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Posts from the ‘States’ Category

On the Road Again

Once again Kelly and I are on the road; our second trip in as many weekends.  Following a quick work week in Half Moon Bay, last night after dinner we hitched-up Mabel and began venturing northeast, driving about 90 miles, enough to be fully beyond the reaches San Francisco metro traffic.  We’re headed towards southern Oregon where we will be meeting-up with friends in a few days, but not before we partake in a bit of dry camping on BLM land.

We awoke this morning, not knowing were we would land for the weekend.  This being the case, Kelly commenced a bit of internet research while I was driving and fairly quickly decided that Pit River Campground would be our ideal location for two nights.

Pit River Campground entrance sign

Welcoming us to the campground

Like most BLM sites, this campground is low on amenities, but flush with nature and is very peaceful – just what we wanted.  There are only seven sites in the campground, each secured on a first-come, first-serve basis.  We chose a site with full sun then quickly got ourselves situated.

Our site

Our site

Interestingly, even on this long holiday weekend not all sites are taken.  A major State park offering 128 campsites is located about 20 miles away and I suspect most of the crowds chose to park themselves there, which is fine with Kelly and me.  Btw, the fee here is $8 per night.  Our friends 20 miles down the road are paying four times that, plus online booking fees.

Our site from above

Our site from above

Following a quick lunch, we took Lilly for a walk which also served as reconnoissance of the immediate area.  Unless you are keen to fly fish, there’s not too much to do or see within the campground.  That said, the water is quite nice and left me yearning for a canoe – although in this section of the river a kayak is probably a better option.  When the day comes that we hit the road as full-timers, I will be lobbying hard for a canoe.

Banks of the Pit River

Banks of the Pit River

Pit River from above

Pit River from above

WiFi connectivity is fabulous here.  Tethering my iPhone, I pull five bars (-69db) of AT&T at 3G speeds when using my Wilson Sleek (three bars without amplification).  Sadly, the Verizon signal is just ok, which is too bad because 4G LTE speeds would be a luxury.  Regardless, I’ve been streaming music all afternoon and evening with no problems and these blog pictures are uploading quickly enough.  I will definitely keep this location in mind the next time Kelly and I decide to work remotely for a few days.

Speaking of the quick internet connectivity, I spent a bit of time online after dinner and found a few places to explore tomorrow, ensuring we’ll have plenty to keep us busy.  Uninterested in my web browsing, Lilly was instead infatuated with all the critters outside.  I think she would have willingly jumped through the window if not for the screens.

Lilly, watching squirrels

Lilly, watching squirrels

At one point, Lilly moved to the bedroom windows, allowing me to make a play for the couch.  She was not pleased to lose her place and as evidenced within the image below, was determined to minimize my enjoyment of any relaxing.

Lilly, undeterred

Lilly, 100% in my way

I’ll probably cement my revenge by denying her dog treats tomorrow.

Pit River Campground

We’ve arrived to Pit River Campground, a BLM site in Northern California, this spot is our home for the next two nights.

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Well Rested

I chose not to write anything yesterday as Kelly and I were strictly observing a proper day of nothing.  Squeezed in between Lilly walks, we mostly did a lot of nothing … the highlight of the day being my lengthy afternoon nap. Unlike yesterday, our plan today called for a quick morning walk before prepping Mabel for her return home to Half Moon Bay.  The campground we were staying at is located at the far southern end of the park.  There are a number of trails scattered throughout the broader park itself and our plan this morning was to complete a four mile loop located at the far northern tip of the park boundary.  As an added bonus, the trail is also situated atop the highpoint and offers a nice view of the surrounding areas.

Looking west over the town of San Martin

Looking west over the town of San Martin

The trail starts at the Coyote Dam, built during 1935-36 as a WPA effort.  Today, the dam overlooks the mostly recreational lake and is open to any pedestrian interested in walking along the topside.

