It’s good to know the rattlesnakes are out of hibernation. The best way to learn this is from your friendly neighborhood hiking blogger. The worst way is from the tips of their hypodermic fangs. My way was in the middle:…
Yearly Archives: 2008
Deputy kills two bicyclists
by tom • March 10, 2008 • 2 Comments
EDIT: Here’s the latest from mercurynews.com. Most of you have probably heard about this by now, but if not: Yesterday a Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy veered across Stevens Canyon Road in the hills west of Cupertino and rammed a…
“Earth Dance” Short Attention Span Film Festival
by tom • March 8, 2008 • 0 Comments
It’s happening Friday, April 4, at Oakland Museum of California. It’s a bunch of short films about the planet. The plug: EarthDance is not your average film festival. Our 20 short films (30 seconds to 30 minutes each) are a…
User fees rising on federal lands
by tom • March 8, 2008 • 2 Comments
Fire-fighting costs are the culprit, the New York Times reports. “As fire costs increase, I’ve got less and less money for other programs,” said Dave Bull, superintendent of the Bitterroot National Forest here in Hamilton. The charge for access to…
Bay Area gear brands
by tom • March 7, 2008 • 3 Comments
Yesterday’s post about Mountain Hardwear got me thinking about other name brands in the region. The North Face is the most obvious — they still have a marketing and distribution arm in San Leandro. Marmot is up in Santa Rosa.…
Four great spring hikes in the Bay Area
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 3 Comments
This was in Thursday’s Mercury News: quick looks at four great places to be in the springtime. I imposed my affection for Henry Coe State Park upon the Merc’s tender readers, but I was merciful and recommended the wonderful Ponderosa…
Please buy Barb Egbert’s book
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 4 Comments
Barb is the author of Zero Days, her account of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with her husband and 10-year-old daughter. As of a couple minutes ago, Barb is essentially unemployed — she’s one of the folks getting their walking…
Geocaching: take the kids along
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 8 Comments
As I was walking with a rail-thin Army Reserve sergeant along the way to Murietta Falls awhile back, we got to talking about what his overweight preteen son thinks of hiking. In two words: hates it. Army Dad’s solution: give…
Great hikes around Sacramento
by tom • March 6, 2008 • 0 Comments
A writer from the Bee goes walking with Steve Evans, author of “Top Trails: Sacramento.” They’re checking out the Cosumnes River Preserve. “The preserve is a great example of what the pre- European Central Valley used to look like,” Evans…