April 17, 2009
Juniper Ridge wildflower hikes are offered as a free service to the Juniper Ridge community. From nature freaks to the bio-curiously inclined to techy types who think nature is boring, you're all welcome and best of all it won't cost you a cent, so what are you waiting for? Get away from your computer and experience something real! To sign-up, for any of the below trips, email michael@juniperridge.com. All trips are limited to 15 participants.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Mt. Diablo: Back Creek Canyon/Eagle Peaks loop - Saturday, May 23
This vigorous hike from the base of Mt Diablo to Eagle Peaks area is gorgeous anytime of year and is one of the absolute, classic local hiking loops, but it is especially dramatic in May when the Eagle Peaks are is in full wild flower frenzy mode. The rains this year, while not abundant, have been well spaced and the wildflower bloom is excellent. Your trip leader, Juniper Ridge founder Hall Newbegin, is lazy, so while there will be lots of nerdy babbling about native wild plants, medicinal herbs and wild foods, there will also be plenty of rest stops and vegging time to enjoy the splendor of this magical area in all its spring glory. This is a fairly difficult, all day hike - approximately 7 miles with a little over 2000 feet of elevation gain/loss. We will go at a leisurely pace, but you should be in good shape. The hike will take about six hours, so bring a tasty lunch with lots of goodies to share with your food-loving trip leader,
Mt. Tamalpais wildflower walk - Saturday, June 6.
I love the micro-climate ecosystems of Mt. Tam, and we'll be passing through a veritable greatest hits of the mountain's extensive catalog on the Steep Ravine/Matt Davis loop - Redwood forests, Oak/Bay woodlands, wildflower meadows, dramatic coastal bluffs, chaparral - do I need to go on? This is a moderately difficult hike - a little easier than the Mt. Diablo hike above, but it's still an all day trip - about 6 miles with 1000 feet of elevation gain/loss. As always, we will go at a leisurely pace, but you should be in good shape to do this trip, or bad shape and ready for a challenge.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Topanga Canyon, Santa Monica Mountains - Saturday, June 20th
Juniper Ridge visits Southern California! Some people think Southern California is nothing but strip malls and freeways - those people would be wrong. There are well over 4 million acres of some of the most spectactular roadless wilderness anywhere surrounding Los Angeles. To put that in perspective, that's more than Denver and Santa Fe combined - who would've thought Los Angeles was such an outdoorsy town? The coastal chaparral down here with all of the wild sages is intoxicating and at its peak at this time of year, so come learn about your local wild plants and experience the real Southern California!
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Eagle Creek Trail, Columbia Gorge - Saturday, July 11th
The Juniper Ridge Roadshow continues with a trip to my beloved old stomping grounds in the Northwest. All you Northwest types make a big show about how you love the outdoors, but do you know your local wild plants? C'mon, you probably moved to Portland from Socal like 5 years ago because you were into the boutique urban, brewpub vibe. You grew your beard out, got your hippie on - now it's time to become a real local and get to know the plants that make the Northwest what it is. This hike is a classic Northwest gem, complete with lots of waterfalls and swimming opportunities, so wear your bathing suit and bring a lunch for this all day, moderately difficult hike.
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Wildflower Walks
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April 10, 2009
Trailhead: Inspiration Point
Trailend: Skyline Gate
Lazy Hiker Grade: B
Less cows, nice single-track trails - I likee, I likee! The Skyline National Scenic Trail improves considerably as we leave the Nimitz Way segment and move onwards into less heavily traveled and heavily grazed territory.
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Follow the Sea View Trail up and up about 800 feet in elevation gain from Inspiration Point. One of the things I love about the Bay Area Ridge Trail is that even though I go hiking all the time, it forces me to get myself out of my rut and try new places. I've hiked the Seaview loop well over a hundred times - it's one of the classic dog walking loops close to Berkely, but I've never gone the extra couple of miles to the steam trains, what a great treat! The trail around Vollmer Peak is a little tricky to find, Take the Lupine trail, a small single track off to the right just hand side just after the junction with the Big Springs fire road, and then take a left on the Vollmer Peak trail - but it's a lovely little section with nice views and great wildflowers.
Moving on from the Steam Trains parking area, the trail winds down towards Claremont/Fish Ranch Road with nice views east to Mt Diablo ...
And on into the beginning of Oakland's Redwood Park ...
Since this was a wet day, I'll focus on wet pictures ...
A fungal bloom on a rotting tree stump ...
and early bloomer Hound's Toungue. STay tuned for the next segment through Redwood and Chabot parks.
