Rancho Seco Howard Ranch Trail

The biggest profusion of flowers I saw today

Today, I tackled the Rancho Seco Howard Ranch Trail.  Apparently, this ranch once housed an aging Seabiscuit, or so I read.  

This hike is an easy 7 mile hike at the Rancho Seco recreation area, about 40 minutes from Sacramento.

In Sacramento, this is the best time of year for viewing wildflowers at the area's vernal pools so I went expecting a big display.  I got ..... a little display, but it was a nice day anyway.

The first mile or so of this hike is just lovely.  It curves along the edge of the lake so you get to hear tons of birds, frogs, and crickets.  That was definitely my favorite part!  After that, you enter a gated cow pasture and follow that trail for a mile or so.  I found myself looking down at the trail a lot rather than enduring the cow stares.  Silly cows.  Silly me.

The next 3 miles loop through more ranch land.  Here, things get a little monotonous.  There are no trees at all but there are a few vernal pools and wildflowers.  Oh, and LOTS of signs saying, "STAY ON TRAIL!"  Those must be some well trained cows.  Anyway, I felt a little silly wandering on foot all over some pasture, sort of like a cowboy with no horse.

The strangest thing about this hike is that you've got this looming landmark wherever you go.  Those nuclear towers are just kinda creepy to me.

All in all, if you're looking for vernal pool action this spring, I say try Mather Field.

Happy hiking!

Wintertime beauty at Pt. Reyes

Another great hiking spot!!!  Pt. Reyes.  We did a loop hike ... Laguna trail, Fire Lane trail, Coast trail.   5 miles.  Perfect!

Last weekend, we trekked out to Pt. Reyes with the kiddos and had a fabulous hike!  It took a couple of hours to get there but the closer we got the prettier it was.  Here's a shot out the window of the car.  Pretty, no?

I can highly recommend this hike to all with kids!  It's not too far from Sacramento, it's gorgeous, and there's lots of terrain variety.  This hike is not strenuous at all so you'll still have plenty of energy to enjoy the beach.

The trail for the first couple of miles looked like we were actually hiking a fault line.  So cool!  The hike starts out through chaparral that smells really really good, sort of herby.  The ranger later thought that we were smelling a type of sage known as "Cowboy Cologne."  Eventually, the hike parallels Santa Maria Beach.  The day we hiked, we practically had it all to ourselves.  We love these days!  Here's a couple of beach pictures.

It's nice being married to MacGyver.  He built us a great picnic spot and a teeter totter for the kids.  It wasn't warm enough to go in the water (Sydney tried a couple of toes) but it was still a really beautiful beach to explore.  Holly found a perfect sand dollar that was no bigger than a nickel!

Once we pulled ourselves away from the beach, we noticed tiny beige shapes moving in the hills way above us.  Tule elk!!!!!!  They were so far away but we took a picture anyway and here it is.  See them?

The next couple of miles wander gently uphill past a pretty grove of alders.  I imagine their shade would be very welcome on a hot summer day!

We didn't see many critters today but we did happen upon a dozen or so deer wandering near the Bear Valley Visitor Center.  So cute!  Being city folk with city kids, we always get such a kick out of such sightings.

Happy hiking!

Mt. Diablo State Park

It's been awhile since we hiked.  Boy are we out of shape!!!

We had fun exploring this Bay area haunt.  It's a hot spot for rabid cyclists who don't mind torturing themselves with a crazy, winding, uphill ride that they share with panicked drivers.  We practically had the place to ourselves!  Well, we did share it with a few of those aforementioned cyclists.  It takes them an hour and a half to make the ascent, and 20 minutes to go back down.  They FLY back down that hill and it's really scary to watch.

We drove up to the tippy top, hoping for some SPECTACULAR views of the Bay area but we had a little too much haze for any jaw dropping to occur.  No matter!  We did the little loop hike at the top, then had lunch before setting out on the real hike of the day.

OK, I have to admit that I really didn't do my hiking homework.  I picked a couple of trails that looked perfect (Juniper and Summit) and we set off.  We dropped in elevation at an alarming rate.  What a rookie mistake!!!  The whole family was laughing on the way down because we knew how hard the climb back to the car would be.  Luckily, it was 43 degrees when we finally got back to the car so overheating wasn't an issue.  Lesson learned!

 We stopped in a deserted campground for climbing.  What a pretty place!  The trees were so old and huge that supports had been installed in several places.  We were very impressed!

Here are some tired girls!  We really love wearing them out.   :  )