El Corte De Madera (9/21/02)

September 21, 2002 Saturday
(El Corte De Madera [instead of Mission Peak on 9/20 evening])

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[Previous outing at El Corete De Madera: 11/17/2002]

Hope everyone had a nice mid-autumn festival weekend. As much as I would love to share with you the pictures from this year's moonlight hike, I can't! The reason is, cuz there wasn't one :( We had over a dozen folks from the svhikers and another 10 or so from the other group that gathered at the Stanford Av parking lot and was all set to hike, except... the trail was closed due to critical fire risk! Clearly, it was for the safety of all involved, and it was probably a very good move as you've probably heard of the Morgan Hill fire that started on Monday. So, instead of hiking at Mission Peak, we wandered over to Coyote Hills regional park (close to Rt 84/880) and would've tried to hike there, but that park closed to cars at 8PM, so we couldn't do that either! And although we could've hiked till the curfew at 10PM, we daren't as we were greeted with countless mosquitos who, like us, were enjoying a night out in the countryside :)

A few of us did decide to go for a hike the next morning, however. Welcome to new hikers Irs, Bryan, and Judit who went with 3 others to El Corte de Madera, located atop the Woodside mountains at Skyline & 84. We hiked a leisurely 6 miles or so. -paul (9.26.02)

On 9/20 evening, we were greeted with a "Park Closed" sign to Mission Peak. Thus the mid-autumn moonlight hike was canceled! Some of us decided to meet the next morning for a hike.

The first stop was to see a giant redwood "Methuselah", just off Skyline blvd. This plaque shows the tree to be about 1,800 years old, with a 14ft diameter and over 130 ft tall!

A group picture with "Methusela", one of the largest redwood in the bay area.
(left to right) Iris, Judit, Bryan, Paisley, Mei, and Paul

There were many bikers on the trails, some parts of which were pretty steep. Combined with the very dry and loose trail conditions, some bikers had difficulties staying upright. This courageous biker fell as he biked up the trail, but immediately got back on and rode off!

An interesting piece of natural art can be found on these trails: Sandstone formations. This sign describes how they're formed.

Sandstone formation - what looks like a giant piece of rock is actually packed sand worn out by wind and rain. The hikers marvel at nature's art from an observation deck.

Sandstone formation - a closeup view shows the intricate designs formed naturally over the years.

Sandstone formation - Iris, Judit, and Bryan.

Sandstone formation - Judit and Bryan, first time hiking with the group.

On the trails again! (l-r) Judit, Paisley, Iris, and Mei.

Stopping to look at a redwood stump.

The trails afforded many views such as this, where redwoods, oaks, and other trees grew harmoniously together.

A little acorn (oak) stands on a bed of aromatic leaves.

Bryan and the pacific madrone tree.

Bryan and Judit say hello to the tree.

Another 1.5 miles to Skegg's point (parking lot)

From a vista point, we could see the low fog still covering the pacific ocean.

Group picture at the vista point.
(l-r): Paul, Mei, Iris, Paisley, Judit, Bryan.

Last of the summer flowers: Yellow Star Thistles
(note the two bees collecting pollen)

Yellow Star Thistle.

End of the hike - just have to cross Skyline to reach the parking lot.
Remember to look both ways!

9/21/02 View of SF Bay from Twin Peaks

9/21/02 Radio tower near Twin Peaks in SF.

9/21/02 Moon and trees

9/22/02 - Moon rising behind the east bay mountains.

If you've enjoyed the hike and/or pictures, how about posting a comment? :)

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