Redding, 5/28/16-5/30/16

5/28/16; Drove up to Redding for Memorial Day.  Went to Lassen National Park.  Highway 89 was closed, but we had already planned on hiking Chaos Crags, so the closure didn't affect us.  But the entrance fee was $20 for 7 days.  If time of day wasn't an issue, we should have gone to Whiskeytown first, because it's only $10.  Parking at the Chaos Crags trailhead was limited, so we parked at the Manzanita Lake parking lot at 12:00, ate a quick lunch and started hiking at 12:30.
5 miles; Manzanita Lake Parking, Chaos Crags trail, Crag Crags Lake, Loomis Museum, Manzanita Lake Parking.

 

Nymphalis antiopa, mourning cloak

 

Sarcodes sanguinea, snow plant

We stayed in Anderson at the Motel 6 for the weekend.  This was our second time staying here.  We watched our first episode of Naked and Afraid on our previous visit.  This time there was a marathon!  This hotel does not provide shampoo.

5//29/16; Boulder Creek Falls, Whiskeytown National Park.  5.5 miles.
We finally did it!  First time attempting this hike, we got lost.  Second time, there was a fire in Weaverville and the air was filled with smoke.  Third time, success!  There were mosquitos.  Wear bug repellent!

Crossing #1

Crossing #2

Crossing #3

Boulder Creek Falls

Rubbing plaque for the waterfall passport.

Adelpha bredowii, California sister

This one really liked C.

Baby mantid!  It was only about 1 cm long.

5/30/16; Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.  We decided to check out the refuge on the way home.  We drove the auto tour.  It was pretty dry and empty.  We saw two pheasants (we think) fighting, but then they ran off when our car approached.  Best time to visit is the winter.  We didn't see too much.

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Mendocino, 5/14/16-5/15/16

5/14/15, Hendy Woods State Park
Drove up to Mendocino on Saturday.  We stopped at Hendy Woods State Park along the way.  Weather was sunny and cloudy, and it sprinkled for a little bit.  It was an easy-going level hike.

Hermit Hut #1

Hermit Hut #2

We stayed the night at the Andiron in Little River.  We seized the opportunity to use their outdoor hot tub and their dvd library (checked out The Neverending Story).

5/15/16, Less than 1 mile.  Little River Blowhole.  This is located right by a tiny cemetery.  There was a rope tied to some fencing for people who dared go down into the hole.  Tempted as we were, we didn't want to risk it.

Would you trust this rope?

 

After visiting the blowhole, we headed back for breakfast at the Andiron.  We packed up, and visited

Russian Gulch State Park.  Like last year's trip to Van Damme State Park, Russian Gulch provide lots of greenery.

 

 

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North Table Mountain, 4/16/16

5.1 miles.
Drove up to look for some wildflowers, after the disappointing trip at Folsom lake last week.  North Table Mountain did not disappoint!  There were plenty of lupine patches, with the occasional Owl's Clover and patches of yellow.  California Poppies looked like they had just started; flowers were only about 1/2 to 3/4 inches.  Lots of baby grasshoppers everywhere we stepped.  Creeks and falls were flowing lightly.

Phantom Falls.  The specks in the shadows were birds.

Sedum oreganum, Oregon Stonecrop

Owl's Clover amidst Lupine

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Folsom Lake, 4/9/16 - 4/10/16

3.5 miles.
4/9/16.  We had an event to go to earlier that day in Sacramento, so we decided to check out Folsom Lake to see if the lupines were in bloom.  Spent the night at Beals Campground.  When we got there, there was a car parked in our clearly marked RESERVED campsite.  So we told the ranger and he found the owner and have him move it.  There were a lot of Boy Scouts there, multiple troops.  Owner of the vehicle was part of one of the troops.  We set up the car and went to bed, skipping dinner because we were still full from lunch earlier that day. 

4/10/16.  Ugh...the rain.  Pitter-patter all night long.  We drove to Beeks Bight hoping to see the endless fields of lupine like the last time were there.
And it had been raining, so I was hoping for some great water droplet pics.  Unfortunately, it was a little drizzly, so I didn't want to take my camera out.  Plus, there were hardly any flowers.  Lots and lots of wet grass though.  The trail we took ended up under the lake, so after half a mile we turned around back to the car.  We hiked around the boating area for another 2.5 miles, then headed home.

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Garrapata State Park, 4/3/16

4.5 mile hike over two hikes.
Parked on the turnout opposite the coast side.
Start time: 8:51am.  End time: 1:15pm.
Sidenote: On the way home, we stopped in Gilory for some garlic ice cream.  Tasted like eating chocolate ice cream after eating some garlic pasta.

1.5 miles, Sobranes Point Trail.  Hiked along the coast for a short ways.  We had intended on doing the loop, but because of the narrow trails and abundance of poison oak, we opted to turn around.
Saw a few bunnies and flowers though.

Indian Paintbrush

blue blossom ceanothus (California lilac)

Poison Oak, and lots of it!

3 miles; Sobranes Canyon Trail.  Opted to do the less strenuous portion of this loop, and only did an out and back on the Sobranes Canyon Trail.  Still quite a bit of poison oak, but the trails were slightly wider (not by much though).  There were quite a few people, so it seemed like at least every 5 minutes somebody had to move aside.  First portion of the trail had lots of cacti.  There were a few stream crossings too.

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Cataract Falls, Mt. Tamalpais, 2/15/16

4.25 miles; Rock Spring Trailhead, Simmons Trail, Laurel Dell Fire Road, Old Stove Trail, High Marsh Trail, Cataract Trail.

Water level was still low, but a bit higher than when we visited in September.

 

Of course I have to stop and take photos of the mushrooms!

Cup fungi!

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Briones Regional Park, 2/7/15

4.1 miles.
Bear Creek Staging Area, Old Briones Road Trail, Briones Crest Trail, Mott Peak Trail, Black Oak Trail, Old Briones Road Trail.

It was a beautiful day for a hike.  It was pretty green that day, since we had some rain about a week or two earlier.  Enough to get the hills green but not too muddy.

 

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