Birding in Action!

An "action shot" of me birding! This was an early morning along the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay oceanfront trail.  A few minutes before this pic this great blue heron ate a mouse. A WHOLE LIVING MOUSE. That was insane. I watched the entire thing through my binoculars and I still get the heebie-jeebies thinking about it.

Copyright Mark Pederson :)

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Angel Island!

20 mile bike ride, climbing Mt Livermore with Steph and Scott, now enjoying the ferry ride back to SF! What a day!

Mini Blockie Reunion!

With an awesome picnic and walk in Edgewood Park!

Dinner in Sacramento

Horrifying: State announces closure of 70 parks to save money

Portola Redwoods, Castle Rock, Henry Coe... Some of the best. This is a travesty for all Californians!!!!!

A story from AP Mobile:
State announces closure of 70 parks to save money

Cross country skiing

Snowboarding

Yosemite Valley Formation

 Everyone knows the beauty of Yosemite Valley, the shear granite rock, the open meadows, and the amazing waterfalls.  All the park signs explain how the Valley was sculpted by glaciers...Over 250,000 years ago, the Valley was full of a glacier. A glacier so big that only 900 feet of Half Dome emerged from the giant flow of ice. I always had a really difficult time comprehending this explanation.  No way a glacier could be that big!

That is, until I saw Glacier Perito Moreno. Instantly, I understood the formation of Yosemite Valley. Reaching 60 meters out of the water, and 440 more meters underneath, over 1 mile wide and 15 miles long, Perito Moreno is the biggest chunk of ice I've ever seen and could never have imagined. Seeing is believing, and now I have the utmost respect for the formation of Yosemite Valley.

Perhaps in another 250,000 years, it will be the Perito Moreno Valley that everyone visits...The next Yosemite, carved from a glacier. That's all I could think about as I traversed the slopes of the glacier, learned about the glacial rivers, pools, crevices. How this inspiring block of moving ice is shaping the earth, the climate and the world around it. I used to lack respect for glaciers, (its just ice right?), but after this experience, without hesitation I think that glaciers are one of the most awesome features of our planet.

Seasons

Living in Northern California the last 3 and half years, I've finally come to appreciate seasons. SoCal really never felt like 4 different seasons, Boston's winter was so scarring that I declared winter my arch nemesis. But here, in Menlo Park, I actually look forward to the rain, the change of leaves, the expected rainbow in the afternoon after a rainy day. I like that I hold my tea close and snuggle up under my blanket. I look forward to the verdent spring, green Stanford hills, and bright orange poppies filling the fields. Different seasons bring about different daily habits, different emotions, different wardrobes, and different meals. The selections at the Farmers Market has changed from summer squash to winter squash, from strawberries and peaches to sweet potatoes and root vegetables. I not only enjoy the seasonal change, but in a way I even look forward to it. I wouldn't even mind a little snow now and again, though I could do withouth the great Northeastern Blizzards I endured. Seasons are fun, in their own, unique way. With that said, I'll be spending Christmas at the beach. :)

Black Mountain

This afternoon I summitted Black Mountain, along with my mom and Abs. At the top there was a beautiful view of the Bay, even with the dark clouds overhead. The hike was just under  6 miles, and we saw an astounding 24 deer scampering about! Great way to end the week and head into the weekend...

Best part of my week

Was this evening, Abbey and I ran and hiked in Arastradero and had the wonderful gift of seeing seven beautiful deer on the trails... By far, the best part of my week! What would I do without a great sister and the outdoors?

Yes on CA Prop 21

We all pay taxes so we can partake in public goods and services. CA Proposition 21, the State Parks Initiative would remove all entrance fees to California state parks (fees recently increased from $6 to $10 last spring). Prop 21 would add an $18 surcharge on obtaining a vehicle license, and in doing so make our state parks more accessible to all Californians. I strongly support this Proposition and hope that in November you vote yes on Prop 21with me.

Hike #3: Yosemite

Amazing vistas, waterfalls and well worth the tough hike out of the valley.

Hike #2: Skyline to the Sea Trail

30+ miles in less than 2 days with my mom. We made it to the beach!

Hike #1: Big Sur

Testing out some new gear in the Ventana Wilderness

Hetch Hetchy for Mother's Day!

The crew packed up and headed to Yosemite National Park this weekend in celebration of Mother's Day. Our destination: Hetch Hetchy, the Yosemite Valley that never was...Yup, in 1908 they damned up this beautiful valley against the activism of John Muir and naturalists around the country. That damn dam! After seeing it for myself, I can't believe it. A true travesty, because it is an absolutely amazing place. I'll be writing my representatives about this one...Even with the ugly dam, it's a remarkable place. We did an overnight backpacking trip, hiked up the valley, camped amongst the bears (no joke), and had an all around wonderful weekend. Happy Mother's Day Mom! Hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did!

Yosemite Highlights

Had a great trip to Yosemite recently. Here are some photos I just uploaded.

Jasper Ridge

Jasper Ridge is Stanford's private nature preserve. Several of us were luckily enough to go on a hike with Bob Siegel, one of our Health and Human Disease professors, who is a docent at Jasper Ridge. I really loved the area because it was so diverse, open areas, lakes, creeks, redwood groves. Really wonderful!

Fungi oh my!

In Health and Human Disease we learned about fungi last week. I think I was the only student in the lecture hall actually excited to learn about fungi. Why? Because on all the hikes around here you see so many different types of fungi! After a long week of class and huge rains, I got away to the woods on Saturday with three of my classmates, Clark, Aria, and Joe. It was great fun, there was snow, fungi, and raging rivers! What more could we ask for? Below is one of the coolest fungus I've seen yet, it was growing a fallen redwood tree.

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1/30/2010 Update: Dr. Bob Siegel told me that fungus is called "Witch's Butter". Pretty awesome! It was very squishy

Berry Falls Hike, Big Basin State Park

Today, around noon my dad and I decided we'd tackle the 12 mile Berry Falls Hike. After an hour of driving we reached the lovely Big Basin State Park around 1pm, leaving us just about 4 hours of light to complete our task.

Luckily, it turned out to be one of the best hikes we've ever been on. Vibrant luscious flora, banana slugs, newts, birds abound, and spectacular waterfalls. We may have needed to trot the last few miles, but it was still amazing and we managed to make it to the car by dark!