I love the Sandy Bar Ranch! It's like a dude ranch for hippies - instead of horses and trail rides, here it's just simple, rustic cabins, a gorgeous organic farm and all in the wild heart of the Klamath-Siskiyou region.

What can you do here? Aside from enjoying the organic farm scenario and swimming in the Klamath river right outside your door, there is an embarassment of outdoorsy riches in this area. The Sandy Bar is right in the heart of the Klamath-Siskiyou wilderness complex and there are endless hiking opportunities here. In my opinion, and I've spent my life backpacking and hiking the West Coast, this is right up there among the premier hiking destinations of the West Coast - ok it's not as spectacular as the Central Sierra, the Olympics or the Big Sur coast, but for big wilderness with plenty of solitude, this area can't be beat.

And river freaks take note - the rivers here are world class, the very best on the entire West Coast. I'm not talking about the murky, warm-water mess known as the KIamath, I'm talking about the undammed, coldwater gems that flow into the Eel, Klamath, Rogue basins. If you're into deep, bouldery, cool, un-dammed, crystal clear rivers, the kind that wild salmon like, the Siskiyous are for you: The Illinois, Smith, Salmon. Mad. these are among my 3 favorite rivers anywhere, and I spend ridiculous amounts of time swimming and "researching" the rivers of the West Coast.

The cabins are $80 a night - affordable for regular folks like you and me - and you can pick all the organic raspberries you can eat and buy fresh produce from the organic farm

My little girl with the farm dog

The sauna at the Sandy Bar Ranch

Bloomer Falls river access on the Salmon River. This picture just doesn't do this swimming hole justice. I spend my life looking for sweet little swimming holes like this one, and this is one of the best driving accessible ones I've ever found! Deep, clear, cool water with big boulders sitting at the bottom of the river, and best of all since it's the Siskiyous and it's in the middle of nowhere, we didn't see anyhone else all day! Never mind that it's 90 degrees out and this is one of the sweetest rivers anywhere! If you have a brain in your head and you want a sweet taste of real summer, drop whatever you're doing right now, get in your car and start driving to this river - just look for the Salmon river turnoff at Somes Bar on highway 96 west of Yreka, and drive 16 miles to the sign for "Bloomer Falls River Access"

Don't change a thing Sandy Bar Ranch - I love everything about you, and we'll be back again soon!

The best campgrounds on the Big Sur coast in order of preference are as follows ...

1. Kirk Creek State Park
2. Andrew Molera State Park
3. Limekiln State Park
4. Plaskett Creek Campground
5. Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park

1. Kirk Creek State Park

Kirk Creek takes the prize because, well, the picture sorta says it all ...

There are places up the road where you'd pay a minimum of $2,000 for the same view, here it's $22 a night - God bless America! (are liberal, environmental hippie freaks like me allowed to use that phrase?). Plus, there's no beach access at the Post Ranch and Ventana Inns (oops, did I mention the name of the overpriced celebrity fests up the road?) - so while Brangelina and Gyllenspoon are enjoying their redwood soaks, you can take some satisfaction in knowing you've got the best seats in the house for the price of dinner at Denny's.

There are 34 sites here plus these five "hike-in" spots - and when I say "hike-in" I mean walk 30 yards down a path and sit your lazy, cheap butt down in one of the most beautiful spots you've ever been. But even if you don't want to be more than 20 feet from your car, you just can't go wrong here. Every spot has the gorgeous forever views that define the Big Sur experience in a pleasant, small scale family style camping venue.

Stats: 34 sites, $22 per night; both walk-in and reserved sites (reservations at http://www.parksman.com/). This campground is extremely popular, so during the peak summer season either reserve early or show up on Friday morning to get a spot.

