A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
On Sunday morning, after breakfast, we decided to hike a few trails at the nearby Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve (about a 20-minute drive from our Airbnb home in Forestville). . . On arrival at the park at around 10:30, we noticed a long line of cars trying to get in, with many cars parked on the road. We decided to try parking on the…
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. After many years, we returned to Felton to hike in the beautiful Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Inna decided to follow the river to the Cathedral Redwoods. . . . We followed the Pipeline Road (which parallels River Trail) from the parking lot to the Cathedral Redwoods, a small grove of giant sequoias. It was a pleasant day to hike among the giant redwoods.…
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After a long time, we decided to hike in Castle Rock State Park in Los Gatos. . . When we arrived, we were surprised by the large parking lot, which had been converted from gravel to a fully paved one with many paid parking spaces. . . . . . . The hike started from the parking lot, heading south toward the waterfall and westward.…
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On Saturday, January 9, 2021, on a beautiful but chilly winter day, Inna and I decided to hike the trails of the nearby Sanborn County Park in Saratoga, CA. We drove to the Costanoan Group Area parking lot and parked there. . . . . As it was a cold winter's day, we chose a shorter version of our average hike (about 2 miles) that…
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When our friends suggested hiking at Butano State Park, I was surprised to hear about it - since I never heard of it before. It was only 80 minutes away from Los Gatos (so nearby).. . . . When we arrived, we decided to follow some of the suggestions from Alltrails.com:. Start from the Park Entrance parking lot. Follow the Six Bridges trail south toward…
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After waking up at 7:00 am and quickly showering, we dressed and headed for breakfast at our Best Western Plus. I was surprised at how busy it was at 8:00 am; everyone had the same idea of getting an early start on breakfast.. . . . There was not a lot of variety at Best Western (but at least it was free), so Alex decided…
Read More: Hiking Humboldt Redwoods State Park
On Labor Day, we explored the beautiful Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and then traveled to Carmel-on-the-Sea for beach activities and lunch.. . . . Surprisingly, the drive to Point Lobos was faster than expected. Reaching Point Lobos took about 80 minutes (instead of the usual 2 hours).. . . . However, when we arrived, the main parking lot at Point Lobos State Reserve was…
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Today, we decided to hike the beautiful Big Basin Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz, CA.. We have not hiked there for over 15 years and wanted to know what, if anything, has changed.. . The drive to Big Basin Redwoods from San Jose was uneventful. I drove on Highway 85 west, followed by Highway 9, south to 236. The narrow, twisty road was not…
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Today, we decided to explore the beautiful Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. To avoid early morning traffic on Highway 17, we woke up early and headed to the park around 9:00 am.. . It's one of the few California State Parks that allows dogs. Last week, we went to Shoreline and were disappointed to learn that no dogs are allowed, as it's considered a wildlife…
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After our usual delicious breakfast at the Little River Inn in Mendocino, we drove to Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve near Ukiah.. . . . . The drive from Mendocino to Montgomery Woods took over an hour over a twisty 2-lane road with many potholes.. . . . When we arrived, we found a relatively small parking lot but still managed to park our Sienna…
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After seeing the Living Social offer at Briarwood Inn in Carmel, we decided to take the plunge and try it. We enjoy visiting Carmel, which would give us extra time to visit the nearby beautiful Point Lobos State Reserve.. . . . Our room at Briarwood Inn was very nice and clean, and was a good value for the price. It even had two queen…
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Today, we decided to go for a mountain bike ride at the Wilder Ranch State Park near Santa Cruz/Davenport, California.. . Wilder Ranch State Park borders the Pacific Ocean, offering sweeping views of the nearby cliffs.. . . . . . There is little shade, and the trail can sizzle in the afternoon sun. Most of the vegetation was dry or burned out.. . .…
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We had a wonderful hike at Castle Rock State Park. We saw a few rock climbers scaling various rocks and enjoyed the beautiful greenery.. . According to Wikipedia:. Castle Rock State Park is a state park of California, USA, located along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It embraces coast redwood, Douglas fir, and madrone forest, most of which has been left in its…
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Today, we visited the beautiful city of Carmel-by-the-Sea and stayed at the excellent L'Auberge Carmel. We stayed there because I found a special deal on Jetsetter.com and wanted to try out this highly rated bed-and-breakfast/hotel.. . . . We stopped by the Patisserie Boissiere for lunch when we got to Carmel. Inna ordered the "French Onion soup," while I ordered the "Spinach, Mushroom, and Swiss…
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Since Alex and I love to rock climb, I was excited to purchase the LivingSocial offer for an outdoor rock-climbing session with an instructor at Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Castle Rock has a beautiful collection of large sandstone rocks, which are fantastic for rock climbing and bouldering.. . I originally planned to go on November 11, but due to the…
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In May, we drove to Mendocino, California, where we stayed at the Little River Inn by the Pacific Ocean. We like getting away from the hustle and bustle of San Jose to a quiet and secluded place. The drive to Mendocino is long but not very tedious, though a section of the road is a bit winding.. . We ate a delicious breakfast at the…
Read More: Exploring Mendocino