Wednesday, May 04, 2005
cold canyon hike
Nothing beats the feeling of walking along peaceful surroundings, where all you can hear is a creek running on your left, and, at times, the sound of your own heartbeat.
My buddy James W and I took half the day off yesterday to hike the trail in Cold Canyon, just north of the town of Winters.
And what a hike it was.
There is much to tell about the history of the trail, but I'll forego that in the interest of being brief.
By the end of the day I had amassed 174 pictures. I suspect James shot about the same.
So while there was much more to tell about the trip than is shown here (ie, encounters with poison oak, being interviewed by a local reporter, etc.), I hope that I can communicate in a general sense what it was like.
My buddy James W and I took half the day off yesterday to hike the trail in Cold Canyon, just north of the town of Winters.
And what a hike it was.
There is much to tell about the history of the trail, but I'll forego that in the interest of being brief.
By the end of the day I had amassed 174 pictures. I suspect James shot about the same.
So while there was much more to tell about the trip than is shown here (ie, encounters with poison oak, being interviewed by a local reporter, etc.), I hope that I can communicate in a general sense what it was like.
--------------------------------
The route is a loop that takes you on a steady climb south along the Homestead Trail, then turns quite steep as you reach the southern portion of the loop. As you make the u-turn to go north, you eventually reach the ridgeline along the Blue Ridge Loop Trail.
There were many opportunities along the Homestead Trail to view the creeks. And I love to shoot these small waterfalls.
Standing at the southern portion of the trail, we could see the town below (near the center of the photo) and Highway 128, where we came from. Towards the west is the Blue Ridge Loop trail, along which we hiked.
(This panorama is about 5 photos stitched together.)
As we eventually reached the ridgeline, I took the opportunity to take a picture of James to give a sense of scale. The elevation gain to the top of this peak is about 1500 feet - quite a climb.
Many interesting sights along the way, including local wildlife and the flowers. Considering the weather is starting to heat up, we were surprised by the amount of color there was along the way.
hiking buddy James W
Along the ridgeline, we found ourselves higher than where the local birds flew. This, I believe, is one of the turkey vultures. My other (blurry) shots show their red heads.
Looking west we found our reward - a stunning view of Lake Berryessa.
The climb was tortuous.
At least it was for me.
It's always a good idea to watch out for poisonous rattle snakes, such as this one I found resting next to my leg.
On the way down now. I just wanted to show how steep the walk down was. It gave our ankles quite a workout. I was feeling it!
I decided to share a shot of my gear. By the time we got back to the car my body was beat, but I was happy about the whole trip.
The route is a loop that takes you on a steady climb south along the Homestead Trail, then turns quite steep as you reach the southern portion of the loop. As you make the u-turn to go north, you eventually reach the ridgeline along the Blue Ridge Loop Trail.
There were many opportunities along the Homestead Trail to view the creeks. And I love to shoot these small waterfalls.
Standing at the southern portion of the trail, we could see the town below (near the center of the photo) and Highway 128, where we came from. Towards the west is the Blue Ridge Loop trail, along which we hiked.(This panorama is about 5 photos stitched together.)
As we eventually reached the ridgeline, I took the opportunity to take a picture of James to give a sense of scale. The elevation gain to the top of this peak is about 1500 feet - quite a climb.
Many interesting sights along the way, including local wildlife and the flowers. Considering the weather is starting to heat up, we were surprised by the amount of color there was along the way.
hiking buddy James W
Along the ridgeline, we found ourselves higher than where the local birds flew. This, I believe, is one of the turkey vultures. My other (blurry) shots show their red heads.
Looking west we found our reward - a stunning view of Lake Berryessa.
The climb was tortuous. At least it was for me.
It's always a good idea to watch out for poisonous rattle snakes, such as this one I found resting next to my leg.
On the way down now. I just wanted to show how steep the walk down was. It gave our ankles quite a workout. I was feeling it!
I decided to share a shot of my gear. By the time we got back to the car my body was beat, but I was happy about the whole trip.
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