Living Small, Avoiding the Spiral

This weekend was a restful one. But it was balanced restfulness. I emphasize that because merely doing nothing, aka sitting home like a slug, has its own downside. With the Coronavirus pandemic entering its third year and the Omicron surge still upon us, it's easy to let the combination of risks and frustrations cause a downward spiral.

This weekend we avoided the downward spiral by getting out for some hiking both days. The weather has continued to be balmy for January, with afternoon highs in the low- to mid 60s (around 17° C) and clear skies. We took advantage of that by hiking Flag Hill in the Sunol Regional Wilderness on Saturday, then hiking to the Tafoni Monolith and the Methuselah Tree in Corte de Madera Open Space on Sunday. Each was only a part-day adventure. Both days we left the house after noon. But both were enough to stave off the doldrums. I'll post more about those outings, including pictures, soon.

Update: Hiking at Sunol Wilderness at Saturday, The Tafoni Monolith (aka SKULL ROCK!), The Methusela Tree

Hiking in the Sunol Wilderness

This past Saturday we hiked in the Sunol Wilderness Regional Preserve. It's in a remote corner of the East Bay, behind Mission Peak above Fremont, tucked in a narrow valley south of the Tri-Valley area that includes Pleasanton and Livermore. The closest place of any size is Sunol, a quaint little town with a population of just 1,000, five miles away. The park's in one of those nowheresville pockets of the otherwise bustling Bay Area.

We got a slightly late start on Saturday. Our intention had been to get up early, hike in the morning, and treat ourselves to lunch afterwards. Well, that was the plan. The reality was we didn't leave the house until lunchtime and treated ourselves to outdoor fast-food dining on the way out.

Fortunately it didn't matter that we started late because the park is less than 45 minutes away. And the trail we intended to hike was just under 4 miles— enough that we could finish before dark, even allowing extra time for the steep, 1,000 ascent in the first leg of the route.

Bird Fight!

Our fun started before we even reached the park. As we pulled off I-680 onto the country road that would take us deep into nowheresville we spotted two huge birds circling overhead. This is an area where turkey vultures congregate, but these were no vultures. One was a golden eagle!

Golden eagles are huge birds. Adults have have wingspans of 1.8 - 2.3 meters (6 - 7.5') and can weigh up to 16 pounds (7.3kg). I'm not sure how big this one was; it didn't drop in for a weighing and measurement.

At first we thought the golden eagle was some other species, possibly even a California condor. Its underwings were an important tell. Its wing feathers were mostly dark but with light "hand" patches. That's a characteristic of golden eagles.

Also, the bird was being chased around by a red-tail hawk. The hawk was circling above it, screaming with its blood curdling shriek. There'd be no reason for a hawk to chase off a condor; condors, like vultures, are carrion eaters, so predators tend to ignore them. But a golden eagle is a huge predator. It'll eat anything from squirrels to rabbits to small deer. A hawk doesn't want that competition in its territory.

Setting Out for Flag Hill

The park is only a few miles back into the hills from busy Interstate 680 but it feels like it's a world away. ...Well, except for the crowded parking lots on Saturday afternoon. We got a space near our trailhead only because we saw someone pulling out at just the right time.



Flag Hill is one of several possible hiking destinations from the trailheads on the valley floor. We've hiked a few of them before, including Flag Hill, but none in... at least 5 years, I think. We chose Flag Hill this weekend to work on our conditioning. The steep uphill hump on the first leg of the trail is a 1,000 foot ascent to the top of the ridge!

Update: new entry posted for Hiking Flag Hill

Bachelor for 2 Nights

I'm a bachelor for the next 2 nights. Well, not technically. I'm still married. But my wife is away on a business trip, so I'm leading the life of a bachelor tonight and tomorrow night.

Yes, she's back to business travel before I am! Her trip is a company offsite with other senior managers. My first business trip after a 2 year break is still 5 weeks away.

So, what am I doing with my pseudo-bachelor self? Honestly, little different than I'd do if my wife were here. I went shopping at the liquor store after work this afternoon. I was planning on doing that this weekend but the schedule didn't work out. When I got home from that I cooked myself dinner... or should I say, reheated leftovers. Tonight maybe I'll flip on the TV and see if I can find an interesting movie streaming. That's the one thing that would be different from an evening together.