Posted by Hall
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The Lazy Hiker
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April 3, 2009
While there's endless great camping in California's Redwood country, the cozy cabin options are surprisingly limited for an area so rife with outdoor opportunities. There are a lots of motor lodge style, post-WW2 hotels along the avenue of the giants, and the usual Victorian, old-bitty B&B type joints in 19th century timber boom towns such as Ferndale, Eureka, Arcata, but where are the nice, rustic cabins? The Redwood Country along California's far northern coast is one of my favorite areas, so I've spent a lot of time searching high and low for the jolly cabins and hotels and will begin reviewing my favorites in this blog, starting with, cabin #9 at the Organic Farm Cabins in scenic but slightly seedy Honeydew ...
Honeydew is situated at the north end of California's gorgeous the Lost Coast. The appeal of this area is unbelievably spectacular hiking and it's quiet back-country feel, but don't expect much boutique charm from the towns. It's called "lost" for a reason: ain't nobody here. This is back-woodsy, timber and marijuana country with that always fascinating tension that is so common in the north coast towns between the conservative, unemployed timber workers whose families have lived around here forever and scraggly, back-to-the-lander types who fled SF and LA in the 70's and 80's. You won't find any espresso shops with quaint names like "mountain grounds" or former farm houses converted into country cuisine meccas by friendly, young, entrepreneurial ex-san francisco culinary visionaries - someday hopefully, but not yet. No, the scene here is decidedly more Deliverance - there are the rednecky, white, rural equivalent of 40-and-a-blunt types hanging out at the Honeydew general store drinking beer out of brown paper bags and rotting houses houses around every corner. Maybe I'm painting too bleak of a picture here, after all the last time I came here was in the dead of winter and it rained non-stop which tends to taint your perception, but I want to make it clear that this is well off the beaten path. Don't let me scare you away though - if you're looking for a quiet getaway and you like hiking, oh, where do I begin - the hiking is some of the most spectacular coastal hiking anywhere, but first let's talk about the cabins.
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The lodging options in the Lost Coast area are extremely limited, and while the Organic Farm Cabins have a nice ring to them, I can't recommend any cabin but cabin #9. The owners here are two local, young parents trying to make a go of it - god bless them, they're working with some difficult circumstances since most of these former hotel cabins were occupied by full time residents when they bought the place, and the cabins themselves had been neglected for years. When I was last here, they had converted a few of the older cabins to rentals, but cabin #9 is the only one I was enthusiastic about - and it is totally sweet in that rustic, wood stove, backwoodsy, no tv kind of way.
Now let's turn our attention to the hiking. The Rockefeller Forest, about 20 miles from honeydew over a steep, winding mountain pass, is not only the largest old growth redwood forest in the world, it's also one of the only examples of low elevation, flood plain redwood habitat where the very biggest trees grow. When the timber barons of the 19th century started clearing large swaths of northern California to build San Francisco (and rebuild it over and over as the city got into the habit of burning to the ground every 10 years or so in it's early days), the easiest targets were the trees that grew near rivers. They could just cut them, and float them downstream to the ocean - a plan that would have thrilled the Onceler of Lorax fame: how simple, how profitable! Much easier than climbing up steep hillsides and dragging trees down to the river. It turns out that these flood plains that were cleared first are the choicest redwood habitat and where the true leviathan trees grew. God only knows how big those trees were. Redwood biologists believe that some of them must have been in the 400 ft range. There are numerous examples of 350 foot + trees in the Rockefeller forest with a few world record contenders in the 370 foot + range. To give you some perspective on the size of these trees, the tallest redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco are around 250 feet. The far north coast of California in Humboldt and Del Norte counties are where the true monsters grow. These are by far the tallest in the world, with Douglas Fir and Eucalyptus coming in a distant second and third with some examples in the 300 foot range.