2. Andrew Molera State Park.

I love Andrew Molera state park. Although it doesn't have the glamorous views of Kirk Creek, this 5000 acre state park stradles the Big Sur river and is a hikers/kayakers/sufers dream with the best beach in the whole area and endless access to the most fabled hiking trails of the Big Sur region. You have to hike in about 1/2 mile to get to the campsites which is why all the RV's and lacksidasical car campers roll right on by and check in at Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park 200+ internal combusion engine friendly campsites. But if you can manage to drag your tent and sleeping bags and food a half a mile, you'll treat yourself to one of the best easy camping experiences in northern California.

The first time I went to Andrew Molera was about ten years ago when my new girlfriend (now wife) and I went for a backpack up to Sykes Hot Springs (10 miles up the Little Sur river trail). We were just looking for a place to camp before our trip. We pulled into the parking lot at about nine at night, and were in the process of unloading our groceries out of the back of the car when a group of insanely fearless raccoons descended on us and tried to take our food. I don't mean that they were grabbing the food when we weren't looking, they were literally grabbing the bags out of our hands. I witnessed my wife in a back and forth tug-of-war over a Berkeley Bowl bag of camping goodies with overly-empowered raccoon - she'd pull the bag towards her and yell, and then he pull it and hiss. We survived the mugging with our food mostly intact, and stumbled through the dark down the path to the campground area where we were met with the most pleasant little hippie scenario. It was UC Santa Cruz's Spring break, and the campground was packed with stoner college kids, bonfires and acoustic guitars. Now I'm not the drum circle, jam band type, but I was just so charmed by the whole scenario - the warm evening, the laughter, it was really sweet. We set up camp and went to sleep with the distant sound and singing and laughing.

Now I understand that I'm not painting the most appealing scenario with the woodstock-like campground and rabid raccoons - you'll be happy to know that the State Park cracked down on the open camping scenario that used to be in place in the meadow area. Now there are 24 official campsites with a limit of four people per campsite - so while the marauding raccoons are a constant, the campsite is very quiet these days. This is such a gorgeous state park with great access to the heart of the Ventana wilderness, hippie jam sessions or not, you just can't go wrong here.

Stats: 24 campsites; $12 per night; no reservations/walk in only.

3. Limekiln State Park

I've never stayed here but I took some pictures recently when I was driving through. This is a really nice campground tucked away in the redwoods with access to a great little beach. Here are the pics ...

Stats: 34 campsites/$25 per night; revervations http://www.reserveamerica.com

4. Plaskett Creek Campground.

This is a flat, grassy campground right across the highway from the best beach in the southern part of the Big Sur Coast - Sand Dollar Beach. Great family campground with good access to trails and great ocean views.

Stats: 44 campsites/$22 per night; reservations http://www.recreation.gov/

5. Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park.

Not to be confused with Pfeiffer Burns State Park which has two great hike-to environmental campsites, this is the place where most people stay when they come to this area. 200+ campsites tucked away in the redwoods with lots of RV's, but it's still frickin' gorgeous. If none of the other campsites were available, this wouldn't be a bad option at all. As an added bonus, you can leave right from the camping area and hike up the Little Sur River trail which is one of the best trails in the region.

Stats: 204 campsites/$25 per night; revervations http://www.reserveamerica.com.

Eagle Creek Trail, Columbia Gorge - Tuesday, July 14th - 10am - 4pm

Hoooray we're spending a day with the New Seasons crew! This hike is a classic Northwest gem, with great plants and lots of waterfalls and swimming opportunities, so wear your bathing suit and bring a lunch for this all day, moderately difficult hike.

What to bring

Hiking boots or running shoes Whenever we do public hikes we see way too many shiny hipster shoes, ballet flats, Ugs, punk rock all-stars etc ... That would be all cool for a shorter hike, but these are all day hikes people - wear real shoes!

Lunch These hikes will take most of the day, so bring plenty of food and goodies to share with your food-loving trip leader.

Water This is a mostly shady hike, but even so, It's extremely easy to get dehydrated on a long dayhike, so I don't want to see any dainty 10 oz bottles of fancy Iceberg water. You're going to be out all day, so bring at least a half gallon of water.

