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• Time: 6:30pm
• Place: Dinning room of the Becthel International Center

If you have trip suggestions but can't come to the meeting, please send your ideas by e-mail to Arturo (crespo__no_spam__cs.stanford.edu). before the meeting.

New prospective "members" are welcome to come and learn about the club.

• Length of hike: 14 miles
• Elevation gain: 3400 feet (very strenuous)
• Park URL: http://www.mdia.org/
• Driving time: approx 1:45
• Optional dinner in the way home
• Meet: 7:15am at the Bechtel I-Center, Stanford.

Please note that this is a very strenuous, both in elevation gain and length.

For this hike, we will start on the north side of Mt. Diablo at the end of Mitchell Canyon Road near the town of Clayton. We will follow the unpaved part of Mitchell Canyon Road to Deer Flat, Deer Flat to Juniper Campground, and Juniper Trail to the Lower Summit Parking Lot. The summit itself is inside the Visitor Center rotunda, a short distance uphill. Return from the Lower Parking Lot along the SUmmit Trail to Devils Elbow, then to Prospectors Gap via North Peak Trail to the Coulter Pine Trail at the base of the mountain, and back to the trail head. The loop is 14.0 miles long and the total climb is 3400 feet.

This is the definitive Mt. Diablo hike - the total mountain experience. It emcompasses all of the park's life zones, from meadowlands to rocky summit, and the ever-changing views are simply stunning. A major portion of the loop consists of intimate single-track trils, in close encounter with the wilderness (including some unwelcome plants like poison oak for which we should keep a cautious eye).

This is a challenging hike, wich some astoundingly steep stretches, but the result is exhilararing. Remember that this trip contains a lot of hill climbing so it will be a real workout! Expect the full hike to take 9 hours (excluding driving). This area can be very hot on a sunny day so bring lots of water (at least 2 liter/quarts) and perhaps a hat. If you have a Mt.Diablo map, please bring it.

If you live in the East Bay and would like to meet us up there, please email me (crespo__no_spam__cs.stanford.edu) for directions.

Trip "leader": Arturo Crespo (crespo__no_spam__cs.stanford.edu) 650-723-9273 (w), 650-967-4039 (h).

• Location: Sonoma County
• Meet: Saturday morning, 7am
• Return: Sunday night
• Driving Time: approx. 3hr each way.

We will leave from Palo Alto early Saturday Morning (7am) and drive up north to Healdsburg, Sonoma County. We rent canoes there and go for trip down the Russian River. This river is relatively easy (class 1) but we will do the uppermost part which is most exciting (a bit of "rapids"; you will need to watch out for rocks etc.). You do not need to have canoeing experience, as long as you have good balance skills and are in normal physical shape you should be OK. Last year some canoes tipped over, so you should feel comfortable in the water.

Sunday will feature a yet to be announced hike (not a stroll!) in Sonoma county.

The cost will be $45 per person. That includes canoe rental, BBQ dinner on Saturday night, and camp site. Car pooling is extra and may be another $10 or so.

The number of participants is restricted to 16 (This time, stowaways will have to swim, there are only two seats per canoe!). Sign-up by e-mail, if you are in, you have to send me a check (or bring it to the pot-luck dinner). You will also have to sign the waiver.

The questionnaire:

1. Can you drive and if yes how many passengers can you take?
2. Can you bring a tent and if yes how many people can you host?
3. BBQ choice (chicken, steak or vegi)?

• Length of hike: ~13 miles
• Elevation gain: approximately 2200 ft.
• Meet: 7:30 am at the Bechtel Center, Stanford
• Driving time: 1 to 1.5 hours (each way)
• Cost: $2 Muir Woods entrance fee, $6 pancake breakfast, carpool costs

Come join us for this hike from Muir Woods to Mount Tamalpais. Muir Woods is located about one-half hour drive north of San Francisco. We will start our hike with at the main trail loop which goes through the only large, intact stand of ancient redwoods in the Bay Area. Then, we will go uphill in the Bootjack Trail to West Point Inn where we will enjoy a Pancake Brunch served by the West Point Inn Association. After relaxing for a couple of hours in the Inn covered verandah (and using the energy from the pancakes), we will hike to the summit of Mount Tamalpais (2600 ft) to enjoy (if the day is clear) the view of the North Bay. From there, we will take a different trail back to West Point Inn, and we will loop back to Muir Woods through the Stapeveld trail.

Optional dinner in San Francisco before coming back home.

Note: if you have a Golden Eagle Pass, bring it as it allows everybody in you car to enter Muir Woods for free.

Trip "leader": I-Ching Chang (I-Ching.Chang__no_spam__stellexms.com, phone: 650-813-2209 (W))

• Length of hike: 10 miles (with an option of 2-3 addt'l miles)
• Elevation gain: rolling hills
• Meet: 8:00am at the Bechtel International Center, Stanford
• Driving Time: 45 minutes

Some day, the Bay Area Ridge Trail will completely encircle San Francisco Bay, but for now the trail exists only in segments. We will follow one of these segments, starting at Saratoga Gap and ending at Page Mill Road. Along the way, we will pass through four different parks and a variety of habitats: grasslands, oak woodlands, Douglas fir forests, creeksides, lakes and even a Christmas tree farm.

There are parts of the trail that none of us, including the leader, has taken before. Therefore, the group will have to stick together and everyone will share responsibility for reading maps and signs.

The hike will be about ten miles long, and the elevation will vary from about 1800 to about 2700 feet. According to the topographic map, the terrain is rolling, so there probably will not be any long, steep hills (just lots of ups and downs).

If people are feeling adventurous, we can take a detour to Devil's Canyon, an are not shown on park maps or accessible by official trails. This would add an additional 2-3 miles to the hike. Again, none of us has been there before, so we will all have to share responsibility.

Because this is a one-way hike, we will have to set up a car shuttle. We will leave some cars at the top of Page Mill Road, then proceed to Saratoga Gap with everyone crammed into the remaining cars.

Meet at 8:00am in front of the Bechtel International Center. Wear boots or sturdy shoes; bring lunch, water, sunscreen, a hat and jacket, etc.

If you have any questions, call Michael Bitsko at (831) 457-8633 [note new area code]

• Length of hike: 6-8 mi (easy, see below)
• Meet: 7:30am SHARP at the Bechtel International Center, Stanford
• Driving time: approx. 1 hour each way
• Cost: $10 (for ferry and park entrance fee). Plan also for carpool cost, parking and optional dinner.
• Park URLs: http://www.angelisland.org/ and http://www.angelisland.com/

This outing club event is going to be a little different from the hikes we've been doing recently. Angel Island just doesn't have enough hiking trails to occupy us for the entire day. We'll probably have a more leisurely day than the pure hike, i.e.. lots of time for frisbee, lying in the sun, extended siesta, historical poking around, etc. Be prepared for San Francisco type weather: the boat ride could be windy and chilly (even if it's a 100 degrees in Stanford) and it could get quite warm in the island.

The "official" Description: (from the ferry company)

"A California State and Wildlife Preserve, Angel Island is perhaps one of the finest historical sites in the Bay Area, and includes military garrisons and compounds from every major war, dating back to the U.S. Civil War. Also known as the Ellis Island of the West, Angel Island's immigration station was the first stop for millions of Pacific Basin, Asian, and Russian immigrants entering the U.S. Travel time to Angel Island is generally 40 minutes, depending on intermediate stops."

My description:

We will carpool to San Francisco and we will take the Blue and Gold Ferry in Pier 41 to Angel Island. We'll take the 9:30 am ferry to Angel Island (the ferry ride lasts about 30 minutes, with one stop in Tiburon).

In the Island, we will take a paved perimeter road that is about 4-5 miles long. Then as we get closer to the center of the island (which is higher up the mountain), we will take a hiking trail that leads to the peak (Mt. Livermore, 781 feet). The view from the top is magnificent, if the weather is clear (however, in the summer, there is a high probability that it'll be foggy).

