One of my dear friends just had a milestone birthday, and she celebrated by throwing a weekend-long birthday extravaganza in beautiful Mendocino, CA. She and her extended family stayed at Spring Ranch in nearby Little River, which abuts part of the property now owned by Van Damme State Park.  My husband and I stayed at the JD House in Mendocino, where we were within walking distance to both great food (such as at the Trillium Cafe) and picturesque Mendocino Headlands State Park. The lede photo shows the coastline from Mendocino Headlands State Park. See photos from the town of Mendocino (with its many water towers) after the jump.

This was a return visit for me to Russian Gulch State Park. The last time that I was here, I did the more intense waterfall hike, but this time I kept things short and sweet with a 1-mile loop along the headlands to the sinkhole named Devil's Punch Bowl. It was really cool to see this sinkhole again--it was much greener in March than it was in June last year. On top of greener spring grasses, the sun was out; this made for some beautiful photographs of the water and the wildflowers! See those after the jump.

Lands End is one of the many lovely parks that is incorporated into Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This national park is broken into smaller campuses that are all over the San Francisco Peninsula and Marin County. This out-and-back hike is about 3 miles (~1.5 miles each direction). You can start from the Lands End Parking lot (680 Point Lobos Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121). Jane Huber, the author of the blog Bay Area Hiker, has a really nice write-up of the hike here, and the department of tourism has a gorgeous photo spread here, along with some information about the nearby historic site of the Sutro Baths ruins. See a map and some more photos after the jump.

This was a return visit to Devil's Slide, a trail maintained by San Mateo County Parks. Another great trip!

Sadly, my husband and I have moved away from La Honda after two glorious years there. After getting all settled and unpacked in our new place down in Silicon Valley, I decided to take a weekend jaunt back to La Honda and Pescadero because I was already missing it.

Devils Postpile National Monument is run cooperatively with the National Parks Service and the National Forest Service. It is in the Eastern Sierras near the ski resort area of Mammoth Lakes. The monument is a rare and fascinating geological formation that is the result of ancient volcanoes and glaciers--a landscape of fire and ice.

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park is a fascinating park that offers visitors a peak back in time to the highs and lows of California's gold mining heyday. Here is a helpful blurb from the state park website:

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park is the site of California's largest "hydraulic" mine. Visitors can see huge cliffs carved by mighty streams of water, results of the gold mining technique of washing away entire mountains to find the precious metal. Legal battles between mine owners and downstream farmers ended this method.

The Diggins themselves are really beautiful. They look like some of the red rock formations in Utah. It is weird to see such formations in Northern California, especially because some of the grounds near the foot of the Diggins are still boggy and marshy. The greatest environmental impact was further downstream from the Yuba River, particularly in Marysville where people died because of flooding. It is easy to forget how devastating the pollution from mining was when what remains of this mine is actually very beautiful.

The park also has what is more or less a ghost town. It is definitely worth it to take the ranger-led tour of North Bloomfield so that you can go inside some of the old buildings like the saloon, pharmacy, general store, and a residence. Plus, the park rangers here are the friendliest park rangers I have ever met!

See my mom's painting of Chute Campground and my photos of the Diggins after the jump.

Castle Crags State Park is a wonderful state park right off of Interstate-5 near the charming town of Dunsmuir. After embarking on this strenuous 5.4-mile hike (with a 2,200 ft elevation gain), you might want to drive into Dunsmuir to eat at Dunsmuir Brewry Works so that you can get a substantial meal like their salmon BLT.

See some gorgeous photos and one of my mom's paintings after the jump.

Half Moon Bay State Beach is a series of four beaches (1. Roosevelt, 2. Dunes, 3. Venice, and 4. Francis) that have been collected into one state park that stretches about four miles along the shore in the town of Half Moon Bay. The Coastside Trail connects all the beaches and even extends beyond the borders of the park as far north as Pillar Point and as far south as Poplar and Redondo Beaches. The trail is easy and flat. It sometimes follows right along the cliffs and sometimes pulls further inland, but it is often even paved to be accessible for all people. There is a campground too, if you would like to trying camping right along the beach!

I have written about this amazing trail before. The wildflowers here are AMAZING in the winter and spring, and you are very likely to see harbor seals. It's basically one of my favorite places in the whole world.