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shannon_aIf you don't like the climate in the Bay Area, just go 10 miles. Oh, that's not true for the big picture stuff, but you can definitely vary your temperature 10 or 20 degrees with a bit of travel. If it's too hot, I go west, to the Bayside or to San Francisco, and if it's too cold I go over the hills east. So this last Saturday was forecast as 63 degrees or so in Berkeley, with winds running at 15 mph or so by afternoon. That translated to me as "crappy summer weather" to I went east, taking BART to Lafayette. (Ironically, Kimberly went west the same day, but she was planning to sit in a theatre.)
I was heading to the Briones Regional Park, which is enormous, and which has a panhandle that runs out to the northeast corner of Lafayette. I've been to the park before, in fact spent a long day circling the northern two-thirds or so of the park, but a walk along the south of the park was totally new.
The walk was pretty much along the ridgeline the whole time, overlooking Lafayette to the south. It was mostly dry brush and open hillsides, so not the most beautiful hike, especially since Lafayette mostly looked like a big forested blob. My goal was Russell Peak. My theory was that if I got there I'd find somewhere to sit down for a bit, to enjoy a bit of chocolate and a bit of reading or writing. Sure enough, when I got near the Peak, a scraggly little trail diverged from the main trail, and when I walked up that I found a picnic table sitting at the peak. (The path was so scraggly and small that I really wonder how it got there.) Sadly, it was getting late, so I only stayed 20 minutes or so, not really getting my day's writing in.
For the walk back, I choose a slightly different path that dropped me behind the ridgeline. It dropped quite quickly, which was a little problematic because I'd forgotten my hiking shoes. I only slipped once. Then it was in forested areas, like the parts of Briones that I'd liked more. So, it was a very pleasant walk back. The last mile was on a road, but it was a quite little country road, so even that was pleasant.
It was great seeing a bit more of Briones. I clearly need to go back again before we move. But it won't be this coming weekend, because that's supposed to be a HOT one. Westward HO! (Unless I just decide to bake in the hills above our house.)
I was heading to the Briones Regional Park, which is enormous, and which has a panhandle that runs out to the northeast corner of Lafayette. I've been to the park before, in fact spent a long day circling the northern two-thirds or so of the park, but a walk along the south of the park was totally new.
The walk was pretty much along the ridgeline the whole time, overlooking Lafayette to the south. It was mostly dry brush and open hillsides, so not the most beautiful hike, especially since Lafayette mostly looked like a big forested blob. My goal was Russell Peak. My theory was that if I got there I'd find somewhere to sit down for a bit, to enjoy a bit of chocolate and a bit of reading or writing. Sure enough, when I got near the Peak, a scraggly little trail diverged from the main trail, and when I walked up that I found a picnic table sitting at the peak. (The path was so scraggly and small that I really wonder how it got there.) Sadly, it was getting late, so I only stayed 20 minutes or so, not really getting my day's writing in.
For the walk back, I choose a slightly different path that dropped me behind the ridgeline. It dropped quite quickly, which was a little problematic because I'd forgotten my hiking shoes. I only slipped once. Then it was in forested areas, like the parts of Briones that I'd liked more. So, it was a very pleasant walk back. The last mile was on a road, but it was a quite little country road, so even that was pleasant.
It was great seeing a bit more of Briones. I clearly need to go back again before we move. But it won't be this coming weekend, because that's supposed to be a HOT one. Westward HO! (Unless I just decide to bake in the hills above our house.)