Photos uploaded by Sonja, comments by Andy:
Now that the weather is finally warming up, we need to practice carrying our packs for some mountain hikes. So I found a hut in the Bay Area, owned and operated by the Sierra Club. Ella and her parents Shay and Ayalet want to start camping and hiking, so they came along too. I think this was their first camping trip with Ella.
We started in Sam McDonald County Park, which is off Pescadero Rd off La Honda off of Skyline. It’s pretty much in the middle of the Santa Cruz mountains, but there are lots of cabins up in the woods there, so it’s not the middle of nowhere. The hut is more like a vacation cabin, it has electricity, water, a kitchen and flush toilets.
Here’s the obligatory start photo, where everyone has their packs on. It’s about 2 miles to the hut and the girls carried their little backpacks the whole way, without ever complaining about them. They carried their own small toys, pens and paper, and Leilani had some of her own clothes. The parents’ packs were not that heavy since we didn’t need the tent or any cookware, just sleeping bags, clothes and food.
I think it was the first time Sonja used her big backpack in a long time, too.
The girls really amazed us being such good hikers. They even had energy to run and play chase:
Of course, we also told them stories to keep them walking. Leilani always asks Uncle Shay for Thomas (the train) stories since he makes them up for Ella. On the second half of the hike, I took over, and I think I was telling the story of the Jungle Book (or at least the Disney movie version).
The girls loved the hut, especially the loft. What a great place to play and jump on (and off) the pile of mattresses. When they got too wild unsupervised, Sonja went up and did some drawings with them (but mostly for them):
We also played frisbee outside, after which Leilani tried on the sunglasses she found for me. I think it makes her look like a dragon fly, but the reflections are cool.
The game was pictionary (found in the hut), the rules slightly modified. But it is a fun game that kids can play just as well as adults. You can see the fully equipped hut kitchen in the background.
We stayed all morning at the hut the next day, relaxing, playing games, then cleaning up. We got another group photo at the hut before leaving:
The hut sits up on a ridge, with nice open views and trails in many directions.
There were also some flowers still around. I’m amazed that we always seem to see one or two new flowers on each hike:
What was so interesting?
A big beetle!
On the hike out, we took a different trail that went down through a beautiful forest:
The color of these berries is even better without the flash, but I never saw the red-eyed fly when I took the picture:
We ended up in grove of redwoods:
The girls played by a stream for a few hours while Uncle Shay hiked to get the car. It was late already, so we just got a ride back to our car as well. We all drove to Pescadero for dinner at a good restaurant (artichokes, yum).
Then we enjoyed the sunset from Pescadero State beach before driving home on Hwy 1:
