Weekend Hike: Butano State Park
We kicked off our weekend hike at Butano State Park, located in Pescadero. It is about an hour drive and my ever resourceful husband found a pit stop where we could fuel up before the long hike. Located at a gas station, the Mexican food here is one of the best that we have tasted. The best part? It is very affordable. We ordered 4 tacos which really hit the spot and the salsa were very potent. What a great find!
Butano SP is close to the gas station. It is off season hence the visitor center was closed so we were pretty much on our own. We decided on a trail that goes round a loop and boy I had a challenging start as it was mostly uphill. Since I took a hiatus for almost the whole of December, it was hard to start again. Still I pushed on even though I had to stop many times on the way up. I couldn't be happier when we reached the midpoint because it was downhill all the way even though it was hard on the knees and toes! All in all we completed about 7+ miles, which I think is encouraging. To treat ourselves we went for a massage and had an awesome meal thereafter. Definitely a day very well spent :)
It was a lovely day for hike. This was at the midpoint.
The gas station - Mercado & Taqueria De Amigos.
Excellent salsa and fish tacos. So good! Fish Taco was just USD 2.75 with generous serving!
The park was relatively empty, which is nice. We didn't meet anyone on our trail and because trails are well-marked it was not a cause of concern.
Love this :)
It was never-ending of this. At least that's how it feels like.
The midpoint! Hurray!
I stopped here for a bit just to admire the trees. It was just me and nature and it feels great. (Stvn was ahead of me because our pace differs.)
And we found this "green chilli" look alike thingy that actually moves! It's a slug.
We did it!
A pleasant surprise - wild hydrangea.
Well-deserved dinner at Shanghai Dumpling Shop. Loved the food there especially the xiao long bao and baked pork buns. The best in the Bay Area. Another great thing is that this restaurant is right next to a Greek grocery store!
Clockwise: Baked pork bun, steamed cod in lotus leaf with mustard green, xiao long bao and sweet and sour pork (Shanghainese style)
Butano SP is close to the gas station. It is off season hence the visitor center was closed so we were pretty much on our own. We decided on a trail that goes round a loop and boy I had a challenging start as it was mostly uphill. Since I took a hiatus for almost the whole of December, it was hard to start again. Still I pushed on even though I had to stop many times on the way up. I couldn't be happier when we reached the midpoint because it was downhill all the way even though it was hard on the knees and toes! All in all we completed about 7+ miles, which I think is encouraging. To treat ourselves we went for a massage and had an awesome meal thereafter. Definitely a day very well spent :)
It was a lovely day for hike. This was at the midpoint.
The gas station - Mercado & Taqueria De Amigos.
Excellent salsa and fish tacos. So good! Fish Taco was just USD 2.75 with generous serving!
The park was relatively empty, which is nice. We didn't meet anyone on our trail and because trails are well-marked it was not a cause of concern.
Love this :)
It was never-ending of this. At least that's how it feels like.
The midpoint! Hurray!
I stopped here for a bit just to admire the trees. It was just me and nature and it feels great. (Stvn was ahead of me because our pace differs.)
And we found this "green chilli" look alike thingy that actually moves! It's a slug.
We did it!
A pleasant surprise - wild hydrangea.
Well-deserved dinner at Shanghai Dumpling Shop. Loved the food there especially the xiao long bao and baked pork buns. The best in the Bay Area. Another great thing is that this restaurant is right next to a Greek grocery store!
Clockwise: Baked pork bun, steamed cod in lotus leaf with mustard green, xiao long bao and sweet and sour pork (Shanghainese style)