Now let's talk Lost Coast. First of all, class, we're going to review the West Coast's greatest and largest coastal wildernesses: Big Sur, the Lost Coast and Washington's Olympic Peninsula. While Olympic National Park is the Largest of the three at around a million acres, the west side of the Olympics is pretty badly chopped up and has a patchwork of private and publicly owned lands - aside from the Wilderness Beach which is relatively small, the real wilderness doesn't begin until you're 20 or 30 miles inland. For true coastal wilderness, Big Sur is my top pick - with around 300,000 acres of protected wilderness directly adjacent to the coast and peaks rising into the 5000 foot + range within miles of the ocean, you just can't beat it. For our continent, there's nothing like this anywhere outside of Alaska. But the Lost Coast comes in a close second - there is around 50 miles of roadless beach here. That's right, no coastal highway, no dirt roads, no private land - 50 miles that's bisected by one tiny dirt road, in the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, at about the halfway point. This, along with the wilderness beach on the Olympic Peninsula, is the closest you will get to seeing what our beloved west coast was like before us white types made the scene and started tearing shit up. Huge driftwood, sand dunes, waterfalls - it's a kind of freakishly Blue Lagoonish here sans 16 year old Brooke Shields and whoever her blond, permed-out boyf counterpart was - pristine and remote in a way that's a little hard to believe. Believe it though, because it's real and it's here, and the only thing keeping you from coming here is a 6 hour drive - what are you waiting for?
Posted by Hall
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Fun Places to go - camping, cozy cabins etc ...
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March 27, 2009
I have to admit, I'm feeling kind of nostalgic this week - we're busy moving into our beautiful new warehouse, but we're leaving our old one behind. It was a grungy, cold warehouse, but it's also where we grew up as a company. Before I moved into this warehouse six years ago, I was running Juniper Ridge out of my basement. I didn't have any employees then - I did everything myself. I wild harvested the plants, made the soap, answered the phone, shipped out the orders, and showed up every saturday at the Berkeley Farmers market with a truck full of goodies from the mountains. When the phone would ring in my basement, I would literally run from the "production area" (a 10' x 10' room with an antique gas stove and a bunch of pots - total fire hazard, I can't believe I didn't burn our house down) with soap oils dripping from my hands, to the "shipping area" (second room small room with a table, phone, and ridiculous amounts of boxes, wild herbs drying on racks) to answer the phone. I got the warehouse space because business was booming and the boxes and wildharvested herbs were overunning my house. One of my customers at the farmers market was a buyer at Whole Foods, and he loved my Bay Laurel soap because it reminded him of his childhood in the hills of Northern California. And even though I was only selling to three national park stores and exactly one organic food store, Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, he swore up and down that if I could make enough soap, he would get me into a bunch of Whole Foods stores. I took him at his word, moved into the new warehouse, and indeed six months later I was selling to most of the whole foods stores in Northern California.
Part of the purpose of this blog is to promote our business paint a rosy picture of life here on the ridge, but I would be a big, fat liar if I pretended that things here were always pretty. I'd never been a boss before, and I had no idea what that meant or how to do it right. I always thought it would be easy. I mean, when I was nineteen and worked at Earth and Sea Pizza in Byron Bay Australia during an extended break from college, I thought wow, wouldn't it be great to be the boss - then instead of being told what to do, I could sit on my ass and tell other people what to do, that would totally rock! But when we started growing and I actually became a boss, I had no clue how to do it right - I mistreated some employees terribly, and got knocked around like a rope-a-dope zombie by others. Think of the movie Raging Bull here - Robert DeNiro up against the ropes with the slow-mo shots, saliva and blood flying through the air, his minefield-like face distorting horribly with every new punch ... Hey I know that guy, it's me, and that's exactly what it felt like at times!
I'm so glad that those days are over. I wish I could say I had mixed feelings about leaving, but things are so much better these days.I'm really happy to say goodbye to the old warehouse and all the chaos and roller-coaster like highs and lows that characterized the loosely held together mess that Juniper Ridge was during the years we grew from one-guy-at-the-farmers-market-company into something bigger. Somehow we managed to keep the best people through all those trying times, and now the strangest thing has happened - work is fun again. How did that happen? it was so miserable for so long, and then about a year ago, the learning curve finally caught up with us and we started running things right, we started gelling as a group, and suddenly work was fun again. So here's to our new warehouse, here's to growing up, and here's to having fun!
Posted by Hall
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Juniper Ridge
at 8:21 PM
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March 20, 2009
Trailhead: Alvarado Staging Area, Alvarado Park, El Cerrito
Trail end: Inspiration point, Tilden Park, Berkeley
Lazy Hiker's Grade: C
There are well over 1000 trails in the National ScenicTrail system including such luminaries as Pacific Crest Trail, Apalachian Trail and Rocky Mountain Trail, but this the grandaddy of them all - in 1971, this was the very fist trail in the nation to be included in the National Scenic Trail system. It's a beautiful day outside - get away from the stupid computer you're staring at and drive to the trailhead ...