Hat/Sun Block Hmmm - this is the northwest so maybe we won't be seeing much sun, but if we do, bring a hat and sun block, especially for the Snoqualmie Pass and North Shore hikes which will be more exposed.

Bathing Suit Do they still allow swimming in lower punchbowl falls? They did when I was a kid and in high school, and from what I can determine on the internet they still do. So if it's hot, bring your bathing suit!

Money None required, because this trip won't cost you a thing! Granted your trip leader is a hack amateur naturalist, but you'll learn plenty about your local edible and medicinal wild plants and the names of all those pretty little wildflowers.

Notebook for product training session Don't bother because there won't be any product training. THIS TRIP IS NOT A TRAINING - I do this because Iove wild plants and want to turn you on to the beautiful world that's right outside your door. Sign up on our Facebook page if you want to get a feel for what kind of company we are and what kind of things you'll be seeing and learning about on our summer wildflower hike, and hopefully we'll see you out on the trail!

Directions

We're meeting at 10am at the Eagle Creek Trailhead off of I-84 in the Columbia Gorge. Coming from Portland, travel eastbound on I-84, and turn off at Exit #41. At the bottom of the ramp turn right. Go about 1/2 mile to the end of the road. You will go passed a footbridge (that takes hikers up to Wauna Viewpoint) as the road narrows to one lane. Continue a short ways to a large parking lot, parking only in designated spaces. Here's the google maps link ...

View Larger Map

Call me (Hall) on my cell phone 510-845-1418 if you have any trouble finding the trailhead - see you there!

Columbia Gorge - Wednesday, July 15th - 10am - 4pm

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.

If it's hot outside, don't forget to bring a bathing suit for this hike as there is great swimming at lower and upper punchbowl falls.

Directions

We're meeting at 10am at the Eagle Creek Trailhead off of I-84 in the Columbia Gorge. Coming from Portland, travel eastbound on I-84, and turn off at Exit #41. At the bottom of the ramp turn right. Go about 1/2 mile to the end of the road. You will go passed a footbridge (that takes hikers up to Wauna Viewpoint) as the road narrows to one lane. Continue a short ways to a large parking lot, parking only in designated spaces. Here's the google maps link ...

View Larger Map

Call me (Hall) on my cell phone 510-845-1418 if you have any trouble finding the trailhead - see you there!

Snoqualmie Pass - Wednesday, July 22nd - 10am - 4pm

The drive to this trailhead will be the longest of the three trips we're doing for Whole Foods - about 50 miles from downtown Seattle on I-90, so plan on about an hour each way. Yes I could have gone to Mt. Si or one of those fern and waterfall hikes closer to Seattle, but I just couldn't resist- this is our one chance on these hikes to get into some of that sweet, high-Cascade, wildflower meadow country in all of its alpine spring glory, so let's do it! We'll probably hit the Pacific Crest Trail, or maybe Snow Lake - I'll check out the plants once I'm up there and suss our best option, but whatever it is this will probably be the longest of the three hikes so you should plan on a glorious day adventure, even if I can only talk a few brave souls into driving all the way out here.

Directions

We're meeting at 10am at the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) Trail head parking lot off of I-90. From Seattle, drive east on Interstate 90 to Snoqualmie pass. Take Exit 52. At the end of the exit ramp, set your odometer to zero and turn left. At. 0.1 mile, turn right. At 0.2 mile, reach a fork and bear right on forest road, 9041 where you will enter the trailhead parking area.

I'd give you a google maps link, but I all the mapping services get a little off with forest service roads, so I'm going to trust some good old fashioned book directions from my well worn copy of "Beyond Mt. Si - best Seattle area hikes". If there's a problem with these directions, or you have trouble finding the trailhead, call me (Hall) on my cell phone 510-845-1418. See you there!

