The Gulf Coast is beautiful, but walking away from the beach to the other side of the sugar sand dunes there is a beautiful area that has salt marshes, sand live oak shaded walkways, a rare dune lake, and beautiful scenery. Are you ready to go for a walk in Grayton State Park? There’s an inviting entrance–let’s go.
In the land of Orlando stands the isle of Seuss. A magical kingdom where Sneetches, Things, and a Cat in a Hat walk with you. A wilderness walk through your imagination that reminds us all that “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”
Dusky Grouse are so interesting and this year I had an up-close and personal encounter (see below). Here is a male in full mating display in June, too busy courting to bother with us. He struts and hops with tail raised and fanned, neck feathers spread revealing his bright neck-skin patch, loud wing thumping, and making a deep wump-wump-wump, a sound that can be heard great distances by springtime hikers. These birds, about the size of a chicken and weighing up to three pounds, would rather walk than fly. Best known by locals for scaring the daylights out of you. You’ll be walking a trail, they wait until you are about two feet away, and fly up in a rapid, flurried take off almost hitting you. Yikes, my heart!
I’d like to recognize a true achievement by the state and counties of California, namely, their commitment to state parklands and open space preserves set aside for everyone’s enjoyment. On my recent visit to family and friends who live in Santa Clara County, home of Silicon Valley and over one million residents, I visited one of the newest open spaces–the 348-acre Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve in the rolling hills just west of US101. And what could be better than taking this hike with a good friend, so into the mountains we go!