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OK, now that you're at the trailhead, I've got some bad news for you: this Skyline National Scenic Trail (SNST) is actually a trail for cows, not people - a more accurate name for it would be the Bovine National Scenic Trail. That's right, thanks to our ruminator loving friends at the East Bay Regional Park District, most of the Skyline Trail is a cow ridden nightmare.
This trail can't help but benefit from the naturally stunning geography of the Bay Area, and there's lots of green grass and oaks and rolling hills and all the usual blah blah blah, but if you know anything about wild plants, you'll see this for what it is - a decimated, munched-to-the-ground cow byre.
In the foreground we see the usual clutch of invasive, weedy survivors - milk thistle, cardoon, yuck yuck yuck. Look, I'm really not as bitter as I sound. I had a nice day out here. I took a nap in the sun, it smelled good, the views were gorgeous, I felt the lifeblood flowing in my veins, it was all groovy. But the Lazy Hiker is a staunch defender of wild habitat and public lands, and this is just unacceptable. It would be one thing if it was just a couple of miles of this kind of business, but the vast majority of the 31 mile of the Skyline ScenicTrail are cattle ridden and highly degraded habitat. I'm going to move on in a second here, I really am, but first I need to ask this question: why are the public lands adjacent too the bay area being managed for the benefit of a few cattle ranchers and with cynical disregard to the 7 million people who own these lands and actually live here? Anyone, anyone, Bueller, anyone?
Stay tuned for a description of segment 2 of the SNST - Inspiration Point to Redwood Park, with less cows and more native plants, this is my favorite segment of the SNST. Until then, see you out on the trail!
The Lazy Hiker
Posted by Hall
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The Lazy Hiker
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March 10, 2009
I've been coming to this area for years now and I just love Markleeville, a sweet little gold rush town that's close enough to Lake Tahoe to cruise over for a day of skiing, but a mountain pass and valley away from the glitz and traffic of the dreaded South Lake Tahoe scene.
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Here's me with a bad case of snow face
My sweetness, Jane, sledding for the first time - so much fun!
You don't go to the Hope Valley / Markleeville area for the night life, you go there for the outdoors. Hope Valley is in Alpine County, and Alpine County is 97% Public Land, so get out there and enjoy it! And pardner, I know from fun, so If you have half a brain in your head you're going to listen to me and just do what I say. First, head over to The Hope Valley Outdoors Yurt and rent snow shoes or cross country skiis. The Yurt is adjacent to National Forest Land with free access and endless trails and backcountry opportunites.
Then, after a day of sledding and cross country skiing, head over to the Hope Valley Cafe for some beer and an early dinner
Proprietress Leesa Lopazanski renovated the joint last Summer - it used to be a ski rental place, but she's worked wonders and the scenario here is highly pleasant. Warm and cozy with a fire place and great food, beer, and, dude, the baked goods are sick. Our friend Amy bought cupcakes here we ate them late at night at our place in Markleeville - maybe it was just the wine, the snow drifting down outside our window, and charming company, but the cupcakes were unbelievably good. Way to go Leesa - we're totally fans!
So then, to continue the itinerary of jolliness, if you don't have kids, return to the "drink beer" step above in the Hope Valley Cafe and repeat. If you do have kids or are looking for more wholesome activities, after you've stuffed your fat face with burgers and pie at the cafe, head over to Grover Hot Springs for a nice, long, soak in the natural hot springs fed pool.
For those of you with an aversion to the fancy redwood soaks and naked hippies, you'll be pleased to know that the vibe here is decidedly more egalitarian and fat-russian-in-a-poorly-fitting-bathing-suit than Esalen-hippie. It's a state park after all - it only costs $5 to get in and there's a great adjoining campground that's open during the summer.
That's all for right now - stay tuned for a detailed description of lodging / cozy cabin options in the Hope Valley / Markleeville area.
Posted by Hall
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Fun Places to go - camping, cozy cabins etc ...
at 9:35 PM
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March 3, 2009
While there are over 1,000 trails in the National Scenic and Recreation trail system including such gems as the Pacific Crest Trail and Apalachian Trail, our very own Skyline Trail right here in the Bay Area was the very first one - the very first! It was designated in 1971 and is now part of the larger, 500 mile Bay Area Ridge Trail. 500 miles, hmmmn - What is that - 25 or 30 dayhikes? One of my new years resolutions is to take fridays off of work - so why not spend those days chipping away at the Bay Area Ridge Trail.
I'm starting right here 10 minutes from my home on the Skyline trail. Stay tuned for updates as I make progress on this trail!
Posted by Hall
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The Lazy Hiker
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