We will return in the last ferry at 4:40pm. Optional dinner afterwards in San Francisco.

Trip leader: Arturo Crespo (crespo__no_spam__cs.stanford.edu). Phone: (650) 967-4039 (h) and (650) 723-9273 (o)

• Location: Pine Valley in the Ventana Wilderness near Carmel Valley
• Length of hike: 13 miles roundtrip
• Elevation gain: rolling hills
• Meet: Saturday, 7:00 am at Bechtel International Center
• Return: Sunday night
• Driving time: approx. 2h.30min. each way

Description of the hike:

The Pine Valley hike begins on the northern end of the Pine Ridge trail at China Campground and follows an up and down course that soon becomes more down than up. After 3.5 miles, the Carmel River Trail takes us to the headwaters of the Carmel River and the beginning of fir and ponderosa pine forest. We will be camping at Pine Valley Camp which is 5.3 miles from the trailhead. The camp is set in lush Pine Valley, a spacious high meadow lined with ferns, ponderosa pines and rocky sandstone formations. A short side trip to Pine Falls is possible from the camp. On Sunday, we will take the trail from the upper end of camp and hike back to the trailhead to complete a 13-mile loop.

To pay for the required permits, $5 will be collected from each participant on Saturday morning.

This trip will be limited to 16 people. Please sign up by sending e-mail to Henri at tjiong__no_spam__leland.stanford.edu.

• Location: Santa Cruz
• Length of hike: 8 miles
• Elevation gain: approx. 1000 ft.
• Meet: 8am at the I-Center. Reservations required (see below).
• Driving Time: approx. 1hr each way.

The hike will take us from Santa Cruz to Felton. Along the way, we will go through two parks, wade across the San Lorenzo River several times and visit the Steam Railroad at Roaring Camp.

We'll begin by hiking through the redwoods and grasslands of Santa Cruz's Pogonip Park, the cross Highway 9 and enter Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Then, it's down to and across the San Lorenzo River, which shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 feet deep (I hope!). A few more miles through the forest and we'll wind up at Roaring Camp, near Felton, where we will visit the Steam RailRoad.

This will be an adventurous hike which can get tricky along the river. If the water is too deep, we'll have to turn back; and if the trails are washed out, we may get lost. The total distance will be about 8 miles, and the elevation will range between 100 and 800 feet. Assuming that we don't have any problems at the river, the most difficult part of the hike is a steep hill coming up from the river.

The river crossing can be slippery, and there is the possibility of broken grass on the bottom, so you might want to bring a walking stick and some sandals or old jogging shoes.

After the hike, there will be a farewell barbecue/party for Erik Boman, the club's ex-president, who will soon be leaving the Bay Area. Because Mike's back yard cannot fit all 750 people on our mailing list, we will limit participation in this event to 30 people. If you would like to come, please RSVP to Arturo Crespo (email: crespo__no_spam__cs.stanford.edu, phone 723-9273(o) or 967-4039(h)) as soon as possible. The most active club members will be given preference, otherwise it's first-come first-served.

Mike will provide some BBQ chicken plus utensils. You should bring some food or drinks to share, just like at our potluck meetings. Since this is a very international club, it would be fun if everyone brought a dish from their home country.

If you have any questions about, call Michel Bitsko at (831) 457-8633. For questions about logistics or to RSVP, email Arturo Crespo (crespo__no_spam__cs.stanford.edu).

• Length of hike: 8 miles
• Elevation gain: 1000 ft.
• Meet: 9:00a at the Bechtel International Center, Stanford
• Driving time: approx. 1:30 each way
• Park Web Page

This weeks Hike is my favorite hike with a bit of a twist. We will be doing the Muir woods to the beach hike the other way around. This has a few advantages, one of which is that the Muir woods parking lot is very small. Also I like the idea of going up the first part of the hike. Most important is that their is a great microbrewery at the beach which we can all end up at if you wish.

