On Sunday, I took a 6.5-mile solo hike deep into Morgan Territory, a park local to me in Livermore. This hike combined legs of several other hikes that I have done in the park before and it comprised a really good "greatest hits" of the park, or at least the part of the park that is most easily accessible from the main staging area.

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.

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.

As the shelter-in-place orders continue, I have continued to restrict my hiking as much as I can on the weekend. I am going out midweek with my toddler because the parks are just so much less populated midweek. Yesterday, we went a little further from home than we have ventured in the past two months, but still not very far: Round Valley Regional Preserve in nearby Brentwood. Click "read more" to see about our little adventure for the day.

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.

I have been looking over some of my archives from years past lately, and I've been thinking a lot about Lake Berryessa. This place was very special to me during my time in grad school, but I haven't been back in a long time. Read more to hear about some of the highlights from the past.

Every time I go for a hike now, I assume that it may very well be the last time for a long time that I will be able to visit a particular park. Indeed, I came home to the news that the California State Park system has closed all of its parks to vehicular traffic. So I do my best to be very much in the present and to savor every detail. It helps me to focus on my hike, to calm my anxiety in this very nerve-wracking time of global pandemic, and to notice the flowers and the birds with even greater clarity.

This trip to Brushy Peak Regional Park was all the more enjoyable for that mentality. I saw so many flowers and heard so many birds. I even saw a coyote!

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. 

Although all of the Marin County Parks are currently closed due to the shelter-in-place ordinances issued by the county of Marin, I got a chance to visit this lovely park on Sunday before the closure. I am glad that I got to go. I loved it, and it did so much to lighten my spirits during this frightening pandemic. Cascade Canyon Open Space Park is a wonderful park, and I hope to bring my family back here after the COVID-19 pandemic is under control. I will be looking over these pictures and dreaming of getting out to hike if more parks start to close. Perhaps the photos on this blog will bring some comfort to you too.

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.