In this Spring season, more than in seasons past, I’ve been seeing an incredible lot of wild cucumber flowering along my favorite Bay Area trails. The wild cucumber, Latin name Marah macrocarpus, is a member of the Cucurbitaceae, or gourd family. It is quite a pretty vine when it flowers, and does bear resemblance to most garden-variety cucumber plants. […]

Earlier this week on Two Heel Drive, a local hiking blog I often read, author Tom Mangan polled his readers, asking the question What wildlife have you seen on the trail? Apparently Tom had to take down that poll due to technical difficulties, but it essentially listed a number of animals one might commonly see in […]

My hiking season is in full swing, and I’m now trekking 20 miles or so of trail each week. But it recently became apparent to me that if I am going to keep up this pace, I had better get a new pair of boots. A pair just like my old pair of Vasques, not […]

I’ve been wanting to write a post about an April 5th collaborative effort undertaken by five South Bay Area hiking bloggers, yours truly being among them. I’d heard about a local fourteener that was only climbable one day out of every year. I’d certainly never climbed it.
“A fourteener?” I had asked, making no attempt to conceal […]

This Valentine’s Day, I don’t think I could share my  thoughts with you any better than by presenting today what I wrote just one year ago. Year by year, the sentiments that follow continue to drive my heart. Happy Valentine’s Day, my friend.
 
American naturalist and essayist John Burroughs once wrote:
“A sense of the power and […]

I admit that I have a problem with stress. In fact I have for years, ever since Santa Clara Valley first became Silicon Valley.
I’m sure you can imagine. But I’ve learned to manage my stress with a regular balance of meditation, stretching, preventive chiropractic, healthy diet, plenty of sleep, and a regular devotion to walking and […]

 
Outdoor exercise, good food and wine, and the camaraderie of friends new and old make a California Wine Hikes adventure the extra-special vacation that it is. How do I know? Many good miles, my friend, many great wines, and many satisfied smiles. That’s what’s in store for you on our York Mountain & Edna Valley Hiker’s […]

If you’ve got three minutes and twenty seconds,
you gotta watch this video!

Yesterday afternoon I received an email I had been anticipating since late last Spring: a note from the executive producer of NBC-TV’s award-winning In Wine Country show alerting me about my TV appearance!

As you may recall from my previous posts, the show’s host, Mary Babbitt, discovered me on this very blog early in the year and, as a […]

With cool days and colder nights upon us here in California, ’tis the season for comfort foods and warm spicy drinks to keep our spirits cheerful. One of the holiday spices I tend to cheer for most is nutmeg, a spice quite universal in its appeal and one that is found in a great many holiday […]