Hiking in the Rain

When the inspiration to hike strikes me, I tend to go with it. Raining? No problem. This hobby is too new to question the sanity of the situation, so I generally dress appropriately for the weather, pick a good trail, and off I go.

Today was no different. It wasn't actually pouring, so off I went to Redwood Park in Oakland.

I'm back to fog on the redwoods instead of volcano smoke on the mountain, and I'm okay with that.

My nod to sensibility was to pick the West Ridge Trail. Usually I go out the Golden Spike and up the Monteiro trail, then across and down the Toyon trail. (For the map enthusiasts: http://www.ebparks.org/files/parks/redwood/redwood_2250w_32c.gif) But those are tiny trails, unlike West Ridge. I figured since mountain bikes are allowed on it, a little more erosion from a lone hiker in the rain wouldn't hurt too much. For all of that, it is a beautiful trail. 

However, it is a bit steep. It gains 600' of elevation in less than a mile, which to me feels straight up. I tried to take a picture of the steepness, but I learned that's hard to do.

Along the way, I saw one of my favorite flowers in bloom right now. They're tiny and blue. Every time I see them, I wonder what they're called, and how I can convince them to grow in my back yard. Then I forget again while gardening until I'm back in the woods. They're probably a variety of Forget-me-Nots, which would be sort of ironic, now wouldn't it?

I enjoyed my hike. I'm back to hiking in the redwoods, and that feels good, even after the exotic locations I was at last week. My boots are now covered with California mud, instead.

Yes, I've become someone whose hiking boots and poles live in the back of my car. Who would have imagined?