This 8-mile hike through Sunol Regional Wilderness was a welcome return to a beloved park after its temporary closure earlier this spring. This loop, which was new to me, hits many of the highlights of the park: Little Yosemite, the cave rocks, and the old barn in the High Valley. It offers gorgeous views of the distinctive Maguire Peaks, and I saw so many of a favorite flower of mine: mariposa lilies! I love these gorgeous flowers that look like delicately painted china teacups.

Acalanes Ridge Open Space in Walnut Creek is a relatively small park that serves as an important connection in the greenbelt between Walnut Creek and Lafayette. This makes it feel bigger than it actually is. There are some impressive 360° views from the top of the Ridgetop Trail, but the hike is quite steep at parts. I enjoyed this 1.5-mile loop, but I think I would have enjoyed it much more if I had done it without bringing my young daughter. It was a bit of a roller coaster, both literally and metaphorically.

As a treat to myself this weekend (ahead of Mother's Day), I decided to take a nice hike on a loop that winds in between Morgan Territory and Mount Diablo State Park. I loved this 8-mile route, and plan to do a variation of it again next spring! Click "read more" to see my loop and more photos.

Last week, my 2-year-old daughter and I went to Morgan Territory midweek. I took her for the first time to this park; I had been here before to scope out this nice spot that was easily walkable for her. It packed an even greater punch than I realized! It was a great way to spend a nice spring day in Livermore.

After tailoring my outings to toddler-appropriate trips to open space parks midweek for the past few weeks, I was really missing a real hike. So I explored a park here in the Tri-Valley that I had yet to explore, Augustin Bernal Park in Pleasanton. I went early in the morning on Sunday to beat any crowd. It was quite a roller coaster of emotions!

After getting the news on Wednesday that the East Bay Regional Park District is shutting down several of its more popular parks for several weeks to help to stop the spread of COVID-19, I decided to make a farewell visit on Thursday to one of my all-time favorite parks: Sunol Regional Wilderness. The weather has been very unpredictable in Livermore. Earlier in the day we even got hail! So when I was finally able to venture out, I got some pretty dramatic lighting as the clouds broke up to let the sunshine pour in. Although I am very saddened that the park is closing, I support the Park District's decision and I did feel a bit of hope watching the beautiful valley flood with light.

On Wednesday afternoon, my daughter and I made a wonderful little trip to a beloved park local to us in Livermore: Delle Valle Regional Park. It was a golden afternoon after a morning of rain, and we had the park almost entirely to ourselves. We had a marvelous time, but when we got home I saw an email from the EBRPD announcing that it was closing several of its parks (including Del Valle) because folks last weekend were not responsible about social distancing. Although it really saddens my heart to lose access to this amazing place, I understand why the Park District made this call. I hope that this sends the message loud and clear to everyone in the state: enjoy your parks safely or we will all lose this privilege at a time when we desperately need it!

Although some high-use parks are starting to close to prevent the spread of COVID-19, there are plenty of less-used parks that are still open. The state park system is especially affected in the Northern California counties of Marin, San Mateo, and Sonoma Counties, but that is a dynamic list. Point Reyes had to turn people away from Chimney Rock this weekend because there were too many people trying to go and it was not compatible with social distancing. But there are still LOTS of parks that are not too crowded.

I went--for the first time--to Castle Rock and Diablo Foothills Parks, which are part of the East Bay Regional Park District.  Although there were other folks on the trial, I still had plenty of solitude along some of the trails deeper into the interior of Diablo Foothills. There were some cattle guards (so bring your hand sanitizer), but the wide fire roads of the park were great for hiking while maintaining 6 feet of distance. And it was so gorgeous! I loved this hike, and I can't wait to come back to both of these two parks. 

I've been working on building a landing page for all of the California State Parks that I have visited, and in sorting through the many parks of Northern California, I started to notice that there were several parks that I visited many years ago that have not made it into my blog. Although I do have photos from those trips, they are from older cameras and the quality of the images is not as good as the camera I am using now. So this is a single post to remember three trips from years past: 1) Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve (in Guerneville), 2) Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point State Park (in Tahoe), and 3) Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (in Big Sur). The photos are not as good as what I can do now, but the memories of these places sure are powerful and dear.

Last weekend I went on an introductory hike to Black Diamond Mines Regional Park in Antioch. It was a very cool hike that included a first for me: I hiked through a ~160 year old tunnel driven by prospectors looking for commercial grade coal! To see more photos and read a summary of my hike, click "read more" below.