Author: Rebecca J Hogue

  • Yes it rains in the desert

    In the afternoon, it went from being cold outside to a bit of a downpour. It rained enough that there was water flowing through the riverbed behind our campsite – although there is no sign of the water in the riverbed this morning.

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  • A short hike

    Scott described it, I arrived back at the van “only marginally injured”. Just after the last picture was taken, I slipped on the way downhill and went down part of the hill on my butt, which would have been fine except the hills was made up of mostly sharp rocks!

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  • Today’s adventure – Mountain biking the Rainbow Basin scenic loop

    We had drive the Rainbow basin scenic loop a couple years ago and at that time found ourselves thinking that we wanted to come back and do it on bikes which would allow us to stop more often and experience the scenery without having to worry about whether or not the van would fit through…

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  • A desert escape

    We had been planning this vacation since early December – when we had to cancel our normal winter vacation because of my back surgery. Now that it is over, and all the classes I teach are on spring break, we decided to escape to the desert. We left on Sunday and drove through the rain.…

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  • Ed Levin County Park

    Next in our series on Santa Clara County Parks is Ed Levin County Park, which is about a 20 minute drive east from our house in the Diablo Mountains. Ed Levin is also where there are a hang gliding and paragliding schools. The main hiking trail in the area goes to the top of Monument…

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  • Camping at Joseph D. Grant County Park

    Next on our tour of Santa Clara County Parks is Joseph D. Grant. This park is at about the 1/2 way point on the way up to the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. We arrived tired late Saturday afternoon so opted for a short hike. I found the narleyness of the trees fascinating. It is…

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  • Uvas Canyon County Park

    Upon arrival at Uvas Canyon County Park, we discovered a pretty little park. It was only a 40 minute drive from home, which makes it one of the closer county parks with camping. It is also one of the smaller of the Santa Clara County parks, tucked into a Canyon within the Santa Cruz mountains…

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  • Hiking poetry at Villa Montavlo

    It may be difficult to tell from the photos, but the short hike goes through several different ecosystems, including a grove of redwood trees. This diversity is part of why I enjoy this short hike so much.

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