04/17 - Almond Ranch

14 Wednesday Walkers and 5 members of the Pleasant Hill Garden Study Club enjoyed a specially guided tour of the Almond Ranch property which the John Muir Land Trust is hoping to acquire. This piece will fill a gap between Mt Wanda (US-NPS) and Dutra/Sky Ranch (JMLT) and join two segments of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The hike went up the main fire road to the Mt Wanda Park boundary, then thru the locked gate and up to the ridge of the Almond Ranch (fantastic views!). We returned down the nature trail, a single track. Then, after a snack stop, we rejoined the trail we came up; it was just under 3.5 miles.

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04/10 - Brushy Peak Regional Preserve

There were a dozen of us for the Wednesday Walkers' first ever trip to Brushy Peak Preserve in Livermore. We all hiked CCW loops, the main group completed the larger loop (about 4.5 miles) and a group of four cut across omitting the climb up to the main ridge (about 3.3 miles for them).

The hills were beautifully green and there were flowers to find as well. There were more birds than we usually see/hear: meadowlarks, red wing blackbirds, gulls (the preserve is next door to a landfill), several varieties of hawk, and lots of small birds in trees and bushes. In spite of the wind it was a wonderful day!

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04/03 Lime Ridge

On a very gray day eight of us headed to Lime Ridge to see how the area was recovering from last summer's wildfire. We took the Paradise Valley Tr to the intersection with Manzanita Tr. Then took Lime Ridge Tr down to Buckeye and eventually Ohlone Tr. A bit over 3 miles. Plenty of flowers, lots of green, minimal mud and NO rain at all in spite of the thick clouds.

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