This was a very nice 13-mile hike on a cool day. I’ll try not to repeat too much of what  has already been covered by my cohorts Antonyw, Sammydee, Vaudesir, and Calipidder. Also on the trip were Chris, Pang, Joe, David/Drunken Marmot, and a group of three other hikers we didn’t know.   The hike was led by a trail leader/docent as required by the lengthy San Francisco PUC rules, which also stipulated that we should:               -    wear sunblock, -         not operate radio-controlled aircraft, -         not possess wildlife or harass fish, -         not bring bows and arrows, -         and much, much more. :)   Three pages of rules and detailed threats of prosecution, and the appearance of ranger vehicles which seemed to lurk in wait for us every couple of miles, led to a lot of jokes involving Germans and paperwork being in order. The rangers all seemed very nice, although their frequent appearance led us all to decide they must have been extremely bored, or that they were told to keep a very close eye on us.   Steve, our trail leader, seemed like a nice guy. He led the group in a casual manner, pausing the folks up front only when the group started to string out too much.   Because the hiking begins around 10am and is mandated to end by 4pm, with a half hour lunch stop, the hikers must maintain an average speed of 2.5mph. A few people felt that things were a little rushed, but I was comfortable with the overall pace. It’s unfortunate that you can’t just come here and enjoy this place as you wish, but such is life, and the vast land here is remarkably clean and well-preserved.   I really enjoyed this hike. Doing it with friends that are always a lot of fun to hike with made it even better.

Hiking/Backpacking

I was very happy with my combination of a light softshell jacket and fleece vest. They weren’t heavy and the material blocked the cold wind on top of the exposed portions of the ridge better than a regular fleece would have. Layering like this was definitely the way to go. I shed my vest by noon, and the jacket by early afternoon.Corrected vertical elevation should be more like 2,400'.

Westborough, California, United States

time : Dec 19, 2009 11:05 AM

duration : 5h 42m 25s

distance : 13.1 mi

total_ascent : 1665 ft

highest_point : 693 ft

avg_speed : 2.3 mi/h

user_id : croyle

user_firstname : David

user_lastname : Croyle

This was a very nice 13-mile hike on a cool day. I’ll try not to repeat too much of what  has already been covered by my cohorts Antonyw, Sammydee, Vaudesir, and Calipidder. Also on the trip were Chris, Pang, Joe, David/Drunken Marmot, and a group of three other hikers we didn’t know.   The hike was led by a trail leader/docent as required by the lengthy San Francisco PUC rules, which also stipulated that we should:               -    wear sunblock, -         not operate radio-controlled aircraft, -         not possess wildlife or harass fish, -         not bring bows and arrows, -         and much, much more. :)   Three pages of rules and detailed threats of prosecution, and the appearance of ranger vehicles which seemed to lurk in wait for us every couple of miles, led to a lot of jokes involving Germans and paperwork being in order. The rangers all seemed very nice, although their frequent appearance led us all to decide they must have been extremely bored, or that they were told to keep a very close eye on us.   Steve, our trail leader, seemed like a nice guy. He led the group in a casual manner, pausing the folks up front only when the group started to string out too much.   Because the hiking begins around 10am and is mandated to end by 4pm, with a half hour lunch stop, the hikers must maintain an average speed of 2.5mph. A few people felt that things were a little rushed, but I was comfortable with the overall pace. It’s unfortunate that you can’t just come here and enjoy this place as you wish, but such is life, and the vast land here is remarkably clean and well-preserved.   I really enjoyed this hike. Doing it with friends that are always a lot of fun to hike with made it even better.