Category: Spring Hiking

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Mist Trail To Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park

Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park from a distance running down the granite rock with forest trees in the fore and background.
Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park is a stunning waterfall.

The hike from Yosemite Valley up to Vernal Falls and then over to Nevada Falls is incredible, and one of many of many spectacular attractions of Yosemite National Park. But even hiking through the beauty of the forests, it does take work to make it to the top of either waterfall.

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Backpacking to Rancheria Falls in Yosemite National Park

Rancheria Falls in Yosemite National Park.
Rancheria Falls in Yosemite National Park can be stunning to watch from a vantage point off the trail leading to the campground.

At the right time of the year, backpacking to Rancheria Falls in Yosemite National Park can be beautiful with wildflowers all around, Wapama Falls with its powerful gushing water, and almost the constant views of the blue waters of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.

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Hiking Redbud Trail to Baton Flat

The Redbud Trail meanders through the oak laden hillsides of the Cache Creek Natural Area.
The Redbud Trail meanders through the oak laden hillsides of the Cache Creek Natural Area.

Originally posted June 8, 2018
Updated April 30, 2023

We hiked Redbud Trail in April 2023 after the California’s massive rainstorms earlier in the winter and spring.  What resulted were superblooms in locations. For as often as I have hiked the Redbud Trail, I have never seen the wildflowers on the trail I saw in late April. The wildflowers included Indian Paintbrush, Warrior Paintbrush, Common Fiddlestick, Western Wallflower, Diogene’s Lantern, and many other colorful wildflowers.

Hiking the Redbud Trail as it meanders along hillsides next to oak trees and descends down to Baton Flat and  Cache Creek is a pleasant hike through the foothills.

The trail starts off out of the parking lot on a service road and then to the right you’ll see a sign with Redbud Trail marked on it. Take the trail away from the road and hike along the edge of the foothills until you come to a creek bed that you have to cross. Continue reading “Hiking Redbud Trail to Baton Flat”

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Hiking Steep Ravine/Matt Davis Loop at Mount Tamalpais State Park

The Matt Davis Trail at Mount Tamalpais offers sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean.
The Matt Davis Trail at Mount Tamalpais offers sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean.

The Steep Ravine Trail at Mount Tamalpais State Park is a beautiful trail to hike, and I’ve written about it previously. I combined this trail with the Matt Davis Trail to make a loop on the west side of Mount Tamalpais.

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Hiking the Grand Loop at Mount Diablo State Park

The view from Mount Diablo can be stunning when the surrounding hills are green.
The view from Mount Diablo can be stunning when the surrounding hills are green.

The views from Grand Loop Hike at Mount Diablo  State Park are sweeping from all directions, and we wanted to see what we could see from the grand loop hike. While worth it, this is not an easy hike.

We hiked the trails that circled the top of Mount Diablo in February to see the hills when they were green and to avoid summer heat exhaustion and dehydration issues. The scenery was beautiful, and we could see into downtown San Francisco in the distance as we looked out from above the Juniper Campground on an offshoot trail.

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Hiking Trojan Point to McKennan Gulch Trail via the Coast Trail at Mount Tamalpais State Park

The view from the Coast Trail on Mount Tamalpais from the north the south can offer a stunning green and blue contrast.
The view from the Coast Trail on Mount Tamalpais from the north the south can offer a stunning green and blue contrast.

If the weather is right, the views from the Coast Trail on Mount Tamalpais of the Pacific Ocean can be striking. During the right time of the year, the hills are beautifully green with a beautiful blue ocean background to the west, or sweeping green hills as you look north and south.

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Hiking Moses Spring Trail to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park

A hiker enters a cave on the Moses Springs Trail to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park.
A hiker enters a cave on the Moses Springs Trail to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park.

The hike to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park starts off on the High Peaks Trail as you hike under oak trees and ascend to the Moses Spring Trail junction.

As the trail ascends, you start to hike amongst rock formations that take you to the caves on the Moses Spring Trail. If you are not comfortable with caves, there is a bypass trail that will also take you to Bear Gulch Reservoir on up past the Moses Spring Trail junction that leads to the Rim Trail, but the caves are worth exploring. Continue reading “Hiking Moses Spring Trail to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park”

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Hiking Meadow Trail to Mt. Wittenberg Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore

While the grasses and some of the undergrowth along the trails in the Meadow Trail/Mt. Wittenberg Trail area at Point Reyes National Seashore are green, many of the trees are burned out from a 2020 fire that swept through the area.
While the grasses and some of the undergrowth along the trails in the Meadow Trail/Mt. Wittenberg Trail area at Point Reyes National Seashore are green, many of the trees are burned out from a 2020 fire that swept through the area.

Meadow Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore up to Sky Trail is a tough climb, but sometimes the rewards are great if you like wildlife. Both times I hiked the trail I was treated to seeing Black Tail Deer once in a meadow and once running in the forest.

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Hiking Fern Canyon/James Irvine Trail in Northern California

The ancestry of the ferns in Fern Canyon at Prairie Redwoods State Park can be traced back 325 million years.
The ancestry of the ferns in Fern Canyon at Prairie Redwoods State Park can be traced back 325 million years.

Fern Canyon on the Northern California Coast is a very green must do hike. The 50-foot high walls are covered with ferns that include lady fern, wood fern, five-finger fern, deer fern, leather leaf fern, and sword fern, and their lineage can be traced back 325 million years. Fern Canyon is beautiful, and as well as the James Irvin Trail.

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