04/22 Mitchell Rock/Twin Peak

It was only 3.9 miles, but it certainly felt longer! possibly because of the 1700' gain/loss, perhaps because the trail down after lunch was so slippery. 15 of us made the loop from the Mitchell Canyon parking lot, up to Mitchell Rocks, further up to the saddle between the Twin Peaks and then down, down, down and back to the cars. Lots of flowers, but things are drying fast.

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4-15-2015 Black Diamond

14 of us enjoyed a bright, windy, 4 mile hike in the grassy hills on the east side of Black Diamond Regional Preserve. We walked the Old Homestead Loop trail in the counter clockwise direction (which we all agreed was THE way to go). Lunch was under an old oak just a short ways up Acorn trail at the top of the day's elevation gain.  This was a good time for this hike as the grass was still mostly green and there were flowers, at least on the first half of the hike.

No one got lost or separated once we were on the trail, but one car was subject to the "curse of Black Diamond" and missed the turn onto Golf Course Rd. Cell phone contact was eventually established and the lost ones caught up with the rest of us.

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4-8-2015 McGuire Peaks Loop, Sunol

It was a beautiful day in Sunol! We were treated to a hike along the McGuire Peaks Loop with Heath Bartosh. Jeanne had bid on his services at last years "Midnight on the Mountain". The lower McGuire Peaks trail was closed due to storm damage, so we went to plan B and started from trailhead 6. The 5.5 mile hike (elevation gain/loss of 1556') was filled with flowers, green hills, picturesque clouds and lots of learning opportunities.

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4/1 Round Valley

No fooling! This was a fantastic outing.

Eleven of us were treated to an exceptional display of Triteleia laxa (Ithuriel's spear) as well as some beautiful lupine, and plenty of Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla), etc. along with fantastic views on this 4.75 mile hike. On our last visit in April 2012 we walked this loop counter-clockwise. Today we all agreed that it is better to go up Hardy Canyon and come down the open slopes after lunch.

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3/25 Sycamore Canyon from Blackhawk

15 of us were the lucky participants in a hike made possible by the generosity of Pat Krock's son, Alan. We met at his home in Blackhawk and proceeded to the end of Deer Meadow Drive where the Sycamore Canyon road begins. We had lunch along the north side of Blackhawk Ridge where we enjoyed views of the rock formations across the canyon. The distances on the trail posts were misleading; we hiked just a bit over 4 miles. Elevation gain/loss was 1076'

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3-18 North Sonoma Mt

18 of us made the trip to North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve. The day couldn't have been more perfect and we all agreed that the experience was well worth the 60+ mile drive. The hike was approximately 4 miles on an exceedingly well engineered trail. The elevation gain/loss of just over 700 feet was not really very noticeable until the last section toward the overlook. Plenty of flowers and wonderful views!

For information on the park and a downloadable map follow this link.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/Q8DFE6/

03-04-2015 Cascade Canyon

The last time our group hiked this trail was Feb. 2012 (check the archive for those pictures). This time there were an abundance of Fritillaria, but the shooting stars were about finished blooming. 9 of the 15 hikers went on above the falls for perhaps another half mile.

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