Coyote Lake placard

Coyote Lake placard

Moving towards the trail – which starts off easy enough – we were greeted by the warning sign below:

Warning sign at the trailhead

Warning sign at the trailhead

We never did encounter any Mountain Lions or Babcats, but did see a lot of cows and a few wild turkeys.

Approaching cows

Approaching the cows

A lone turkey

A lone turkey

Anticipating hot temperatures and having read the trail lacked any significant shade, we got an early start.  The absence of shade and very little breeze propelled hot temperatures, but Lilly didn’t seem to mind too much as there were numerous gopher holes to stick her nose into.  As usual, she found nothing.

The rolling hillside

The rolling hillside

Lilly waiting for me

Lilly waiting for me

Following our hike, we had to hustle in order to pack-up the trailer in advance of the 1pm check-out.  Sadly, our relaxing weekend was ending … it was time to go home and begin thinking about the looming workweek.   Dang.

Long weekend at Coyote Lake Campground

For the first time since I can recall, working for the man (that is to say corporate America … or more specifically – the private equity firm which owns my company) has bestowed upon me a great gift – a day off of work tomorrow in observance of the President’s Day holiday.

This being the case, Kelly also took the day off as PTO (the man she works for is not nearly as generous with holidays) and we decided to get out of town and check out Coyote Lake Campground – a county park which is located about 90 minutes southeast of our home base in HMB.

We’ve been anxious to find more locations ideal for quick three and four-day weekends and we were particularly keen to see how this county park differed from the state run parks we’d visited previously.   More importantly, this county park is very dog friendly, which isn’t the case with most state parks.

We arrived mid-afternoon on Friday to a mostly empty campground and quickly found the park to be great on many levels – two generous loops, one with water & electric, the other being dry camping only.

Our campsite

Our campsite

We chose a water-facing spot in the dry-camping loop. A $12 per nightly fee gets us a paved pad, fire pit, picnic table, and food locker.  The proximity to water affords plentiful waterfowl and some of the loudest frogs you’ve heard.

my cones

My cones

There are loads of trails to explore, and most interesting, many trails roam through beautiful hillsides and are shared with free-range and grass-fed cows.

Yes cows.

A few cows relaxing

A few cows wondering why I am so close

Also, in the event you are wondering how two cows react to a pair of cyclists riding  bit too close, you’re in luck as I have some video.

The best part of the weekend was that Lilly got to join us on every hike.  Most California state parks restrict dogs from the trails, but not here at Coyote Lake.  Thrilled that Lilly could join us, her presence allowed us to enjoy the half-day hikes guilt-free, unlike when she is stuck back in the Airstream while we were enjoying ourselves outdoors.

I know this sounds a bit kooky, but dog owners will relate to our excitement in bringing Lilly with us, particularly on the longer, multi-hour hikes.

By the way – per usual, Lilly was hell-bent on investing every gopher hole she could find.  At one point Saturday, she decided to dig herself under a felled tree rather than simply jump over it as she did initially.  I captured a quick video of her in the act.

As evidenced in the picture below, all that digging, coupled with the 8.5 mile hike required some serious napping yesterday alongside her favorite red squeak toy.

Lilly napping

Lilly napping

Most of the the park literature hypes the views atop the ridge line highpoint, near a scenic overlook.  We decided to see for ourselves, but unfortunately, a thick fog rolled in Sunday morning, so the views were not so great.

Lilly, impatiently waiting for me near the top

Lilly, impatiently waiting for me near the top

I question the need to describe the climb as “strenuous” (it was not), but I definitely agree that it’s worth the effort to ascend even if the views were limited.  Once we reached the top, there was a nice clearing which I’m sure makes for a nice lunch break when the the views are clear.

One of the scenic overlook picnic tables

One of the scenic overlook picnic tables

On the other-hand, based upon the picture below, perhaps there is not all that much to see.

Very descriptive signage

Very descriptive signage

Anyway, the park is great and I’m excited to visit other Santa Clara county parks soon.