About a month ago, Marshall’s best friend since grade school and best man at our wedding, Darrel, invited us to go on an 8.5 mile hike in Inverness called the Estero Trail.  That trip had to be postponed once already due to rain so this Saturday was the new date for that trip.

The plan was to meet at the trailhead at 10am (just over 2 hour drive from Livermore) which we were on schedule to make except that we woke up to a dead battery and had to jump that before leaving.  We did take the Jetta so I was able to make up about 20 minutes of the trip but then got stuck behind a charter bus and a bunch of cyclists.  I know, share the road but geez, that’s really tough when you have to drive ~10-20MPH for miles.  Cleansing breaths..  =P

Group photo before the hike.

Once we arrived at the trailhead there were some quick introductions, a couple of timed photographs and then we hit the trail.

The trail was incredibly beautiful and because it was overcast, it was perfect for taking pictures.  Speaking of, how about a picture of Marshall and me.  =)

Marshall and me. I'm always happy to see him still smiling on the hike. Guess he had a good time. =)

We saw a bunch of cool things on this trip including leopard sharks, oyster farms and a green and red-sided gartersnake just to name a few.  There were also a number of beautiful flowers and because this was a short hike (comparatively speaking) I took my time taking pictures.  Check out the Picasa album for all the pictures (see link below).

Awesome snake (red-sided gartersnake) that several people mistook for a fake rubber snake. It was definitely real and quickly slithered out of the way after I got this picture. =)

Cool maze-like waterways that were revealed after the tide went out. Sweet!

Although the trip was a lot shorter than the other hikes I’ve been doing lately, it was well worth it.  Everyone was super nice and it was fun listening to Marshall talk with Darrel and his friends about the anime shows they’re into (Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden, and several others).  It was also funny listening to Marshall, Lio, and Darrel recall the storylines and characters from old-school cartoons like Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Gobots, and nearly every other action cartoon from the 80s.  No FOTC fans on this trip so I left the tv series talk to the others. 

So all in all another great trip.  Thanks to Darrel for getting us all together.  Marshall and I had a great time and are looking forward to the next one (well at least I am). 

Best friends for life, Marshall and Darrel. =)

For all the pictures from this trip (and there are some really nice ones), check out my Picasa album.

Oh man, I could really get used to this.  Can you believe that another 20 mile hike was scheduled for this Saturday and better than that, it was going to be led by my favorite trail guide, “V.”  Kick-ass…  =)

At first I wasn’t sure whether I was going to go because Marshall’s 30th birthday (yep 30th!) was on Friday and I knew it might be a late night.  I had also gone to see “Wicked” in the city and didn’t get home till 12:30am that night so I was already tired.  However Ksenya e-mailed me and was interested in going too so of course I was going to go.  Come on, I live for this stuff! 

When we got to Samuel P. Taylor State Park, we saw a number of familiar faces (Marek and his Jetta, Lothar, Elena, Magdalena, Tiffany and Andrew) but no “V.”  We learned this was because he had fallen ill and wasn’t going to be able to make it.  =(  Fortunately he had chosen a super awesome replacement named Valerie so we were set to go.  After shuttling Valerie’s Vanagon (seats 5 with some room) and a Toyota Camry (seats 5) to the end point we hit the trail at 10:45, an hour later than we thought and now with 17 people instead of 13.  Do the math, this is going to be fun coming back.  =)

All of us just before starting the hike. =)

As always there were amazing views, scenery and conversation to be enjoyed every step of the way.  Towards the beginning of the hike I hiked slower so I could talk to people, take pictures and hear all the great stories Valerie had to tell about the history of the area we were hiking.  Let me take the opportunity now to saw Valerie was so awesome and I’m really glad I had the chance to get to know her better.  As Ksenya pointed out, “Hey, she’s another “V”,” which is to say her name starts with “V” AND she’s also uniquely kick-ass just like “V.”  I’m definitely adding her to my list of people I like to hike with.  =)

Ok, so now on to the pictures.  First up, I found bones!  Yeah, a whole bunch of them.  This was just off the road so the animal had probably been hit by a car (or bike as there were tons of cyclists on that road).  I wonder what happens to the skulls of these animals.  I can never seem to find them except in the case of that seal at Marina State Beach.

Jackpot! Ah, we've hit the motherload, a full backbone and scattered ribs of some deceased animal. A small deer or coyote perhaps?

Next we saw some amazing wildflowers. I was especially excited when I found a big fat bumblebee clinging to the stem of this purple Douglas Iris.  Why?  Well because my buddy Mike has an extreme aversion to bees/wasps and his involuntary freakout reaction to “bee”ing in the same vicinity as a buzzing bee is downright hilarious (sorry, it so is).  I knew I had to get like 6 inches from this bee and flower to get the perfect shot.  Enjoy.  =)

Mike, this one's for you. A bumblebee on a wild iris. I had to get down REAL close to get this shot.

After enjoying the wildflower meadows and additional information from Valerie on how the beautiful yellow flowering shrubs known as Scotch Broom are actually non-native invasive species that are nearly impossible to eradicate, we came down to our next junction.  Dogtown, USA – Population: 30.  Had I known I would have brought Sierra and made it 31. 

Dogtown - Population: 30. Compare that with Strongbadia - Population: Tire. Dogtown is still ahead.