Vancouver North Shore - Friday, July 24th - 10am - 4pm

Yikes, this is all new to me. I haven't been to Vancouver since I was 15 years old for the World's Fair. But have no fear, I know the plants and will have plenty to show you. Any of you folks have any suggestions? How is the skyride to Goat Mountain hike? You guys are the experts, let me know. I'm totally looking forward to this hike - new territory in my beloved Northwest, how exciting!

What to bring for all hikes

Hiking boots or running shoes Whenever we do public hikes we see way too many shiny hipster shoes, ballet flats, Ugs, punk rock all-stars etc ... That would be all cool for a shorter hike, but these are all day hikes people - wear real shoes!

Lunch These hikes will take most of the day, so bring plenty of food and goodies to share with your food-loving trip leader.

Water It's extremely easy to get dehydrated on a long dayhike, so I don't want to see any dainty 10 oz bottles of fancy Iceberg water. You're going to be out all day, so bring at least a half gallon of water, and if it's sunny and hot, bring a gallon.

Hat/Sun Block Hmmm - this is the northwest so maybe we won't be seeing much sun, but if we do, bring a hat and sun block, especially for the Snoqualmie Pass and North Shore hikes which will be more exposed.

Money None required, because these trips won't cost you a thing! Granted your trip leader is a hack amateur naturalist, but you'll learn plenty about your local edible and medicinal wild plants and the names of all those pretty little wildflowers.

Notebook for product training session Don't bother because there won't be any product training. THESE TRIPS ARE NOT TRAININGS - I do this because Iove wild plants and want to turn you on to the beautiful world that's right outside your door. Sign up on our Facebook page if you want to get a feel for what kind of company we are and what kind of things you'll be seeing and learning about on our summer wildflower hikes, and hopefully we'll see you out on the trail!

Drats, we got sucked into the Beaux Club vortex! The evening started out wholesome enough - we checked into the lovely and affordable Columbia Hotel (best inexpensive hotel, at around $80 per night, in the downtown area - check it out!), and had a great dinner at the strangely Mexican/Asian fusion themed restaurant Firefly - it sounds weird, but the food was great, not too expensive, and the restaurant had a nice cozy atmosphere. And that should have been it - we'd been driving all day, we were tired, we had a nice dinner and it was nine on a monday - we should have called it quits and headed back to the hotel, but noooooo the beaux club calls us, just one drink ... The ACDC was booming on the juke box, the Pabst Blue Ribbon turned into Tequila and Tonics, and before we knew it it was 2 in the morning and we were drunkenly sketching out our plans for our new Big Sur Sage Wildflower Tea with the bartender tapping her fingers and saying something about last call ...

Not content with our depravity, we smoked cigarettes and staggered around the deserted streets and wondered by this window advertising the local Shakespeare Festival and couldn't stop laughing ....

No offense to the high-culture thing Ashland has been cultivating for the past 30 years, and nothing against the Bard, after all I really dug the Shakespeare seminar I took in college, but who goes to these things? I don't know, it all smacks of self-congratulator pretentiousness - there's always a little too much chortling and self-satisfied laughter over jokes that aren't that funny to begin with and that I suspect few people even understand. I took a class on Shakespeare and unless I really bone up on Richard iii, I will barely be able to follow the plot let alone get the subtleties of the hunmor. C'mon, the reason there's so much overly-enthusiastic laughter is because everyone wants to prove to everyone else there that they're cultured and following all the subtleties of the play. Amy hilariously said that going to one of those plays was her idea of hell, and I think the poster kind of proves the point.

Here we are the next morning, oh my aching head! Nothing like a vigorous, wholesome hike to nurse a hangover, so I headed over to Lithia Park and hiked a couple of miles up Bear Creek.

We stopped into visit one of our favorite stores ont he West Coast, the fabulous Ashland Food Co-op.

Now it's time to hit the road, onto portland!

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.

Check out some photos from this hike here!

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.

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.

View Larger Map

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.

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?

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!

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

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.

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!