Healing through Nature!

My 6th grader's teacher asked us to to take our kids on a "field trip" and have them photograph and note observations on a variety of ecosystems.  Perfect opportunity to have my daughter and two of her friends join one of my park visits.    Tolay Lake Regional Park includes a working ranch with goats and cattle, and it was only opened for daily public access in recent years.  I have been wanting to go here for a while, so I decided that this was a great place for their field trip!  It  is located about 8 miles southeast of downtown Petaluma, bordered by hills between the Petaluma River and Sonoma, and there is a $7 parking fee (unless you have an annual pass). As we started off from the parking lot, it immediately started raining, but the girls were eager to observe and take photos, so they were not deterred by the rain.  Most of the photos on this post were taken by my daughter. Once we made it by this initial entry point, our senses were pleased wit...

This week was a wonderfully rainy week in these parts, and my visits to parks were squeezed into breaks in the rain.  I primarily re-visited parks that I have already written about, including: Riverfront Regional Park:    If you are going to visit now, wear shoes that you are ok getting a little muddy. Doran Regional Park : I visited here twice this week, and the waves were outrageous! Sadly, there were two dead sea lions on the beach as well. Bird walk Coastal Access Trail:   I went here with a friend after trying to go to Doran Beach during high tide, and the tides are SO HIGH right now, that there was no beach.  The waves came all the way up to the dunes!  We walked the loop 3 1/2 times, and we observed an abundance of birds feeding. Bodega Head / Sonoma Coast State Park:   I went on an early morning walk here on the day where we were supposed to get the most rain, and there was no one else there!  The ocean was rough, the air was crisp, the s...

 Want a great way to spend the day on a warm, winter Saturday in Sonoma County (especially during a pandemic)?   Go hiking at Lake Sonoma .   We did this with a group of friends, and it was gorgeous, fun and a great workout! The 45-minute drive to the lake was absolutely gorgeous, especially this time of year as things are getting green from the rain.   The lake is man-made and is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and this is their description, "Created by the construction of Warm Springs Dam in 1983, the lake provides for flood control, irrigation and recreation. When full, the lake has a surface area of more than 2,700 acres and 50 miles of shoreline, forming the perfect setting for a wealth of recreational activities. We invite you to hike, swim, ride, boat, camp, fish, or hunt at our beautiful lake." My friend, Tina, suggested that we hike the "Half a Canoe Loop Trail".  Evidently, when they were creating this trail, they uncovered ...

Wow! I can't believe its been a week since my last post.  This is not because I haven't been out and about.  I have re-visited many of the parks I have already written about.  I revisited the Kortum Trail, Doran Beach Regional Park and have taken walks around the neighborhood with my daughters and friends. I did, though, spend the better part of two spectacular days hiking in the Marin Headlands, which is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.   My husband expressed interest in going here a few weeks ago.  We used to live in Sausalito, and this was our regular go-to place for the beach and great hiking with spectacular views.   We decided on Martin Luther King Jr Day to go on a hike here.  It was like a walk down memory lane for both of us.  For me, I lived there six years before I met Jason, so it was even a deeper memory experience.   As I was hiking, I was thinking about how thrilled I was when I first moved to the...

I ventured into Napa County to hike on Mt. St. Helena at the invitation of my friend Tina.   Being in the background of so many of my photos, I was definitely excited to hike on this mountain that I have never visited except to drive over. We decided to take the Table Rock Trail which is about 4.5 miles round trip.  The trail departs from the small parking lot on Highway 29 and heads south to the massive Table Rock volcanic formation following an old utility road and single-tread path. There are many incredible views along the way that overlook Calistoga, Mt. St. Helena and Clear Lake.  Here is a photo of where we stopped to eat lunch: This was a hike that I would use my newly essential trekking poles, and I was so glad I had them.  They definitely gave me hill support as well as more confident balance in navigating the rocky trails.  It was an unseasonably warm day that was into the 70's, so during the hike, we were shedding our layers.   I think...