Sierra Azul Hike

Last Saturday we hiked Sierra Azul.  It was a very cold morning so we met a little later at 10:00 am. 

It's amazing how fast you warm up!  I think we weren't even a mile in and I was taking off my jacket even though it was only in the 40s!

The views of the Santa Clara Valley were really beautiful up there!

This photo above is a good shot of where we are headed...If you look across those wires to the top of the second hill you can see the tower. Yes, the one at the skyline! That's where we are going! On the trail of course...which winds along the mountain.

We made it!

The views were amazing! And it was a beautiful day!  We only stayed up here for about 15 minutes and then it was time to head back down!

This hike was supposed to be about 10 miles but we took a detour on our way down which made the hike 13 miles...a record for me!  It was a tough hike for me when we hit some big hills at around mile 10 but I made it!  The whole hike took over 5 hours!

To see the beautiful waterfalls here, scroll down to my previous post!

Waterfalls!

Saturday I did my longest hike yet, 13 miles and 1,800' elevation! I not going to lie, it was tough but I hope to look back on this post one day and laugh that I thought this was hard! 

Amazingly though, I wasn't very sore the next day. This is week 8 of hiking for me and each week my body is less sore than the previous week. I feel my legs getting stronger with each hike! I'm hiking to get in shape but I must admit the scenery is amazing!

This post is all about the waterfalls we came across at Sierra Azul Midpeninsula Regional Open Space Preserve.

We had record low temps the night before our hike and we expected to have snow on this hike but we were really surprised when we got there and there wasn't any...except for traces from a previous storm earlier in the week.

 The water was running though....

Waterfall, after waterfall...

 It is so tranquil to hear the water running as you turn a bend in the trail!



Tomorrow, I'll share some more of this hike with you!

Monte Bello Midpeninsula Regional Open Space Preserve

This was a 10 - 11 mile hike on a gorgeous day (Feb 5, 2010)!  This hike took us through many different parks and lots of different scenery.  From open fields to under the redwoods...

Beautiful views of the southern part of the San Francisco Bay by Palo Alto.

I love the moss and ferns all around this area!

Gorgeous moss hanging from the trees!

 

We came upon this fence that was covered with ladybugs!

At one point in the hike we had to cross a stream by stepping across the stones. It was harder than it looked but I made it. I was the holding the camera so no photos of me!

 

This is the only thing that scares me about hiking around here...

 We had a picnic lunch at the top of this hill.

Beautiful moss and ferns growing on this trunk!

El Corte Madera Hike

Last weekend we had to change our scheduled Saturday hike to Sunday because of rain.  We hiked at El Corte Madera.  We took the Woodside exit off of 280 and met up near Skyline.  It had snowed up in this area 2 days earlier and there were still traces of it left. For a born and raised California girl, it's exciting to see snow so close to home!

We had to cross that creek in the first photo.  There wasn't any bridge so I took my shoes and socks off and went through the water to get to the other side.  The rest of the group went across logs and rocks.  I'm the crazy one I guess!

Welcome to my hiking blog!

I've been blogging about decorating on my main blog "My Romantic Home" for almost 6 years but recently I found a new passion...Hiking!

I joined a hiking group and have been hiking about 5-11 miles every Saturday for the last 6 weeks. My reason for hiking is to lose some weight and gain some muscle tone but I think the best thing I'm getting out of it is the feeling of accomplishment when I finish a long, hard hike!

This blog is my way of keeping track of my hikes.  I hope you enjoy your visit here!