From Dogtown we headed into the Point Reyes park land our lowest elevation which meant lots of swampy muckiness to wade through.  I’ll admit, I squealed like a little piggy upon having my shoes sink down into the bog.  Although my feet were already wet from having to walk through a really cold creek, the sucky sensation of having your shoe sink into the mud is quite a different feeling altogether.  I still love it.  =)

After navigating through swampy waters Ksenyacat expresses her true feelings about that experience. Yuck! =)

After traipsing through the swamp land we headed back into the hills.  Here I found my next forest friend.  A little froggy.  Hey froggy!

A frog! Hey new frog friend. How about a close up. =)

Amazingly enough, even with us leaving an hour late we still finished the hike at 7pm.  Now we had to figure out how to get back to our cars.  Remember how I said two cars, 17 people?  Yeah, it was a very cozy ride back to the park.  Somehow we managed to fit 11 people into the Vanagon and 6 into the Camry.  Valerie was a little worried about the weight and getting up this one hill but come on, it’s a VW, it can do anything!  And it did.  =)

Valerie drove her totally kickin' VW Vanagon to shuttle all 11 (yes 11) of us back to Samuel Taylor SP. Go VW!!

Of course with Marek and me both being Jetta owners and totally obsessed with our vehicles, even though it was getting dark, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show our love for these super sexy vehicles.  I had to laugh because I think Marek was almost as much in love with his car as I am with mine.  I mean who wouldn’t be, that’s a dang good looking Jetta (don’t be jealous white Jetta).  I actually think my Jetta was sad to leave at the end of the day.  It really liked Marek’s Jet.  Don’t worry Jetta, we’ll see them at a future hike. 

Two very proud Jetta owners. =)

So that’s pretty much if for this hike post.  We had an awesome time and I can’t wait for the next one.  Thanks to Valerie for her excellent leadership of this hike and for shuttling us all back in her awesome Vanagon.  I had a blast!

For all the pictures from this hike, check out my Picasa album.  Note: A lot of the pictures are out of focus but I still thought they helped tell the story so I left them in.  =)

So the original plan for this Saturday was for Marshall and I to join our friend Darrel and a couple of his buddies for a hike north of Mt. Tamalpais.  Due to the recent heavy rains, that trip was canceled (hopefully just postponed cause it sounds like a lot of fun).

Thankfully one of the girls I’ve hiked and backpacked with before scheduled a 20 mile hike from Del Valle (perfect) to Sunol so I was still able to get out of the house and get some exercise.  Sweet!  Thank you Rachel.  =)

The plan was to have half the group start at Del Valle and the other from Sunol.  We’d meet half-way through and then do a key exchange and have all cars meet near the 680/84 interchange.  I wasn’t sure who would be coming to meet me at the Del Valle Ohlone Wilderness Trail trailhead and was happy to see it was Rachel with her sister and a new girl from Stanford.  After introductions we hit the trail.

Rachel, Lauren and Rachel's sister Sarah

About 1/4 of the way through the hike and tons of steep uphill climbs (one section is called the “Big Burn”) we reached Murietta Falls.  Because of all the recent rainfall the waterfall was probably at peak flow and was absolutely beautiful.

We almost missed the trail down to the falls. Fortuntaly some other hikers directed us to the unmarked path. It was totally worth the steep hike down (and then back up) the hill. =)

I love the fact that there is such beautiful scenery and hiking experiences to be had so close to home.  Awesome.  =)

We hiked for another several hours and then finally met up with the guys.  We chatted briefly, took a few pictures including a group photo that didn’t come out so great (my camera kinda sucks sometimes), exchanged keys and then had to keep moving.  We still had a lot of distance to cover.  Next stop, Rose Peak!   =)

Me, Lauren, Sarah and Rachel (A.K.A. "The Girls")

Lothar, Brooks and Steven (A.K.A. "The Guys")

Let me take the opportunity to mention that this was an incredibly challenging and exhausting trip which made it that much more rewarding.  Thankfully I was hiking with some really cool people so it was also a lot of fun.  =)

We got to Rose Peak around 3 (I believe) and had more dark chocolate M&Ms, trail mix, apples and oranges.  I also made sure to add a rock to the “Rock Registry” at the peak before heading back down.  This is the second rock I’ve been able to add to the pile and I’ll keep on adding more as long as there are more hikes scheduled to that location.  =)

Adding a rock to the top of the pile on Rose Peak. Call it the hiker's version of a guestbook. =)

At this point we were pretty much home free.  There were still about 9 miles between us and the car parked at the bottom however we had already done the majority of the uphill part so it only took us about 3 hours to do the remainder of the hike.  I know, total cake right? 

We were nearing the end of the trail when Lauren suddenly stopped to point out a California Newt that was walking quite deliberately along the trail.  A newt!!

Aw, I finally got to see a California Newt on the trail. So cute. =)

I was really excited to see this little guy, at the same time I was kind of bummed that I hadn’t spotted him first.  I mean even though it was awesome to finally see a newt on the trail, technically I didn’t find him, someone else did.  Not to worry though, after hiking a bit further I found two other newts so I finally fulfilled my quest to find a sallymander/newt on one of my hikes.  =)

So that was our trip.  All in all it was pretty awesome.  I’m thoroughly exhausted now but in a good way.  Can’t wait until the next one and hopefully my buddy Mike will be able to make it out on that one.  =)

For all pictures from the trip, check out my Picasa album.  Until next time…