn good time.

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.