March 21, 2004 - Forest of Nisene Marks

This hike was attended by 12 people: Brenda, Sophia, Steve, Quyen, Ann, YiWen, SongYuan, Judit, Mei, Molly, and Paul. It was another fabulous day for hiking, with temperature in the low 70's. We met up at the Mitsuwa marketplace to carpool at 7:30am and left for Forest of Nisene Marks in Aptos by 7:45am. We started the first leg of the hike at 8:30am at the park entrance - through an old growth forest. Although just 1.1 miles, we crossed a creek (no bridge), saw some really funky twisted redwoods, a big jack-o-lantern carved out of a redwood stump, and checked out a giant 45' circumference redwood. After this short hike, we drove a few miles into the park to the Porter family picnic area where we parked the cars and began the second leg of the hike. This leg of the hike necessitated more crossing of creeks, both via river rocks as well as fallen redwoods fording the creeks.

We climbed up via the Aptos Creek trail, passing the 1989 earthquake epicenter, along steep ravines and canyons. Saw lots of redwood sorrels, giant horesetails, mushrooms, maples, redwoods, and a number of other wildflowers. After climbing about 1200' (from 200' to 1400'), we arrived at Whites Lagoon and had lunch there from about 12:45 pm to 1:15 pm). Some of us were fortunate enough to see (and/or hear) humming birds at the pond, which was full of cattails. After lunch, we ascended some more to elevation 1600' to the Sand Point overlook and there had a fabulous view of the Santa Cruz mountains. A few hikers were temporarily separated from the main group but after a bit of hollering, the lost party was found and reunited with the rest :) After some 20 minutes at the top, we started descending to return to the parking lot. It took us just a little over 2 hours (2:13 pm - 4:18 pm) to hike down the 5.7 miles, averaging a rather fast 2.75 mph.

The total distance of the hike was a healthy 14.5 miles and elevation difference of about 1700 ft. Definitely not an easy hike but very much worth the sweat and effort. Injury report: just a few blisters and sore muscles :) After the hike, some of us had a quick dinner in the Mitsuwa marketplace. Thanks everyone for participating in this adventure and congratulations - you're now a true long-distance hiker! Enjoy the photos! Post or Read Comments.

See also photos from: [Brenda]

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