The Days Grow (Slightly) Longer

Some days I am thankful for little things. Yesterday it was when I noticed how the days are growing slightly longer. I mean, I know they've been getting slightly longer since the Winter Solstice. That's just a fact of science. But seeing the difference is different. When we were out hiking yesterday— more on that to come soon, I hope— I noticed that at 4pm it wasn't feeling as late as it used to a few weeks ago. The sun wasn't already setting.

The difference isn't huge, of course. At our Winter Solstice we had 9.5 hours of daylight. Now we're up to just over 10. But it's satisfying that I can already see the small differences.

Update: Morning changes are noticeable, too. This morning I got up just before 7 and could see the light brightening in my window minute by minute. Actual sunrise wouldn't be for another 20 minutes, at 7:17am, but again, the morning light was a small difference I was satisfied to see.

Hiking Edgewood Park

Edgewood Park, about 15 miles away in Redwood City, has become one of our regular hiking destinations. By "regular" I mean we hike there once or twice a year. There are so many great outdoors choices in our area that we don't have to visit any one trail or park too frequently.

Edgewood is nestled in the foothills on the west edge of Redwood City. Expensive homes surround it on 3 sides; Interstate 280 is on the other side. Beyond I-280 are the coast range mountains. Despite these signs of civilization all around the park always manages to provide some degree of wilderness-y joy.

We took advantage of Saturday's pleasant 64° afternoon weather (17° C) to get in a hike at Edgewood. The small parking areas were pretty much full, and the trails were busy. But once afoot we left these things and the $5 million houses in the surrounding neighborhoods behind, enjoying the forest of Like Oak and the lush grass and clover underneath.

Our usual route through the park has us going more or less clockwise, starting with uphill switchbacks through the forested hillside. I've had a bit of asthma lately— or is is Covid?! This overlap is vexing— so this stretch felt a tad harder than it should have been. I took a puff from my asthma inhaler as we climbed.



Soon enough we broke out from the tree cover onto one of the ridges. At this level the views open up expansively. We can see out across other ridges to the north and south. To the east, the San Francisco Bay shimmers blue like a sapphire. You can't really see the Bay in the picture above... we have to climb a bit higher for that really to come into view. And climb higher, we did!



We climbed to a knob near the back side of the park. Sometimes we get this mostly area to ourselves; today it was popular with other hikers. There were 4-5 groups up here, including us. We stayed just long enough to drink in the views then moved on.

Update: Keep reading in part 2!

"There are no wrong ways here": Hiking Edgewood Park, part 2

"Which way to go?" is always a question at Edgewood Park. There are several trails within a relatively compact area. Just below the knob we reached at the end of my previous entry (part 1) there were basically four ways to go. We quickly ruled out two because they were basically doubling back and cutting the trip short. Of the remaining two, one went over a forested ridge and the other went around the back side. There really isn't a wrong way at Edgewood. We opted for the back side as it would be the longest route, and we had time and energy for it.



One slight minus to the trail we chose it that parts of it overlook Interstate 280. Who wants to enjoy views of an 8 lane superhighway? But it's surprisingly way less distracting than you might imagine. The roar of the traffic seems much more distant than it actually is, there are beautiful mountains beyond it, and if you turn your head slightly to the right as you walk you don't even have to see it. There are no wrong ways here.

With the spate of warm weather recently we were hoping to see a good wildflower bloom. Around a month ago we got a lot of rain... then, over the past two weeks we've had dry and warmer weather. Daytime highs have reached the 60s most days. This weather pattern triggers wildflower blooms. Alas, the flowers know something I don't... or maybe they didn't get the memo. 😅 There were some wildflowers in the park but not the cornucopia I'd hoped to see.

Well, as I said, there are no wrong ways here. There were wildflowers, just not a lot.

And speaking of no wrong ways, at another trail junction Hawk and I disagreed on which way to go.

"We have to go left here," she said.

"No, we always go right," I countered. "Going left takes us out near I-280, then loops around over a grassy hill."

In different senses we were both right. I was right about where the trails lead and that the right fork is the one we've always taken before. But why not try something new? With great weather, great views, and still enough energy in our tanks we opted to take the left fork and hike a segment of trail new to us.



We looped closer down to I-280— though, again, it didn't bother us— and then turned back to climb over the park's main ridge. The different route we picked combined sweeping ridge views, like the one above (shot with a telephone lens), with cozier areas inside forests of Live Oak.

We finished the hike by taking yet another unusual turn. At a junction where we'd normally go right, we continued straight. It was longer but we didn't care. Longer was better. There are no wrong ways when in beauty we walk.