10/09 - Dotson Marsh at Pt Pinole (plus 9/11 to 10/2)

 

 

After way too many days of 100°+ weather, the fog was finally back on the Bay side of the hills!! Eight of us walked the usual route from the old Giant Hwy parking lot to the spit and back (under 2.5 miles) and were very glad to be out and moving in the fresh air; long sleeves and jackets seemed strange but welcome.

There was talk of what the historic shoreline might have been, so you will get some snips of old maps to help visualize the changes as well as the usual hike pictures. The old topo maps from HISTOPO at UC Berkeley helped a lot (https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/histopo).

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/8Xe2WC27N4

 

10/02 - no hike, extreme heat

09/25 - no hike, walkers too busy

09/18 - West Ridge, Redwood Regional Park

 

Nine of us walked from the Redwood Regional Park Skyline Gate to the Chabot Space and Science Center and back on a very foggy morning. This was the walk originally planned for last week. The consensus was that we really ought to do this more often than once every 10 years! There was a lot to look at. It is likely very crowded on weekends and there were quite a few dogs. We were treated to more of Jennifer's grapes when we got back to the cars. Just over 3.5 miles

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/70s2tj1qb2

09/11 - Pine Canyon

 

A major accident on Hwy 24 westbound at Hwy 13 completely shut down the road. It was a truck carrying sod which ended up all over the freeway. Traffic was backed up thru Lafayette and the radio traffic reports were even suggesting Canyon as an alternative (so much for our "secret" back roads) which turned surface streets into solid lines of cars. 

 
The original plan had been to walk from Redwood to the Chabot observatory and back, but Pine Canyon was a fine alternative. There was a pleasant breeze with a cool undercurrent and the trail is mostly shaded, too. It is definitely feeling like fall with gold hills and lots of acorns on the trail; the grape vines are mostly green, but here and there a few leaves are showing color. 10 of us enjoyed the short, under 3 miles, walk. We meandered rather than hiked, enjoyed chatting AND Susan and Elaine brought cookies. It was an all together special day.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/22309svr9c