We will meet on Sat Aug 22 at 9:00 at Stanford and leave at 9:05 so don't be late. We will drive up 280 over the golden gate bridge to Highway 1 marked "Mt Tam/Muir woods", and follow RT 1 to Stinson Beach. Park/meet at the beach parking lot where the shuttle bus picks you up to go to the top of Mt Tam (we are not taking the bus, we are just meeting there). There may be a charge for parking (you could also try to find parking on the street).

What we do next is a bit up in the air. What I would like to do is go up the beautiful Dipsea trail and come down the Matt Davis trail. How high we go up will be determined at the top of the Dipsea trail, we could go on to Muir woods, or miss it and come down the Matt Davis trail, or even continue to go up a bit more.

This hike is mostly in the woods, but some sun. Thus, you will need sun block or a hat. Also if the fog is in it may be cold, or hot if not. It will be about 8 miles (give or take) and about 1,000 feet (give or take). For those of you who always e-mail me and ask how long the hike will take...it will take all day. I suspect we will be back around 5:30 or so and depending on Brewery activity we will be back at Stanford anytime after 7:00.

If you would like to meet us at the beach please meet us no later then 10:30 (also let me know you are going to do this so we can look for you) If you miss us, walk up the main road (South) and you will see the start of the Dipsea trail)

Trip "leader": Rachel Ettinger (email: ettinger__no_spam__leland.stanford.edu)

• Length of hike: 10 miles
• Elevation gain: approx. 1400 ft
• Meet: 8:30am at the Bechtel International Center, Stanford
• Driving Time: 15 minutes

Welcome to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. This 2,135-acre preserve offers you a sampling of diverse environments, from a beautiful oak-shaded creek to grassy meadows with views of the Bay Area. Brush rabbits, coyotes, quail, wild turkeys, and an abundance of other wildlife make their homes here. In the early morning and late afternoon, you may encounter black-tailed deer browsing in the open meadows, and occasionally, bobcats are seen in the canyon areas.

We had originally planned on hiking from the main Rancho San Antonio area over to Black Mountain via a now unmaintained trail. However, about a month ago, we scouted out the secret route. The trail has eroded into a 2 foot trough in many places, and is heavily overgrown. Instead, we will keep the hike completely within the maintained trails of Rancho San Antonio.

The parking lot at Rancho San Antonio can fill up in the late morning. That's why we're meeting at 8:30, even though the park is only 15 minutes from Stanford. If you'd like to meet at Rancho San Antonio, please be there a little bit before 9:00. We'll gather somewhere near the restrooms in the main parking lot.

If you have any questions, call Gilbert Coville at (408) 974-7893 or email: gilbert__no_spam__gc.org

1. Depart from Stanford's Bechtel Int'l Center at 7:00am sharp. (I am sorry for this early start, but it is necessary because of the bus schedule: yes, we will take a bus!). I really mean sharp: if you can't arrive places on time, pretend we start at 6:45am.
2. Arrive at Big Basin Redwoods Headquarters shortly after 8:00pm.
3. Hike the "Skyline to Sea" Trail to McCrary Ridge Trail and back on Skyline to Sea, to the Pacific Ocean. This is a one-way hike - 12 miles. Mostly downhill, total elevation gain: 700 feet.
4. Should be on the beach at around 2:00pm.
5. That's the end of the hike. "Unfortunately", we then have to get to the bus, which is 5 miles by Hwy 1. Hey, maybe we can hitchhike a school bus or something :)
6. We have a bus at 3:57pm. The fare is $1.
7. We arrive at Santa Cruz metro center at 4:25pm
8. We have an hour to eat a well-deserved dinner in Santa Cruz!
9. The bus back to headquarters departs at 5:30pm. (Fare again $1).
10. We are at our cars at 6:45pm and back at Stanford around 8:00pm.

