I’m in Cranbrook visiting my Uncle and family on my birthday. I did a ride this morning and when I asked my uncle about some gravel he recommended Gold Creek Road. So I headed over there and was disappointed that I didn’t really see a creek nor did I find any gold.
Otherwise, it was a nice day to do some gravel. The smoke from the fires wasn’t as thick and the road was mostly at my level. Descending around the south side of Mt Baker was butt clenching at points but I managed to find my way back to the highway and then on back to Cranbrook.
I got up fairly early to head out to Rancho San Antonio and enjoy a hike on new trails and when it was not too warm yet.
It was a good hike, first up a nice shaded creek valley, then I climbed up from there and got some good views of the Bay, San Jose, and other landmarks in the South Bay.
Overall, a nice hike, and Rancho San Antonio is a nice place to hike, and I can see why it is popular.
Black Mountain is a prominent peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is quite popular with hikers and mountain bikers, with several trails leading up to the top. I had been considering doing a hike from Rhus Ridge, a trailhead off Moody Road, for some time. It’s a challenging, but well maintained trail with steep sections and the views are quite rewarding. I didn’t want to do an out and back, which is the shortest option, as I wasn’t excited about descending the trail, being as steep as it is in parts. So I mapped out a loop that took me down through the Monte Bello, Los Trancos, and Foothills preserves, mostly along Page Mill Road, via Page Mill Trail. This would be a much longer hike, but I felt that I would enjoy it more than just going to the top and back on the same trail.
With a route mapped out, I started early to beat the heat. The morning was foggy as well, and so I enjoyed conformable conditions for the steep early section. The views were nice as I climbed, and eventually I was above the fog layer, which was also diminishing as the morning wore on. I was happy to catch sight of the cell towers at the peak as an indication that I was almost to the top. The fog was still extending its fingers though the forest lower down, but I experienced sunny skies as I descended.
I was happy to finally reach Foothills Park and make my way along Moody Road to return to the start. Definitely it was one of the longer hikes I’ve done, but I really enjoyed the trek.
Back to some nice hiking after a long hiatus during my cycling trip. Today, I decided to hike Foothills Park again. I’m usually looking for new parks to explore, but I wanted to check out Los Trancos Trail, which is a long loop over interesting terrain and I hadn’t seen that part of Foothills Park.
Stanford University is relatively close by, so I did a walk and took some pictures of some of the interesting sights there, as the campus has more than just buildings for teaching. Pictures are below the fold.
I had an extra day in Glasgow before my flight home. I took the train from Paisley near my hotel by the airport to central Glasgow. From there I wandered around, eventually winding up at the Glasgow Cathedral. It is quite impressive and I enjoyed spending a fair amount of time there.
After that, I walked around and found some fish and chips for lunch. I then walked along the River Clyde until I reached the Clydeside Distillery. They are pretty small, but have some decent offerings.
I then returned via the train, after enjoying some tasty dinner. I must say that the public transport in the UK is quite good and I was back at my hotel in no time.
With a rest day in Fort William, I took the opportunity to walk over to the Ben Nevis Distillery. I was hoping to get to take part in a tour, and as chance would have it, I arrived 5 minutes before the next tour, with only one open spot left.
We got a pretty good tour, and the guide took us through all the steps of making a good dram. At the end, I got to sample a few of the Ben Nevis lineup, and they do make a nice whisky. Pictures are below the fold.
