Fort Ord National Monument, Monterey County, California

 Waxing Crescent Moon

I paid my second visit to Fort Ord National Monument yesterday to hike another small segment of its 86 miles of trails.  This time I parked at the Creekside Terrace Trailhead and tried my best to stay on single track trails rather than the wider dirt roads that follow the ridgelines. Some of the single tracks are multi-use (for horses, hikers, and mountain bikers) and some are for hikers only. They are clearly marked, so there shouldn't be any problems as long as people respect each other. I prefer trail walking over road walking, but many of the trails are short connector routes that intersect the long ridge roads. Most of the hikers I encountered were on the ridge routes yesterday. Maybe they feel safer there? 

I saw zero horses and only a few bikes, but there were plenty of walkers out on a sunny, warm, still day. The single tracks are lined with chaparral, with some of them shaded by gnarly old scrub oaks. I spied a few mountain quail and one chubby cottontail rabbit, but the main visible occupants were blue belly lizards, which were darting around all over the place, stopping occasionally to do a few pushups. Those critters are in shape!

Fort Ord was a U.S. Army facility from 1917 to 1994. Millions of soldiers were trained and were deployed from there from World War I through the Vietnam War. The base was decommissioned in 1991 and closed in 1994. Now the National Monument grounds cover 14,650 acres, under the joint auspices of the BLM and the U.S. Army. A little over half of that acreage is still off limits due to the presence of unexploded ordinance and other military contaminants. When remediation efforts are completed, the BLM (and the public) will acquire that land as well. We are very fortunate to have such a choice piece of property preserved for our use here on the $$$$ Central Coast.

On the east side of the park there are beautiful exposures of sandstone bluffs along Trail #30, which begins right at the parking area near a shaded picnic ramada. These bluffs are a fine example of badlands topography formed by differential erosion of the sandstone along the steep cliffs. You can walk right up to them in minutes on the sandy, clean tread. Happily, I only found one piece of trash on my two-hour loop walk - a broken piece of a plastic belt buckle. It is now on its way to the county landfill to sit there with the rest of the plastic junk for hundreds if not thousands of years. 

My imagination tells me that this park is only beginning to reach its potential as a recreation area and natural conservation/education site. My hope is that the damage from the war years can be fully remediated and the land can heal beneath the feet of happy, healthy visitors far into a peaceful future. I am looking forward to many more mornings of soaking in some rays and climbing the gentle, protected  hills so close to home.

Peace, Love, and Preservation,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022

Mileage Update  as of May 1: 667 out of 2,022

Debell Uvas Creek Park Preserve, Gilroy, California

 Waning Crescent Moon.

I really like municipal bike paths that wind along local rivers and creeks. I have visited hundreds of them all over the United States and without fail, they provide positive, natural opportunities for all kinds of citizens to recreate in safe, healthy environments. Yesterday I had a checkup with an ophthalmologist in Gilroy, about 15 miles from my camp. When it was over, I changed clothes and parked at the Gilroy Sports Park, which marks the southern end of the town's bike path that parallels Uvas Creek. Little League baseball is a very big deal here. The fields (three or four, I think) are immaculate, with great big scoreboards and grandstands. Very impressive.

The wide asphalt trail is paved with mile/km markers painted every quarter mile/km. There seemed to be an equal number of bicyclists and walkers on the trail during the two hours I was there. I walked to the three mile marker and turned around for a pleasant, six-mile stroll. It was breezy shorts-and-tee-shirt weather, an absolutely perfect day to be outside. After passing by the backside of Gilroy High School and some more sports parks, the trail enters the boundary of the Debell Uvas Creek Park Preserve, which appears to be a relatively new segment associated with the sprawling subdivisions along Santa Theresa Boulevard. There is still plenty of creek bed and floodplain area to offset the imposing houses and the coastal mountains in the background also provide welcome relief. The closer I got to the houses, the more developed the trail was, with playgrounds and informative posters and water fountains. I am sure the developers paid the city fees to cover at least part of these amenities. That is standard procedure in most places from what I understand. That practice allows residents from the whole town to benefit from growth. 

My favorite parts of the trail were the murals painted on underpasses that protect trail users from the busier streets. The best of these murals, in my opinion, is the one (painted by artist Sheryl Cather) that features animals and scenery that are reminiscent of the time before the modern settlements began. It may portray a romanticized paradise that is not entirely accurate, but it IS beautiful and it calls us to strive for responsible stewardship of the place we call home. Way to go, Sheryl Cather.

I really enjoyed my visit to this linear park along Uvas Creek and I could tell by the expressions on the faces of the people I met along the way that they did, too. Well done, Gilroy!

