When last we encountered Seagull, my Chinese hiking friend, the two of us traveled to Point Reyes to gaze upon elk and the Pacific Ocean. Since then Seagull came upon a Chinese-American outdoors club based in San Francisco that took…
California state parks
Why the coast is priceless
by tmangan • September 12, 2006 • 0 Comments
"Is there ANYPLACE else on earth you’d want to be right now?" The guy’s breathing heavy with a look of orgiastic bliss on his face. As far as I know he has not just successfully seduced Eva Longoria, but you…
A creek to fall for
by tmangan • September 10, 2006 • 2 Comments
There used to be a limestone quarry here. Then somebody found a better way to extract lime from the stone and the site fell into ruin. The guy who started the quarry cut down most of the trees and laid…
Warm thoughts of Henry Coe
by tmangan • August 27, 2006 • 3 Comments
Back to the dirt paths this week. I tempted fate and revisited Henry Coe State Park almost a year to the day after an ill-advised trek up the steepest trail in the park under a blazing, north of 95-degree sun.…
Working on my technique
by tmangan • July 23, 2006 • 0 Comments
"Lift your feet higher," the voice behind me says. "Lean back a little, balance your weight, and relax." For the first time in two years of hiking, I have a coach. His name is Shiguo, which sounds a lot like…
Another trip to the big trees
by tmangan • May 30, 2006 • 0 Comments
Six miles into Portola Redwoods State Park is the Valley That Loggers Forgot. The park is in a section of the Santa Cruz Mountains where enterprising, forward-looking entrepreneurs clear-cut acre after acre to answer the Bay Area’s growing demand to…
A picture perfect day
by tmangan • May 28, 2006 • 0 Comments
There seems to be a fundamental force of nature which requires that on the day you forget to take your camera along, the skies will be an impossible canvas of California blue, the clouds decorating these skies will billow in…
Yet another Henry Coe hike
by tmangan • May 8, 2006 • 0 Comments
This week’s hike will only seem like a rerun. The pictures were all taken yesterday, but it has many things in common with previous hikes, primarily that it was at Henry Coe State Park (four weeks in a row; where…
Getting my feet wet
by tmangan • April 16, 2006 • 1 Comment
Before I get to this week’s hike, I have to revisit last week, when the instructor of my lightweight backpacking class mentioned having gone on a hike that required something like 50 stream crossings. Somebody asked if he changed out…