Joseph Grant County Park

After some long days and nights this week, hiking seemed to be the best way to unwind. So we headed off to the local Park - Joseph Grant - armed with the big 3 wheeler, 3 spare daipers, 3 litres of water and insufficient sunblock for us...

Hiking up to the ridge was the hottest part, mostly because the sea breeze didn't roll through until about 1:30pm. Maddy was in good spirits so we continued on around the bigger loop - the Dutch flat trail. As you can see the green grass is history, for this season.

We saw this calm Gopher snake, well I did anyway :) It was hanging out in the middle of the trail. It was a pretty good size, five feet maybe.

There are quite a few woodpeckers around the plentiful oaks. Despite being bone dry there is still some color here and there.

Especially in the rose garden. Although that is kind of cheating isn't it ;) with the irrigation and all. I enjoy them though.

One thing Heidi and I noticed is the sign saying campground full. And yet on the whole hike of 3.5 hours we saw 3 people. What a contrast to Mission peak.

Coyote Howl 2014

The MotherLode Sky Riders always put on a fun time, for the Coyote Howl especially. Here is Eric getting ready to launch into consistently good conditions.

Good flying was had both days, great to see so many gliders all up in the air at once. The ceiling was typically bouncy but high enough to cool off. 

On Sunday I finally managed to fly passed the Mt Blanco fire tower, I had made that my mission on Saturday but couldn't make it happen.

"Lake" McClure. Pretty dry this year!

This is where much of south central california gets it water from, but other lakes seem to be in the same condition. Maybe it is time to stop watering the sidewalks while we might still have some drinking water for the rest of the dry season (which goes from now to November).

Good times in the LZ, BBQ someone was playing trumpet, tall stories were being told, cool prizes awarded to Speed gliding (john Taylor), pylon course (Jason French - I think), duration (also Jason French) and XC (Scott Huber), who flew from there to somewhere near Porterville on Tuesday. Good job :)

Sierra Vista Open Space

A few weeks ago I went for a fun mountain bike ride from Alum Rock up through Sierra Vista Open Space, but never mind about that. Last Sunday was Mothers Day, Heidi's first, and she's been mentioning how she misses the biking seeing me ride to work most days. So having done a little reconnaissance - I figured the "perfect" ride would be across and down from the top, up at the aforementioned parks..

So Maddy and I dropped her off up top of Sierra Road, which is by far the nicest part. Single track with rolling grades in steep terrain, lots of wildflowers and great scenery.

And in a matter of weeks this will all be dried up and golden once again. So now is the time to enjoy it.

For Heidi it was mostly downhill.

With just some shady climbs. Different than the other direction! It was a little adventure for me too, being my first away solo time with Maddy. A little unhappy she was by the time we got to our rendezvous point. Note to self, 5 mins is too long to wait to feed her, hmmm well honestly I can relate ;)

There is a pretty neat old ranch tucked way back in the canyon.

For the Big ride, the turn around spot is a picnic in the middle of nowhere. However I was lucky enough to see a smallish mountain lion (what ever that cat movement is called - bound ?) disappear into the eucalyptus grove behind. Very cool to see up so close.

I took my tracker since I was alone and quite isolated. didn't see a single person for 3 hours. Just a city full of 985,000 people ;)

The signs on the entrance are so numerous now does anyone take the time to read them all, or even any of them?

Grand Parents visit

Time to meet their new granddaughter. My Mum and Dad flew in for a couple of weeks.

On the weekends I found some activities we could all, do. First up my recent favorite : Coyote Hills Regional park. Maddy's not quite strong enough to ride a bike yet. And Gloria's knee is no good for walking. So Mum, Dad and I rode in from Don Edwards, and met them there. Where I'd trade the bike for Maddys, buggy. 

It's a great ride, on a warm spring day. In the park Heidi and Gloria grabbed the tandem and rode around the park with Mum and Dad, While Maddy and I strolled up the hill.

On this day the butterfly garden was open. Lots of blooming flowers and a few butterflys.

The next day, we went to Joseph D Grant park. Mostly to see the rose garden which was bare sticks 6 weeks ago. 

The garden was quite spectacular. Old roses from the historic ranch house have been well cared for. I took Maddy for a good long stroll which she happily slept through, unlike the previous day, wailing through the wilderness.

The following weekend, we all went up to Sunol wilderness. It was nice to see the park green. We went up through little yosemite valley, and around through the McCorkle trail. The gullied out single track was maybe an enthusiastic choice but the buggy made it through surprisingly well.

The views were great and Maddy seemed to like the bumpy bits best. We've named the her buggy "The Chariot" and hope to take it many places.

And just like that the whirwind trip was over.

Lic Observatory

Madalynns' first big adventure, up top of Mt Hamilton.

She expressed a desire to learn more about where she came from, so I figured I'd start from the very begining.

The road up there is pretty twisty and windy. She fared better than any of us. Although there was some possible evidence of being scared ?

The landscape up top is neat, almost European feel with the history and old community houses up there, to bad the community left.

The views from up top can be spectacular. It was a little hazy this day but better than average.

I stuck the iphone up next to the telescope and snapped a couple of pictures. The hill in the foreground is Quimby infront of downtown San Jose.

It was a nice day to sit around and take in the views. Lic Observatory offers tours, of a couple of the scopes.

On the way back we stopped for dinner at  the mt Hamilton Grandview restaurant . It's been on the to do list for a while. Sponsered by my Mum - Thanks Mum ! You'll have to try this place yourselves when you visit. Great food.

Maddy behaved herself the whole time! We questioned our choice on the way in, but it worked out great.

It's a great place to see the sunset from too.

Flying with Goldens

I had a nice flight Sunday 9 Mar, and got some nice pictures, so figured I'd share some. The local site - Ed Levin, is usually only good before a front passes, which was the situation on this day. It was unusually warm for a good day in March so my expectations were pretty low.

 I think in the picture above you can see a slanted haze layer, I think this shows where a convergence was located. Cooler moist air to the north, balmy air going up over it from the south. Likely the seabreeze effect coupled into the situation, it was a pretty weak day. We got pretty high for such weak conditions. I saw 6800'msl for a short while, but bailed out of the lift since I was getting very close to the SFO airspace.

 A few of us flew to Mission and back, Ryan on his single surface! Well it is a Freedom ;)

 On the way back I ws lucky enough to thermal back up with a whole family of golden eagles. Looked like Grandpa, Mamma, Pap and a couple fledglings, six or seven in totally all lazily circling up.

All to soon the covergence fell apart or moved, after contemplating landing on top for half an hour, I landed easily and drove down. Icing on the cake! Pretty nice day :)

Madalynn

It has been a busy month! We moved, I started a new job and Madalynn arrived a little early. Finally we have internet. Living without it is like living without electricity these days. So finally here are some pictures of beautiful young Madalynn.

It is amazing how much she has changed since these pictures already. They grow up fast !

New Year at Ano Neuvo

What better time to go to see the Elephant Seals at Ano Neuvo than New Years?

Heidis' brother and family were visiting it's a pretty spot regardless, the elephant seals are a bonus. There are only a few colonies in the world and this is mating season.

It has been really unseasonably warm and dry for a couple of weeks. Hard to complain about that - though the 4000Ib blubbery seals are having a hard time with it - getting overheated. 

I am sure that will change soon.

They can always go battle in the water like this guy.

Sometimes the water can be far away.

Some of the younger ones were still feisty. The black curve is from the binoculars I stuck my iPhone next to, which I used for all the pictures. I'm still impressed with what that little thing can do.