Peace, Love, and Universal Bike Paths,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022

Royal Oaks County Park, Monterey County, California

 Waning Gibbous Moon

It's raining this morning, a rare blessing this year, and it's a good time to sing a pre-Earth Day song in praise of water and life on our little blue planet. One of my favorites is Nature's Way by Spirit, which reminds us that we are not in charge of the big picture, but how we behave does make a difference over time. Spirit, by the way, was one of the best live bands I have ever seen and Randy California was a fantastic guitarist. This brief video only begins to showcase the band's talents. I'll leave it up to you to investigate further if that is something new to you.

Yesterday was sunny and pleasant, so I decided to visit Royal Oaks County Park in Monterey County about 25 minutes away toward the coast. On a Wednesday at mid-day, it was all but deserted, so I had free rein to explore most of the little trails that intersect with each other in a looping network around the park. I had no map, so I just winged it. All the trails I found were in really good condition, some of them appeared to be recently cleared, and there was nearly no trash that I could see. Like most areas around here, there is a good bit of poison oak, so beware of that if you go. 

This park is designed for public group activities. I imagine that sunny weekends draw lots of family events and kid stuff. There are tennis courts and a basketball court, plus playgrounds and horseshoe pits and huge picnic areas. It has a fun, active feel and I was glad to find good walking to boot. I started out at the first trailhead I found, the Coffeeberry Trail, which is close to the horseshoe pits on the edge of the woods. It is not very long, but it has some good up and down to it, so I hiked it twice to get my blood going. 

The Coffeeberry Trail lead me up to the Woodlands Loop to the Oak Ridge Trail. It's a fun hike with very soft tread and not a lot of footprints. If I was still able to run, all these trails would be great fun to motor through the shady woods. On the other hand, walking at old man speed lets me spy some of the little things.

Up on the ridge, the trail opens up to a wider, harder surface that allows service vehicles access in case of an emergency. I saw a few different benches up there which would be great spots for eating lunch or reading for a while or just sitting there to breathe and listen. 

I think a healthy, able person could probably hike all of the trails in Royal Oak Park in two hours or less. That is not to diminish the value of the experience in any way. If you wanted a more rigorous workout, you could do the circuit more than once or run it instead of walking. And aside from the trails there are plenty of open spaces and meadows to explore, too. Next time I go, I'm bringing my basketball to work on my jumper. Well, okay, there probably won't be a lot of jumping going on, but it will be fun nonetheless. A swish is a swish! What do people call it when they toss a perfect horseshoe toss? A ringer? A clang? A thunk?

Peace, Love, and Go Outside,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022

Fremont Peak State Park, California

 Waxing Gibbous Moon

In a continuing effort to conserve gasoline, yesterday I curbed my yearning for more new Bay Area Ridge hikes and motored 11 miles up San Juan Canyon Road to Fremont Peak State Park. I am very familiar with the trails there, but the overcast skies and cold wind provided a somewhat different feel to the park. I opted for a very enjoyable counterclockwise loop starting from and returning to the upper parking lot via the Fremont Peak Trail, Carmen's Trail, Tony's Trail, the Cold Springs Trail, and the Valley View Trail.

 I like to park next to these big oak trees by the caretaker's house.

The views were somewhat obscured by the cloud cover, but the walk around the peak was still engaging.

The Fremont Peak Trail sign has been vandalized since the last time I visited.

The end of that segment spit me out at the beginning of Carmen's Trail. About halfway down the gentle switchbacks, I was lucky enough to see a deer resting in the grass plus a variety of wildflowers. 

Carmen's Trail winds down into a drainage and contours up to a road near the Fremont Peak Observatory. Tony's Trail takes off from there. On Tony's Trail I saw a few wily turkeys who defied my attempts at a photograph. If you optimize one of these pictures and squint real hard, you might see a big Tom fanning his tail feathers for you.

The Cold Springs Trail is my personal favorite walk in this park. It twists in and out of oak and madrone forests before connecting to the Valley View Trail that leads back to the parking lot. By the time I was halfway through this homestretch, the wind had picked up and a light sprinkle had begun to blow.  I was starting to get chilled so I didn't lollygag much in these sections. 

I met a smart, friendly Bay Area couple camped where the Valley View Trail passes by the west end of the Oak Flat Campground. They had a snazzy, remodeled 1980's VW Westphalia pop-up camper and a very positive attitude about the funky and getting funkier weather. After an interesting, wide-ranging conversation in between shakes and shivers, we said adios and I sped away along the last segment of the trail, eager to hop into Hondo and head for home.

Peace, Love, and Brrrring Back the Sunshine,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022