Pt. Reyes National Seashore

Date: 05/29/06
Park: Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, CA
Condition: Sunny and windy
Start time: About 3 PM
Length: We just play tourist and did not do serious hiking
Hiker: JC, Maria, Sarah, Mr. and Mrs. Mak, Pak, Ada, Ken
Trail: Lighthouse and Elephant Seal Overlook, Golden Gate Bridge Overlook
Pictures: http://jc-studios.smugmug.com/gallery/1514814
Short Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t87wolGxy3k
Views: Pacific Ocean, light house, Elephant Seals, Golden Gate Bridge. To our surprised, the weather is very sunny. No fog, not really cold. We got there pretty late but we had a nice relax lunch. We just walked around and listen to the Ranger explaining the history of the light house. We had Oysters at the same grocery store as we did last time. Too bad we missed the Gray Whale migration period. Nice weather, plenty of wild flowers. Animals include Falcon, and red headed eagle like bird. Since Golden Gate Bridge is so cleared. We dropped by when we return for pictures. We should get there earlier next time.

Morgan Territory

Date: 05/20/06
Park: Morgan Territory, Livermore, CA
Condition: Cloudy and not hot
Start time: About 3 PM
Length: More then 3 hours (4.7 miles)
Hiker: JC
Trail: http://www.bahiker.com/eastbayhikes/morgan.html
Pictures: http://jc-studios.smugmug.com/gallery/1477557
Views: Livermore Valley, Mt Diablo. There are plenty of birds singing, although I only seen a few birds but I heard plenty of different birds singing. I saw a hawk, red winged black bird and squarrel. From start till finish the crickets and the bird continue singing. There are crows calling and also some sounds like cat. I saw a few dogs and a couple esqustrians. The drive to the park is a good one, execellent views, vinyards, green hills, but needs to be real careful since it is a single lane road. I was disappointed early in the trail, finding only scattering white flowers. As I walk further and futher then there are more flowers and more varity. At one point I saw more then 50+ cows. They were on the trail. I have to walk between them to make sure I did not scare them. After a while, I lost the trail. Finally after walking between more cows, I found it again. The trail come to a gate, a cow on each side of the gate. Oh my, how could I get through without scaring them. I sneek behind the first cow and squeeze through the gate, making sure I did not let it escape to the other side. Then I slowly walk toward the other cow on the other side. Luckily it walked away. Almost towards the end, there is a long steep climb. My nose could not be turned off, my eyes are all swollen when I got home. But this trail is worth the misery.

Baylands Park

Date: 05/13/06
Park: Baylands Park, Sunnyvale, CA
Condition: Hot but breezy
Start time: About 2:30 PM
Length: About 4 hours
Biker: JC, Maria
Trail: Ad-hoc
Pictures: http://jc-studios.smugmug.com/gallery/1456619
Views: Moffett Field, East Bay, Dumbarton Bridge, Hwy 237. We even saw some sort of Rader tower at the trail. Animals and birds include: Eagle or some kind of hawk, red winged black bird, slits, white goose, Candian goose, ducks, gooselings, ducklings, humming bird and some unknown bird that sings beautifully. As we are backtracing our trail, we saw a very long snake in the middle of the trail, it was enjoying the late afternoon sun just like us. It was not scared and we stayed there a watch it for a long time. We did not go too close and use a binocular to watch it. It is slithering its tongue all the time. We saw a much smaller one just a little bit futher. We park outside the park so we saved $5 and bike into the park. We even got a nice shady spot for the car. Thank you Lord for this memoriable trip. I even dreamt of the snake that it finally coiled up on the side. Hahaha....

Joseph D Grant County Park

Date: 05/06/06
Park: Grant County Park, San Jose, CA
Condition: Warm and nice
Start time: About 2PM
Length: About 4.5 hours
Hiker: JC, Maria and Sarah
Trail: http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/grant.html
Pictures: http://jc-studios.smugmug.com/gallery/1435755
Views: San Jose, Bay Area and Lick Observatory. We walked by Grant lake and did not go to Bass Lake. There are some waterfalls along the way. Animals and birds include: Eagle or some kind of hawk, plenty of unamed bird, red winged black bird, rabbit, squarrel, turkey like bird. Dragonfly, butterfly, ants, and an insect that looks like wingless bee. We heard some frogs jumping into the water and tadpole in the lake. We saw some fishermen at Grant Lake. There are plenty of wild flowers, red, yellow, violet color. It is breezy so it does not feel very hot. Sarah is getting近朱者赤近「麥」者黑。Hopefully we do not give her bad influence. The sign postings are very confusing, we got lost and hike an extra mile. All in all, it is a nice hike and it has climbs but not too bad for old person like me.