New Year's Day in the Redwoods

Hello Familia!

This blog is going to be a record, as the title suggests, of the various hikes, camping trips, surfing outings, and other outdoor adventures Ms. Sonia Rowan Glass undertakes.

We began this year, as has lately been a tradition for us, with a nice long New Year's Day hike. (In 2008 we did the Tulle Elk Preserve hike out in Point Reyes, where we saw, among the Tulle Elk, Frances McDormand.)

We decided to head up to the Oakland hills, to the Redwood Regional Park, and to follow a route that would take us on a six-mile loop up across a ridge and then down into the redwoods. Though we didn't see any celebrities, the hike was great fun. A pretty intense first quarter mile to get up on top of the ridge, then a long ambling wander up and down across the ridge, where everything was absolutely bathed in fog. Our East Bay Hiking Guidebook promised us there were wonderful views out to the Bay and to Mt. Diablo the other direction, which seems likely-- lots of canyon fell away on either side of the ridge.

We could see that much, even being 'misted.' ('Misted' is Gabe's term for the state of having had too much Arbor Mist to drink, which we learned NYE at Jesse's fiesta, though there were no examples that night of misted people. And though we were not 'misted' on our hike in the technical sense, the term kept popping into one of our heads, as the clouds made ghosts of all the trees.) Several sections of the ridge offered long corridors of trees, like dream hallways dissipating in the morning. Beautiful stuff.

Two miles in we paused to have some string cheese and crackers-- there was a bench that would've been nice to sit on, but it was occupied. Three miles got us to the parking lot at the other end of the park, where we dipped down and left for a descent into the trees. For the first half mile or so the terrain felt the same-- that mix of eucalyptus and oak plus various foliage that is the standard east bay hills fare. But then suddenly, and it felt sudden, like a light switch, we were surrounded by ferns and redwoods. Moments like those, we agreed, make the Bay Area so magical-- to be in the midst of the city, but feel more than miles away, in a completely different world.

The trail followed a creek/stream, and the air had that dampness to it that you only find in those impossibly lush green spaces hundreds of feet below tall trees. We talked about Grandma Diane, and her ashes buried next to a (smaller) coastal redwood like the ones around us-- feeling very close to her as we began our first year without her physical presence on earth. We also talked about how sad it is that the giant redwoods that were these trees predecessors were all clear cut in the mid-19th century-- our guidebook tells us some of them were more than 20 feet in diameter, and so big that they were used as navigation points for ships entering the Golden Gate, more than 16 miles away. Hard to imagine-- either the trees themselves or the mindset of the people who cut them down.

The trail followed that stream for about two miles, then slowly emerged into a couple different meadows, before leaving us off back at the parking lot, where we shared a mocha brought in a new Xmas-present thermos (thank you Grandma Betty!), and Sonia recharged with the good stuff. A few observations for future versions of the hike:

1) It would be great in the summer. The ridge would be hot hot hot, then you could cool down with the stroll through the trees.

2) There's a great meadow at the end, near to the parking lot, with barbecue spots and a climbing structure for kids-- could be fun for some summer days, play some frisbee, have some food, and run around with the kiddies, maybe even go for a walk in the redwoods. Fun fun.

Ok, until next time!