Buckeye Bud


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Monte Bello

Here are some pics I took on Sunday during a rather wintry visit to Monte Bello Open Space Preserve.

The depression in the middle of the pic is the trace of the San Andreas Fault.


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Foothills & Monte Bello Open Space Preserves

On Saturday D. and I went to Foothills Open Space Preserve because we'd never been there before.  We've passed it countless times on our way to other open space preserves but we'd never bothered to stop and see it, primarily because it's so small (212 acres), and there's only one trail and not much to ( Read more... )

Tarantulas!

On Saturday evening, D. and I attended a "spider walk" at Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. October is the time of year when the local tarantula males start wandering around after dusk, looking for mates. The walk, led by 3 arachnophiliac docents, took us into part of the preserve's grassland and oak woodland habitats to look for ( Read more... )

Monte Bello Open Space Preserve: White Oak Trail

On Sunday, D. and I returned to Monte Bello Open Space Preserve to walk the White Oak Trail in a section of the preserve we hadn't yet seen, and we took some pics. First, here's mine.

The trail leads us from the parking lot.


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Monte Bello Open Space Preserve: Black Mountain

On Sunday D. and I went to Monte Bello Open Space Preserve to go to the lookout on top of Black Mountain (the mountain visible from town). Here's the pics we took, starting with mine.

Who brings their dry cleaning with them to the nature preserve?
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Monte Bello Open Space Preserve

On Sunday D. and I planned on returning to El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve, but when we got to Skyline Blvd. we found the ridge fogged in.
foggy woods pic
another foggy woods picThe fog was so thick it was condensing on the trees and falling like rain onto the leaf litter underfoot. On all sides, the ( Read more... )

More Los Trancos / San Andreas Fault Pics

Here are some pics D. took when we were at the Loma Prieta 20th Anniversary Earthquake Walk at Los Trancos Open Space Preserve last weekend.

A sign in the parking lot at Los Trancos warns us not to blunder into illegal plots of cultivated marijuana by staying on the trails.


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Loma Prieta 20th Anniversary Earthquake Walk, Los Trancos Open Space Preserve

On Saturday, October 17, the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, D. and I and a dozen others joined Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Docents Paul and Ann at Los Trancos Open Space Preserve to learn about the impact of earthquakes on the local ( Read more... )

Today's field trip: Monte Bello Open Space Preserve

Today D. and I visited the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains west of Mountain View. It is one of the many park areas run by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, which tries to keep various San Francisco Peninsula landscapes and ecosystems ( Read more... )