Guest blog post: Christel Dawkins

Photo credit: Christel Dawkins

This guest post will have a new voice, that of Claire’s mom, a 71 year-old, lifelong hiker from Louisiana.  I am also a painter and have a special fondness for camping and the out of doors. Bad knees have slowed me down, but the love of adventure keeps me going. Click "read more" to read about my four hikes.

Oakland Zoo

The easiest and most family-friendly hike was at the Oakland Zoo.  Zoos should never be overlooked as a worthy destination for the serious hiker.  We use our imagination more than our muscles, for sure, but we come home renewed and rejuvenated.  The Oakland Zoo is perfect for Grammy, Baby, Mommy and Daddy. The challenges may be getting into the gondola and braving the fear of heights, or dealing with mobs of little children, but they are easily met. 

Seeing the excitement on the face of little Josephine, also being mirrored in the faces of all those children, so worth the price of admission! That we went on a Monday meant that the zoo was not really crowded.  We had the time and space to really watch the black bears play and the elephants “scamper” about.

Brannan Island State Recreation Area

The first real hike with only Claire and me was a typical excursion where Claire went off for about an hour while I worked on a painting.  This was a Friday, and smoke from the wildfires was not too bad. Went to Brannan Island State Recreation Area, an island in the Sacramento River Delta.  I am very familiar with the Mississippi River delta but this is entirely different, an inland delta. The engineering of deltas is less interesting to me than the landscape it produces.  It is a gorgeous expanse of salt marsh grasses, with the appropriate birds, and behind the levees, herds of sheep and cattle. The smoke erased those pesky mountains for me. I was in heaven.  (Good campground)

Pinnacles National Park

The second real hike was to Pinnacles National Park, done on a very smoky Saturday.  The smoke was bad enough so that we almost turned around, knowing that the vistas of distant mountains would not happen.  However we did arrive during a break in the smoke, and a half empty park. The Hiking angels were on my side.

By accident we took the most horizontal trail in the park, the access trail to the actual trailhead.  Elevation gain was only about 300’ but most of it was along the riverbed. Even Josephine could manage this and Grammy could too. It took us 1 ½ hours. Needless to say we saw deer and rocks and whatever little Josephine wanted. 

The mountain vistas did appear out of the smoke, creating mysterious and beautiful images. Be warned, there is a very steep section, too steep for these bad knees to descend. We took the shuttle back. (Great campground)

Del Valle Regional Park

The third hike was a solo trip to Del Valle Regional Park, done on a very smoky and cold Tuesday.  

I was not alone in the park though. Since the human population was huddled in the RV section of the nice campground, the wild animals took over. 

My companions were very large flocks of Canada Geese, Wild Turkey, California Quail and a large herd of Black Tail Deer. I sat with my paints in the picnic area and the wild things totally ignored me.  Walked right by, but all feeding together. The yearlings played, butted heads, while the does tended the fawns. Then the buck arrived. It all changed . Tension mounted, The geese couldn’t stand it and attacked the turkeys who went after the deer.  Everyone shifted into flocks of their own kind, leaving plenty of space for the buck. He came close to check me out, but then retreated to the other side of the meadow. By then my work was long finished, I was very cold and it was getting dark. I packed up and drove to where the buck had been grazing, but he vanished.  When I looked back, the vast numbers of other animals had vanished too. I felt I had been given a glimpse of the Peaceable Kingdom.