03/11 - Albany Hill

12 of us were treated to a guided tour of Albany Hill Park with Margot Cunningham (a member of the Albany Parks and Recreation staff as well as a lead volunteer in the restoration of the native habitats on Albany Hill). This was a short walk (about 1.25 mi) with lots of stops to look, listen and learn. Thanks to Elaine for arranging this special outing.

After the tour, Delia invited us to eat our lunches in her garden. It has been a long while since the Wednesday folks were there an there have been lots of changes in the 10 years they have been working on the back yard. It was wonderful to look at and talk about the plants and how the garden has developed over the years.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/19J3Fd

Here is a repeat of some of the links I put in the hike announcement:

The Friends of Albany Hill (check the plant list on the Plants tab)
https://friendsofalbanyhill.org/history-of-friends-of-albany-hill/

For History of the fight to keep the hill as open space and a page of related resources:
https://tendancienthill.org/history-of-albany-hill/

and a bit about the cross and associated controversy:
http://albanyhill4all.weebly.com/faq.html

03/04 - Walnut Creek Open Space

This was a day that felt more like May than March...bright and clear, high 70's with a gentle breeze. The grass is still mostly green, but drying already where the soil is thin. There were very few flowers. But in places the buttercups were thick. The few fiddlenecks were taller than the ones we saw last week at Rockville Hills, but still stunted. There were a few patches of mustard. That was about it for bloom except for a few bunches of CA poppies. But green grass and new leaves provided a wide variety of colors. There were a dozen of us if you count Oscar. We made a CCW loop of about 3.7 miles from the Whitecliff TH.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/LN7868

02/26 - Rockville Hills

A good choice for today! A dozen of us visited Rockville Hills for the first time in three years. The effects of low rainfall were obvious in the short flowers, drying grass and low pond levels. However we timed the trip correctly to see the Scarlet Fritillary in bloom! It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 70s. And it was Susan's birthday which called for celebration. After the walk (only a bit over 2.5 miles for most of us) we headed to Little Knopp's for ice cream before the drive home.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/ET1K66

2/19 - Huckleberry

Susan and Geoff led 15 of us on today's hike. There was a great deal of damage from the wind storm 2 weeks ago which was very discouraging. But we did see some flowers and it was an altogether lovely day to be out and moving. About 2.6 miles.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/889odT

02-12 Black Diamond

The majority of the group of 11 walked a clockwise route up Chaparral Loop Tr to the Ridge and then down to the bridge and up Manhattan Canyon. The other 4 hikers went counter-clockwise up Chaparral Loop directly to the bridge and up Manhattan Canyon. We met at the rocky knoll just past the gate on Black Diamond Tr (fire road) for our lunch. Then we started off together on the return. Some intended to take Canyon Tr down while the rest of us continued the loop to the Nortonville Trail and the cemetery. But the trail marker was missing and everyone went down past the cemetery. That was fine since it gave us a good view of the herd of sheep which included many varieties and lots of lambs.

Our main impression was that the flowers were suffering from lack of moisture. There were few Shooting Stars of any variety blooming and most were very short, the Indian Warriors were stunted and sparse, we saw no Milk Maids. However, the Manzanitas were in full bloom and absolutely lovely.

Altho various fitness tracking apps carried by walkers gave much higher mileages, the map total adds up to just over 3 for the longer route and about 2.6 for the others.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/gzk58v

Compare pictures from almost the same hike 3 years ago...3/1/2017
https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/j6HMHY

02/05 - Crockett Hills

There were a dozen of us today on a brisk morning which featured blue skies and NO wind (after days of a nasty, cold blow). We hiked up the Edwards Creek Tr, turned on Wood Rat to enjoy the display of Dirca, wound our way to the tunnel and ventured out onto the grassy east side of the park. A few turned back at the tunnel and some went further, but most of us found a grassy spot with wide views and had an early lunch.  Only about 2.5 miles, but it felt like a bit more.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/r11067

1/29 Strawberry Canyon to UC Botanical Garden

This was our annual pilgrimage down Strawberry Canyon then back up to the Botanic Garden for the Plants Illustrated exhibit of botanical art in the Garden’s Julia Morgan Hall. This year, the members of the Northern California Society of Botanical Artists presented works on the the theme of rare and endangered plants of the world. Lee, a member of the Society, gave a brief introductory talk. After we (a dozen hikers + Jeanne and Delia who met us there) enjoyed the art work there was time to wander in the garden before Jeanne and Delia shuttled drivers back up the hill. The walk from Grizzly Peak/Centennial Dr to the Bot Garden is 4.1 miles with additional distances in the garden.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/Gg8nxG