Well here you have it my inaugural post from my new blog Hike Bay Area! I am excited to get this project off the ground finally, having sat on the URL for over a year, I am in a place where I can devote enough time and energy. For those who have come over from Blood of Kittens welcome and everyone else (friends and acquaintances) a big bro hug. If you have taken the time to read the about, this blog is primarily my journey through all the wild spaces in the San Francisco Bay Area. This isn’t a guide to hiking per-say, but more photo-blog and some insight into discovering the area. I don’t have any real agenda with this blog and I just hope to express another side of myself to those who are interested.
So what is this first post about?
For those who don’t know the East Bay Regional Park District has a hiking challenge each year. I did the 2014 challenge, the challenge is a set number of hikes/walks designed to get people exploring a large cross-section of the district’s parks and enjoy everything that goes along with it. The challenge is free and you get a free T-Shirt and pin when it is completed. The hikes are broken up into difficulties: Easy, Moderate, Challenging. As an avid hiker the Easy ones are basically strolls toddlers and old folks can do, moderate are for an average casual hiker, and the challenging ones are for people who have a decent amount of stamina. To be more specific, even the challenging can be handled by any Boy Scout or weekend backpacker with ease.
I will create a separate project page showing the details of the challenge as a guide for people who read these posts later.
Ok, so enough preamble!
The first hike I chose is a moderate hike in the wonderful Redwood Regional Park in Oakland. The park showcases not only a decent amount of Redwoods, but takes people from woodland wonderland to rolling hills typical of the Easy Bay. The Redwood Regional Park was one of the first parks created by the district with a definite throw back feel, the highlight is the redwood groves; a shell of its former self the redwoods are a few generations removed from the original ancients that once filled the area.
As for the hike challenge here is the map one is supposed to follow…
The hike is intended to started at the main entrance to the park off Redwood Rd. As for me I usually never do things as intended, so I started at the Skyline Gate a entrance I have never entered from.
This will be a running theme with me and hiking; I never like to hike the same trail twice, unless I am showing a park off to someone for the first time. To start I had a choice to either descend by taking the Stream Trail or stay high with the East Ridge Trail. Since it was overcast when I arrived I chose to take the Stream route to get a more “haunting” = better photographic journey through the redwood groves.
The stream trail also means no bikers to ride up behind me with bells or screams of “left” and “right” in my ear. The park entrance had plenty of parked cars, so I expected to find lots of people because who works in California on Mondays anyway right? As it turned out, I came across maybe a total of eight people in my trail blazing. Redwood Park has well maintained trails, so I quickly reached the park floor, where I was confronted with signs warning me about the endangered Newts and Trout. With the terrible rain fall this year the stream could barely reach a depth of more than an inch most places. This didn’t stop me from taking into the beauty and the gentle trickle of water.
Redwood Park is best described as friendly, the type of park that gives an urban dweller just the right amount of separation from modern life, but at the same time doesn’t completely transport you to some enchanted woodland realm like a larger secluded parks. It also helps that cell reception is none existent once you get in deep. One oddity for me while making this hike was placement of signs discouraging mushroom eating. Like parents taking kids to measles parties, it seems many Californians don’t understand Death caps have a specific name for a reason. As it was, I took an awesome shot of some stylish mushrooms.
This wasn’t the only plant…
sorry fungi are not plants, but a separate Kingdom, this segue won’t work.
Anyway, I also saw pretty flowers!
The redwoods are not the only trees you can find; Oaks, Walnut, and Blossoms fill in all the cracks where redwoods won’t grow.
Not to mention anything evergreen.
Then you have the bane of many new world landscapes: the eucalyptus tree!
As you hike most of the Bay Area you will find these invasive trees everywhere, I have a personal love-hate relationship with them, I will talk about later. With the first half my journey over I had to take one obligatory redwood canopy shot to honor the forest spirits.
The second half of this hike quickly takes you above the redwoods into more familiar East Bay terrain.
As a warning get ready to see oaken trail shots in every post, they are simple and dramatic, so get use to it!
Everyone talks about Redwoods, but it is really the Oak tree that defines the East Bay landscape. The grandeur of the redwood is only attained when their numbers and size all tied together, but a single Oak speaks an individual story, as plain as the bark contorting around whatever piece of land it can grasp.
The overcast quickly gave way, as I ascended to the East Ridge Trail and I was able to capture some birds taking in the fresh sunlight.
The real star of this trail is the great vistas.
I took a chance to rest at a bench and change my music.
Speaking of music, it is very important ritual for my hiking. I am one of those soundtrack to my life people and each trail/hike gets its own music. Redwood Park takes you through different topographies and this requires music to handle any change of pace.
The Spanish band Delorean fit the bill perfectly.
They are cross between M83 and Phoenix, with a pinch of Cut Copy for smoothness.
As the hike started to wind down, I came to my favorite part of Redwood Park, a grove of pine trees, which have been partially cleared for some unknown reason, it creates an interesting landscape and a perfect place for a picnic if one is so inclined.
The green cover has an obvious beauty, but if you go during the summer the brown desolation has more intreging quality. The last shot I want to leave you with is of a fallen tree, one I am pretty sure was standing upright less than six months ago, it makes me think one of the two large storms we did have sent it tumbling.
Well there you have it my first eclectic post! Their will of course be more fine tuning as I find my voice and attempt to set up the images galleries to my liking, but for now content… any content will do!
I recommend Redwood Regional park for just about everyone, there are trails for novices and it is amazing to think the park is right up against hundreds of homes lining Skyline Blvd. The park also has a history worth exploring from logging to trout restoration, showcasing exactly what the park district is all about. If you do prefer more quiet with your peace I do suggest avoiding the weekends. Trout spawning might be low, but the same cannot be same for children spawning, nor the dog walker bonanzas that usually traverse ridges.
If you want to see the rest of the 100 or so pictures I took (unedited) check out this link and follow me on Google+