Reservoirs

 Did you know that NorCal has a ton of reservoirs? I mean, really, a ton of them. All over the place. And they make for fantastic hiking. A few of them, like Lafayette and Chabot, to name two, even have all sorts of great ammenities/attractions like paddle boats and canoes for rent. Others have paved walking/running trails and some are chalk-full of basic hiking trails. Those are my faves. The bigger, more well-known reservoirs (like Lafayette and Chabot) are open to the public all day long. The lesser known ones are accessible with a permit, meaning you call up the water board (in this case EBMUD) and get a permit from them to hike/backpack out in the wilderness. That way they're expecting you and they can control who has access to our water supply. Sounds good to me, except sometimes when I pass a place that requires a permit I sometimes want to just go in and hike anyway. But I've definitely seen police patrols checking out those reservoirs, so I don't. Because I don't want to go to jail or get fined.

Out for one of my long country drives, I discovered a new hiking place: Briones regional park. On one side of the road is a reservoir, on the other, a regional park. Briones boasts a fun/unique amenity: an archery range. I was kind of excited about that, even though I haven't shot a bow and arrow since Jr. High (random, huh? My GHETTO Jr. High had archery... though I'm pretty sure the equipment was just there because it was leftover from the 50's).

All in all, Briones, like most of Norcal boasts some pretty spectacular hiking. It was MUDDY the day I went (which I normally love, but was not wearing the right shoes for when I visited) and the cows were out and fairly aggressive. So if you go, take a big walking stick or a well-behaved dog.

 Wild Turkeys Struttin' their stuff

The sun breaking through the storm