This is the classic one-way trip from Headquarters to the sea in Big Basin, made possible each summer by the bus connection from Santa Cruz to the Big Basin, opened just so people can take this trip! One-way means one can do this down-hill. The hike is 12 miles, unfortunately one then has to march 5 more miles to the bus. But you can see I set the times generously, so we can take it easy and have fun, and don't have to go too fast! Of course this has its price: the early start. You can't have everything!

Mark Galecki
SBS GreenSpring
181 Constitution Dr.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-327-1200

• Length of hike: 7 miles
• Elevation gain: 800 ft.
• Meet: 9:30 am at the Bechtel Center, Stanford, or 10:30 at Castle Rock main parking lot
• Driving time: 45 min (each way)

Castle Rock State Park is in the Santa Cruz mountains just south of Saratoga Gap (intersection 9 & 35). We start at the main parking lot, which is on highway 35 about 3 miles south of the intersection with 9. We will take the Saratoga Gap trail past the Saratoga Gap Falls (not sure there will be water in the falls this time of the year) and continue to the campground. Then we go up Loughry Woods trail to Skyline, where we cross the highway and continue on the other side on the Skyline trail which takes us back to the parking lot at the entrance. This loop is only about 7 miles.

In this hike, we will visit the beautiful Goat Rock (sandstone with marvelous forms caused by rainwater's chemical erosion). We will also visit the "Castle Rock," a rock formation that gives the name to the park and that it's a favorite destination of rock climbers and hikers.

Trip "leader": Maria Rosa Fayos Carrio (rosaf__no_spam__chem.Stanford.EDU)

• Length of hike: 14 miles
• Elevation gain: hilly, approx. 1800 feet total elevation gain.
• Meet: 8am at the Bechtel International Center, Stanford.
• Driving time: about 2 hours each way

Hike description:

This hike will include beautiful forest and spectacular coastal hiking. We will begin from Bear Valley Trail, climbing the Meadow Trail to Sky Trail. Then, we will continue to Woodward Valley, one of the lushest, greenest trails in the park. We will follow this all the way down to the Coast Trail where we'll enjoy open ocean views as we head south to Bear Valley. We will have lunch and hang around the Santa Maria beach, and then, we will follow the Coast Trial to the Clem Miller Educational Center. This is a facility where school teachers can show students the natural world first-hand (it might be closed to the public). After the Learning Center we come back into the forest and follow the Laguna Trail, the Bay View Trail and the Sky Trail. From there, we head up Mt. Wittenberg (1407 ft), one of the peaks in the "Rim of the Bay" progressive Hike (the other peaks are Mount Diablo, Mission Peak, Mount St. Helena, Mount Tamalpais, and Pinnacles). Finally, from Mt. Wittenberg, we'll follow the Wittenberg trail back to the Bear Valley Visitor Center.

Here is a summary of the trails we will take: Bear Valley Trail - Meadow Trail - Sky Trail south - Woodward Valley Trail - lunch and hang around on the Santa Maria beach - Coast Trail north - Clem Miller Education Center - Laguna Trail - Bayview Trail - Sky Trail - Mt. Wittenberg - Mt. Wittenberg Trail to visitor center

We should be back at Bechtel around 7pm. Unless we decide to go eat. Last time after a hike in Point Reyes, we dined at the Lhasa Tibetan restaurant in SF. The problem was parking on a Saturday evening. So if we decide to eat, let's do it elsewhere. To continue in the fine Tibetan tradition, we can try the Nepalese restaurant in San Carlos I saw recently. Should be as exotic as the Lhasa, and the parking will be easy.

The hike is 14 miles. If people are tired, they can stop at the Clem Miller Edu Ctr, 8 miles in, and then the rest will hike the remaining 6 miles and we can drive back and pick 'em up. This is only a few minutes back by cars from the visitor center.

The elevation gain is about 1800 feet in a hilly terrain. We will go at a moderate pace, enjoy ourselves, stop at the beach.

Trip "leader": Mark Galecki (650-327-1200) (marek__no_spam__greenspring.com)