Monday, March 8, 2010

Tomales Bay Kayaking

S and I headed to Tomales Bay on Sunday morning, arriving at the parking lot at Miller Park/Nick's Cove at about 8 A.M. The original plan was to paddle on SF bay, but forecasted winds up to 20 knots made me change my mind. I didn't expect the winds to be any less at Tomales, but the open water exposure is less, so a tough crossing is a mile at most.

On the water by 8:45 A.M., we headed toward the other side deciding to paddle between Duck and Hog Islands. Any advantage given by the ebb tide was reduced to zero by the wind coming in through the mouth of the bay. Arrivng on the other side, we landed in a little cove I have camped at a couple of times and enjoyed a little snack, sunshine, and respite from the wind. Deciding to paddle a little more, we made our way toward the mouth of the bay, but the increasing wind, while not overpowering, was not as attractive as sitting in the sunshine out of the wind. Heading back, we set up our chairs, had lunch, sunbathed, and enjoyed the solitude. After a couple of hours, we packed up and toured the whitecliffs west of our lunch spot and sighted a herd of elk grazing high up on the hill. The wind, by this time, was howling, so after formulating a game plan, we headed toward Hog Island and landed on the East side. The wind was incredible. A couple of photos later, we got back into the kayaks to finish our crossing. Due to building waves we headed toward the lauch ramp but water and wind conspired to change our plans. S did a yeoman's job of crossing and landed on the sandy beach to the right of the pier. A great day to be sure-relaxing and exhilarating!

Stats
Distance: 5 miles
Time on the water: 1:30
Fuel: Turkey bagel sandwich with cream cheese, oranges, trail mix, Clif bar, and coffee
Fauna: Racoon, egrets, heron, cormorants, and elk
Wind: 25 knots+
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mclean/sets/72157623579627802/

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

In It To...Finish It.

I signed up for the Humboldt Redwoods Half-Marathon http://www.redwoodsmarathon.org/registration/index.html scheduled for October 17, 2010. This gives me a nice long range goal to shoot for and I can't think of a more beautiful and inspirational place to run than through the redwoods. I am running a 5k in April and I might try and find a 1ok to run before the half to gain some experience with longer distances in a race environment.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Snowshoeing on the Foresthill Divide




S and I went up to Foresthill for a short snowshoeing trip. Just as we left China Wall it started to snow but tapered off until the very end of the trip, and then it really started to come down. The snow has started to melt which made navigating the "trail" a little tricky. It was pretty soft in places and we both post-holed several times. We cut the trip short, caught the Divide road, and made our way back to China Wall. Maybe next time we can get a longer outing with better weather.





Time: 1:15


Distance: 1.5 miles


Weather: Snow/Rain

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Weekend with J and K...and training for a 5k

S and I had a busy weekend with the kids. J just learned to ride her bike without training wheels so she was very excited to go riding at any opportunity. We rode to our local park and made two separate rides on the bike trail (2 miles each ride). She did great and her confidence is increasing quickly. In addition to biking, we played at the park each day, hit golf balls at the driving range, and played street hockey in the driveway.

I started a running program last week and logged 25 miles. On April 11, I will attempt a 5k run at the Sacramento Zoo Zoom. I have always wanted to try and run a marathon so I guess I better start somewhere.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Delta Meadows




On Sunday, S and I took the kayaks down to the town of Locke to paddle Delta Meadows. Normally pretty desolate, a later than usual launch and a group paddle by BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers-http://www.bask.org/) made for a very busy launch ramp. After waiting for BASK to hit the water, we launched and headed down the slough parallel to the levy to avoid the flotilla of BASKers. Don't get me wrong, they are a great bunch, but we were looking for solitude.

It was overcast for most of the paddle, but the sun felt wonderful when the clouds would allow it to shine through. We ended up snaking through the tules, taking advantage of the flood tide, until they became too thick to navigate. Due to the lack of landing sites, we lunched while rafted up. A short paddle, but a great one at that...

Stats:
Distance-2.8 miles
Weather-overcast/partly sunny
Food-PB and honey sandwiches, apples, and a white chocolate Clif bar
Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mclean/sets/72157623379214514/

New Blog

The plan is to use this blog for short trip reports, musings, etc., mostly related to our outdoor activities. I use Flickr for photo sharing and will link each report to the photos.