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Sore legs And A Scraped hand...

4/22/2021

 
My body is sore as hell from yesterday’s hike and the scrape on my right hand is bothering me because the bandaids keep falling off where I bend my wrist. Aside from that it was a good day. I did a bit of active recovery and went on 3 mile walk at Hellyer Park. I hope I start feeling better tomorrow and that it’s not a case of delayed onset muscle soreness. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
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Washburn Trail...

4/21/2021

 
I went out with the intention to finish hiking the remaining trails at Joseph D. Grant County Park today and being 100% done. I came pretty damn close. I started at the Grant Lake Parking lot and walked almost a mile on Mount Hamilton, where they were laying down fresh new asphalt, to reach the Washburn Trail trailhead. Then I walked to the barn. From there I hiked up to Tamien Trail and got lost at the end of that trail before coming back to Washburn. That’s when it got cold and overcast. I hustled the rest of the way on the Cañada de Pala and Los Huecos trails because it was getting close to closing time and I was afraid my car would get locked in the parking lot over night. Because I was in a rush I slipped coming downhill and scraped my right palm. It stung and got a little bloody but it wasn’t bad. It hurt more using the hand sanitizer when I got to my car. It was past closing time and luckily the gate wasn’t closed. I didn’t want to press my luck so I left. I’m gonna have to come back and do that remaining 1/10 of a mile on the Yerba Buena Trail in a few days and be 100% done hiking all of Grant Park.
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First Time At Ed R. Levin County Park...

4/19/2021

 
I went to Ed R. Levin County Park for the first time on Sunday. I wanted to hike all of the Agua Caliente Trail but I had to turn around, with less than .6 miles to go, so I could be out of the park by closing time. It was beautiful. Saw lots of animals including 2 snakes, one on the trail and the other in the dog park being escorted out by security. I can’t wait to come back. I’ll probably start hiking all the trails at Ed R. Levin when I’m done with Joseph D. Grant.
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Alum Rock Park & Early Sketches...

4/15/2021

 
My buddy and I went on a hike at Alum Rock Park this morning. We saw deer, ducks & fish as well as some cool human-made stuff. Tonight I did some new sketches based on an idea a few days ago for a possible future project. More on that later.
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Penitencia Creek & South Rim Trails...

4/12/2021

 
My legs were no longer sore and I was feeling good so I went on hike at Alum Rock Park. The South Rim Trail, from the No Horse Bridge to the Sycamore Switchback Trail, reopened after being closed all of last year so I hiked that. I saw some wildlife feasting, drew in my sketchbook a few times, and found spring water bubbling out of a hole in one of the parking lots. When I got in my car to leave I felt something on the back of my neck and found it was a little green worm. Gross!
At 7.43 miles, and almost 1,000 ft of elevation, this was a great warm up for my upcoming hike at Joseph D. Grant County Park. Hopefully my legs aren’t completely dead tomorrow.

Sore & Out Of Shape...

4/11/2021

 
My legs are pretty sore from yesterday’s hike. It was only 4.23 miles with not much elevation gain but since I haven’t hiked in over a month I’m a bit out of shape. I was hoping I could jump back in and go do the last hike at Grant Park, which is more than double what I did yesterday, but I’m gonna need to train a bit and hike other trails before doing that last stretch. Depending on how I’m feeling tomorrow I might go hike somewhere else to keep this momentum going.
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Return TO Smith Creek...

4/10/2021

 
I went on my first hike in over a month. I went to Grant County Park to finish the Smith Creek Trail and crossed the water this time. I slowly and carefully stepped on the big rocks and made my way across the creek without falling or getting my boots wet. When I reached the end of the trails I sat down beside the creek and drew in my sketchbook for half an hour. I drew one of the big rocks sticking out of the water. After a month of no hiking I’m a little out of practice and will need to hike other trails to prepare for my final hike at Grant to be 100% complete.
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I Miss Going Hiking...

3/16/2021

 
The weather has been cold & rainy since I got back from my trip on Wednesday. I’m so close to being done with Grant County Park.
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Day 19 - Koko Crater...

3/8/2021

 
We hiked the Koko Crater Railway this morning. It’s only about 1 mile long but it’s 1000 ft of elevation. It’s one hell of a workout but the views at the top of the island and the ocean are totally worth it.
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Day 10...

2/27/2021

 
We got up up early Friday morning for another sunrise hike. This time at Diamond Head State Monument on the southernmost coast of Oahu. Afterwards we spent the day driving around the island and stopping at different places to eat food.
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Day 6...

2/23/2021

 
A predawn hike at Makapu’u Lighthouse to catch the sunrise then a trip to Lanikai Beach for a little bit of swimming, snorkeling and laying out in the sun.
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Hawaii - Day 5...

2/22/2021

 
We went to Keaiwa Heiau State Park this morning and went on a gnarly 4.8 mile hike. It was muddy AF and I slipped and fell on my ass about a half-hour in. I had a few other close calls but still had a great time. Afterwards we got pancakes for breakfast and topped them with coconut syrup. My favorite pancake syrup. Tomorrow we’re going to a different part of the island for a predawn hike and watching the sunrise from the mountain top.
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Day 4...

2/21/2021

 
Another day hanging out at home. This time there was a documentary film crew at the house interviewing my cousin (actually my cousin’s wife but we consider her a cousin too.) It was fun talking to the them, watching them setup and asking them a bunch of questions about the process. They also bought us all a ton of Thai food that we ate for lunch & dinner. Tomorrow, my cousins and I are going hiking.
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Frankie Mcfly In Hawaii...

2/17/2021

 
That's right! From February 17 thru March 10th. I'll be staying with relatives while I'm there. I'm not planning on doing much there besides hiking and hanging out with my cousin. There's not much else to write about. I spent all day preparing for my 3 weeks away from home and now I got less than 4 hours before my flight leaves to shave shower and take a quick nap. Aloha & Mahalo!

