Twin Lakes Hike, Marin County

RT = 5 mies

This is a set of two hikes which go around Lake Lagunitas and Alpine Lake in Marin county. The hike around Alpine Lake is the better of the two. It takes you around the lake to Bodena Dam and there is a trail on the other side of the lake which brings you back. There must be a separate access road to the dam since we found a lot of cars parked there.

The terrain is relatively easy, and the views of the lake while on the hike are pretty rewarding. The return hike though doesn't complete the loop and we had to hike the last half mile on the main road. This was rewarding though, as we spotted a herd of six deer as we hiked on the road.

From Hiking

 

Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve

RT = 3.1 miles

Where: Off Alpine Rd and Skyline Blvd Intersection

This is a pretty easy hike with excellent views of the valley and the bay. We started from the parking lot very close to the intersection of Alpine Rd and Skyline Blvd. The hike is a gradual climb up to Borel Hill (2572 ft) which offers an excellent views of the valley and the bay. We could easily see till all the way to San Mateo bridge. A picture of the view is enclosed.

There are a lot of trails in the Russian Ridge Preserve, but we liked the Ancient Oaks trail a lot. Its relatively flat, but you get nice views of the forested lands in the valley. Here is a picture of the terrific view.

From Hiking

From Hiking

 

Rancho San Antonio Preserve

RT: 6.2 miles

This is a pretty nice hike through the Rancho San Antonio Preserve in Los Altos Hills. We started from the trailhead at Rhus Ridge Road. Its a steady climb for the first one mile until we reached the junction of the Black Mountain Trail. We continued on the Chimase trail through the San Antonio preserve. This maintains a steady altitude and then eventually goes downhill. We ultimately reached a pretty decent sized reservoir in the midst of the preserve. A pic of the same is below.

On our way back, we spotted two lovely deers. We tried to quietly approach them to take a nice pic, but they noticed us and fled. The beauty of the Chamise trail is that it gives an excellent view of the Bay. We could see all the way from the foothills of Fremont to the San Meateo bridge. Another pic of the view from the Chamise trail is below.

 

Hostel Trail Loop, Hidden Valley

Where: Moody Rd., Los Altos Hills.

RT: 1.5 miles

Hidden valley is a very picturesque organic farm in very close proximity to the Bay Area. There are a bunch of trails here: a very handy map is given at the parking entrance. We were short of time today, so we decided on he Hostel-Toyon Hill-Creek Loop trail. The climb on Hostel trail is actually pretty steep, and the trail is very narrow as well. But it does lead to some very awesome vistas to the valley beneath, and some very amazing wildlife. Once we came down Toyon Hill, we found a pretty nice creek.

There is trail along the creek that takes one to Black Mountain, RoundTrip for that one is 10.5 miles; hope to do that one some day this spring or summer. Here is a nice pic taken from one of the vista points on Hostel trail. Also a creek of one of the berry trees we found on this trail.

 

Tafoni Monolith Hike

Where: Started from Caltrans Skeggs Vista Point, Skyline Blvd.

Distance: 3.2 miles RoundTrip

This is a pretty nice hike in the mid-peninsula region. This is located in the El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve. There are a bunch of trails here, the most popular one is the one we took. The hike led us through a nice fir forest and onto huge sandstone formations. There is a nice deck which allows one to come very close to these sandstone foundations. Below is one picture taken from a very close range.

It started raining on the way back, so we were wet by the time we returned to the car. But it was a pretty nice experience.

 

Foothills Park, Palo Alto

Foothills Park is a preserve on Page Mill Road Palo Alto, right after it crosses Highway 280. The sad part, it is limited to Palo Alto residents only. However, if you do know of a friend living in Palo Alto, do ask him/her to take you along. Each resident of Palo Alto can bring a maximum o 15 people in two cars. This area is a pretty well-maintained preserve, and lots of deer can be spotted in the grasslands.

Madhu, Arvind, and Soumya came along in this hike. We wanted to do an afternoon stroll, so we reached the park at about 3 pm. Foothills Park has a hot of hiking trails, so we took a 3 mile loop which gave us nice views towards the bay. You can also spot some very expensive homes in the hills around. When we reached our parking lot, we found a herd of 7 deer strolling around in the grass and enjoying the evening sun. Here is a picture of the view of the bay from the trail:

 

To Mount Diablo

Where: Started from Juniper campground on Summit Road to Mount Diablo.

RT: 4.5 (+ 2) = 6.5 miles

We celebrated Labor Day by hiking on the slopes to Mount Diablo. We started at the Juniper campground at an elevation of 2900 feet. The hike from there to Mount Diablo along Juniper trail is pretty steep, and we covered about 1000 feet within 1.3 miles to reach Mount Diablo at 3846 feet.

There is a nice observatory at Mount Diablo and we could see as far as San Francisco. It seems on a clear day, one can see the Yosemite valley from here.

We took Summit trail from here, but at a junction with Summit Road, we lost this trail and landed up on the North Peak Trail. We were almost a mile down when we realized our mistake. Another hiker confirmed this, and we were now making the painful climb back up.

The Summit trail follows close to Summit Road. After a mile we crossed the trail into Juniper trail which took through some awesome vegetation back intoour parking lot. Total ascent for the day was 2945 feet.

In retrospect our deviation into the North Peak trail was not bad, we got some awesome pics of the valley.

Conditions were pretty windy, so we did not feel the heat, but I have read that Mount Diablo can get very hot and dry on summer days.

 

Monte Bello Open Space Reserve - To Black Mountain

Where: On Page Mill Road, 1.5 miles east of Skyline Blvd.

Roundtrip: 5.2 miles

Nice hike that takes a loop to Black Mountain (2800 feet elevation) and back. You can choose the Indian Creek Trail if you want a steeper climb. You have nice views from the top of black mountain and nice wildflowers too. This trail is pretty heavy with mountain bikers, so watch out for them. If you are a mountain biker, you can continue ahead from black mountain to Montebello Road and then to Skyline Blvd.

 

Stanford Dish Area

This is a nice paved hike that goes through the Stanford Hills where various Stanford dish including a currently used radio telescope are installed. This area is great for an evening stroll or for jogging. The trail leads from the intersection of Stanford and Junipero Serra to the inersection of Campus Dive and Junipero Serra. One way distance is about 2.5 miles.

 

Waterfalls loop trail, Uvas Canyon County Park

Where: Santa Clara County, near Morgan Hill.

Description: Nice trail taking you to a few waterfalls, following a stream, and then looping back through a forest to get back to the trailhead. We started around 9 am and got back to the trailhead about 10:40. Waterfalls are gorgeous in winter and spring when the stream has lots of water. We also noticed a board recommending that the trail may get cut off by the water sometimes during winter. This trail is also relatively less populated, so its great fun.

Distance: 3 miles

Elevation change: Starting at 1100 feet and 1800 feet at the highest point.

Recommendation: Best in winter and early spring when the waterfalls have a ton of water.