Coyote Hills - Bike Ride

Thanks to some free time today I headed over to Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. Coyote Hills is part of the East Bay Regional Park District. It is 978 acres of marshland and grass covered hills along the bay in Fremont. Its located on Patterson Ranch Road off of Paseo Padre Parkway. There's only a small brown sign to let you know its there. They have a visitor center, restrooms and picnic tables. There is a $5 entry fee. This is a park that I used to visit often, but must admit I have not been here at all in the last several years. I don't recommend it as a place to go hiking, but for going for a walk. Or as I did on this particular day, its a nice place to go for a bike ride. I rode 2 loops of the Bayview Trail. The Bayview Trail is a 3.5mile paved, easy loop around the hills starting right at the visitor center trailhead. This gives you some great views of the bay as you ride along. The major downsides of the park is that it gets extremely windy here, and sometimes you get some funky smells coming in off the bay. I hoped to post a bunch of pictures but I forgot my camera, and my cellphones camera wasn't up to the task. My plan is to return soon to ride the Alameda Creek Trail which connects to Coyote Hills.

Trail Map from the EBRPD Website

Crane Flat, Yosemite - Camping

We camped for 2 nights at the Crane Flat Campground in Yosemite. It is located on highway 120 near Tioga Rd. There are 166 sites for tents or rv's spread out over 5 loops. Half the campground is on reservations, the other half are first come first serve. If your coming in on a weekend without a reservation you will probably want to get there early. I saw people already waiting at 8am each day to get a site. Each site has the usual picnic table and fire ring, and of course food locker. A gas station with store for ice, wood and snacks is only a couple minutes away. There are restrooms with flush toilets, but no showers. You have to travel to the valley for a shower. Staying here was a much quieter and less crowded experience then staying at the valley campgrounds. And you are much closer to tuolomne meadows. But I think we would prefer to camp in the valley. Although theres certainly much more people and noise, its great camping close to the river and being able to bike around the valley.

Iron Horse Trail Bike Ride

We headed to Dublin today for the East Bay Regional Park District's and BART's "Tracks to Trails" event. The event took place along the Iron Horse Regional Trail which is a multi-use trail running from Dublin, 24 miles all the way to Concord. Its a flat trail that is paved with plenty of room for everyone to share. Todays event was was to show how tracks connect to trails, and encourage just getting outside and out of your cars. They had several energy stations along the trail where they were giving out water, energy bars, bike bells. We started our ride at the Dublin BART station, where they had their first energy station. We got a bike bell and began our ride. Weather was perfect for a ride and there were lots of people out riding, running and walking. We grabbed water and a cliff bar at the second stop near Bollinger Canyon. Our turn around point was in Danville, where they had their largest energy station and is almost the midpoint for the Iron Horse Trail. Arrived just in time to hear a few speakers from EBRPD and BART speak. They were also giving out some t-shirts, so thanks for that. We then swung by the farmers market across the street and headed back toward Dublin. The day turned out to be a great 20mile bike ride when all was done.






Iron Horse Trail Info

Joaquin Miller Hike

We went out for a short hike today since we ran Run San Ramon yesterday. We headed out to Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland for a 3.5 mile hike. We started at the trailhead for Sunset Trail off of Sanborn Road, took Sequoia-Bayview Trail to Cinderella Trail and back to Sunset Trail. We came across a few banana slugs on Sunset Trail and saw some views of the bay on the Sequoia-Bayview Trail. It was a foggy day but the views must be great on a clear day. We meant to come back on Chaparral Trail but the junctions aren't marked so we missed the turnoff and continued on Sequoia-Bayview Trail until we hit Cinderalla Trail. Most of the trail is shaded which makes it a great summer hike. Elevation change was only about 500' and on the trail you come across people hiking, biking, and trail running.

Meadow at end of hike

Biker who wrecked his front wheel

Slug

View of Oakland

Run San Ramon

We ran Run San Ramon 10k race on the 4th of July. There is a 10k, 5k and 3k walk. For the first time this year the 10k was a double loop of the 5k. Initially we were disappointed about the double loop but it was good that we could track our pace by seeing the official time clock halfway through. Weather was nice, sun was out but not hot. There were at least three water stations and all the nice goodies you can expect after the race-orange and banana slices, muffins, and of course ice cream. A drumstick always tastes great after a race.


Race Results - 5k
Race Results - 10k

Tracks to Trails

The East Bay Regional Park District and BART are partnerning for an event to get people outdoors and show how "Tracks connect to Trails". It will take place on Saturday, July 11 on Iron Horse Trail. People are encouraged to walk, run or ride on the trail from Dublin/Pleasanton BART station to Pleasant Hill BART station. There will be "Energy Stations" along the way.

More Info
Event Flyer (PDF)

National Park and Recreation Month

July is National Park and Recreation Month. You shouldn't need an excuse to visit a National Park, but if you do then there you go. So get outside and Embrace the Outdoors.

National Recreation and Park Association