Almost Done At Grant Park...

2/9/2021

 
I knocked out 10 miles of new trails Monday afternoon at Grant Park. That leaves me with approximately 5 miles of trails to hike before I can say I’ve hiked all of Joseph D. Grant County Park.

Almost Done Hiking All Of Grant County Park...

2/4/2021

 
I went on a 7.59 mile hike today and I’m closing in on my goal of hiking every trail at Joseph D. Grant County Park. I still have about 15.5 miles of trails to cover, not including the distance to reach those trails. I’m hoping I can finish in the next 2-3 visits.
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Sunday Night Sketch...

2/1/2021

 
I didn’t do shit today besides laundry but I did draw this on my iPad tonight.
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The San Felipe Creek At Grant Ranch...

1/31/2021

 
I went back to Grant County Park today after 10 days of cold, wet & windy weather. I set out hike the .2 miles of Eagle Trail, between the Brush and Cañada de Pala trails, that I missed the last time I was there. After covering that short stretch I headed north-east on Cañada de Pala till it crossed the San Felipe Creek. After a week and a half of rain there was now a flowing stream. I didn’t want to risk falling in or getting my boots soaked so I stopped there. I didn’t go back right away. I stayed a while and drew in my sketchbook. Soon after, a lady came down the trail from the other side of the creek. She sounded surprised to see the water too. I asked if it was her first time on this trail and she said yeah. She then hiked up her pants and crossed the creek by stepping on two rocks sticking out of the water. Like a boss! After she walked away I started drawing out the scene in my little sketchbook.

Grant Park Hiking Update...

1/21/2021

 
I hiked a few new trails at Joseph D. Grant County Park and took some pictures. I’m almost done hiking every trail there. It’ll probably take me 3-4 trips to cover the perimeter and a couple more to hike the trails I missed.
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Sunday...

1/18/2021

 
I did some cleaning, organizing, a few loads of laundry, a bit of online shopping, played some old video games and sketched this on the iPad...
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Confused At Henry Cowell...

1/17/2021

 
I visited Henry Cowell State Park today for the first time. I went with some friends. We parked somewhere along highway 9 and moved fast towards the San Lorenzo river. By the time we reached the water we’d already gone on a few sketchy trails and we were gonna go on more questionable trails along the river towards The Garden Of Eden. A few of us didn’t feel comfortable going that way so we all turned back the way we came then followed the train tracks to the swimming hole. There were a few people there, including an annoying group playing music really loud on their portable speaker. We hung out for a little while before following the train tracks some more then heading back to our cars. The maps I brought, and my phone’s gps, weren’t very helpful because we didn’t enter through any of the designated entrances and there weren’t any trail markers anywhere. I still had fun but next time I’ll come better prepared and take my time and really enjoy it.

Joseph D. Grant County Park To Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park...

1/16/2021

 
The plan was to go on a short hike at Grant Park today because I’m going to Henry Cowell State Park tomorrow morning and don’t want to over do it but when I arrived at Grant I just wanted to hike as many new trails as I could in the 3 hours before sunset and did 6.35 miles. When I got home later I started researching the hike to the Garden of Eden at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Apparently there’s a route from the main entrance that crosses the San Lorenzo River but the seasonal bridge might not be up so it might require going across the water. There’s also another route that avoids crossing the river by parking at a different location and taking a different trail. I’m going with friends so I’ll let them decide what to do.
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Hiking Is Sorta Like Legend Of Zelda...

1/14/2021

 
It feels like an adventure, exploring new places with the help of a map. Instead of carrying a sword I got a small pocket knife. My phone’s gps serves as my compass. Grant Park has wild pigs and Hyrule has moblins. Today (Wednesday) I came across a hallowed out tree that looked like the the entrance to level 1 from the original Legend of Zelda for the NES. I was wearing my Zelda: Wind Waker mask today too FTW.

Maps, Shmaps...

1/12/2021

 
This is my 500th blog post! It'd be cool if I had some profound shit to write about. Instead I'm sharing the collection of maps I've printed, highlighted and carried with me on my hikes over the last couple months. I've thrown them away and fished them out of the trash at least twice now and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with them.

The whole thing started after Covid struck and my gym was forced to close. I started going to Lake Cunningham Park to walk & run until that got boring so I started hiking the Eagle Rock Trail at Alum Rock Park. I kept hiking the same trail over & over till I decided to explore the rest of the park. In November I decided I was going to hike every trail at Alum Rock before the end of the year. I finished Alum Rock sooner than expected and moved on to the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve and managed to hike all those trails before New Years. Now I'm working on completing Joseph D. Grant County Park and I'm about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way done. Since Grant Park is so big, and has tons of trails, I've been selecting my route and printing a portion of the map (middle pic) to carry in my pocket. When I get back home I highlight the trails I hiked that day on to the full map (bottom.) I'm hoping to finish Grant Park in February and starting someplace new. I'm thinking Ed R. Levin Park.
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Saturday’s Adventure At Grant Park...

1/10/2021

 
I’m making it sound a lot cooler than it really is but I went on a 6 mile hike this afternoon and covered new trails, bringing me a tiny bit closer to completing the whole park. I saw a few animal bones, large moss covered rocks, a fallen tree obstructing a bike trail, a tree that looks like it belongs on a motivational poster, the ass-end of huge grasshopper or something and views of Lick Observatory & the valley below from the top of the Yerba Buena Trail. When I left the park I drove further up Mount Hamilton Road to check out the Twin Gates parking lot & trail head and the Smith Creek Fire Station. On the way I up a saw a coyote eating a dead snake on the side of the road (see video) then again posing for sunset photos on my way back down.
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