4th Hike - Coal Mine Ridge

Hi everyone!  I'm looking forward to seeing you this Saturday for our fourth hike at Coal Mine Ridge.  I just checked the trail today and the wildflowers are gorgeous!  Check out the pic for a sneak preview of two lovelies we should see plenty of - Houndstongue (Cynoglossum grande) and Indian Warrior (Pedicularis densiflora).


The Coal Mine Ridge parking lot is at the intersection of Alpine Road and Willowbrook Road in Portola Valley, CA.  However, it's a tiny parking lot, so we will meet at the park and ride off of 280 and Page Mill Road (technically in Los Altos) and caravan over.  There are spaces for overflow parking if absolutely necessary, but I happen to know there's another hike at the preserve that same day that ends at 1 PM, so hopefully we can swoop in and take all their parking spaces.


I'm taking votes for our last hike...#5...would you prefer Sweeney Ridge or Sunol Regional Wilderness?

 Here's a great pic Emelie took of our last hike.


I very much look forward to seeing you soon!

Uvas Canyon Hike + Next hike location

Hello everyone - thank you for your patience with the parking fiasco at Uvas Canyon last weekend - it looks like there was at least one event going on then (see: http://www.bayareaparent.com/Article/Valentines-Day-Events-Around-the-Bay-Area/) and maybe other events or publicity as well!  So, I probably won't take future classes there, but it was still cool to get to hang out with you all amidst the rushing waterfalls!

So here are a couple things we saw.







1.  Early wildflowers called Milkmaids, you could learn more about them here: http://www.calfloranursery.com/plants/cardamine-californica.


2.  On the cliffs was a cool little native California succulent called a Dudleya.  I'm not sure what's the exact species, but it could have been Dudleya cymosa: http://online.sfsu.edu/bholzman/courses/Fall99Projects/dudleya.htm.


3.  We had fun throwing around bedstraw, who, in addition to its many names, I just learned is also called "Stickywilly".  Read more here: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GAAP2

4.  And then we enjoyed the fresh scent of California Bay Laurel, which is similar to the bay leaf used in cooking (you can use this species also.)  http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/682--umbellularia-californica


Contrary to what I said on Saturday, I'd like for our next hike to be close to home, so let's go to my work, Coal Mine Ridge, where the wildflowers are popping out all over the place!  You can read more about it here:  http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Skyline/CoalMineRidge.html.  Let's meet at Los Altos park and ride on Page Mill and 280 at 12:45 so we can caravan; the parking lot is a little tough to find.

Have a wonderful two weeks, and I will see you soon!

3rd Hike, Uvas Canyon Park!

Hi everyone!  You asked for waterfalls, so hopefully we will see waterfalls at Uvas Canyon Park - https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/UvasCanyon.aspx.   If you want to be ahead of the game, you can check out their waterfall trail plant guide.  We should see many of these plants, and hopefully we will see newts and wildflowers too!  See you next Saturday the 13th at 1 PM, unless rain cancels in which case I will post it here.  Cheers!