Tuesday, March 18, 2003


I went hiking on Saturday to Diablo State park with John and Dave. This was the day I expected to be donning my rain gear and hiking in the rain but the weather forecasters were wrong and it was mostly sunny all day. We began the hike strolling along a meadow but soon started a long up hill trek. We hiked up past some beautiful water falls to Mt. Olympia gaining about 3000 feet in elevation. Alas, no Greek Gods or Goddesses were on top of Mt. Olympia but there was an awesome view including a view of Mt. Diablo (which is taller than Olympia). We had our lunch on top. After lunch we did some more climbing to a ridge top where we hiked on the ridge a bit to the trail to Eagle Peak. Climbing up to the ridge top was a challenge with a full stomach and more of a desire to nap than hike more up hill. We soon reached Eagle Peak and took a snack break there while enjoying more wonderful views. The rest of the hike back to the cars was all down hill. It was quite a challenge to our knees. I did OK. Dave was suffering a bit and John was his usual fit 60+ year old self and charged down the mountain. The wild flowers are starting to bloom in California. We saw shooting stars, poppies, lupens, yellow wallflowers, blue dicks, and indian paintbrush and more whose names I have forgotten. John was really good at stopping and telling us flower names. It turned out to be a delightful day and a delightful hike. We ended up doing 4400 feet of elevation gain and 14 miles of hiking!


Linda and I headed over the hill on Sunday to hike at Wilder Ranch State park in the hopes of seeing the large surf caused by the rain storms. When we got to Wilder it was closed due to the storms so we headed to Natural Bridges State Park instead and took a walk along the path parallel to Cliff Drive. The surf was large but not as impressive as I had hoped. The weather was again a surprise with mostly blue skies except for a little rain and clouds at lunch time. We hiked to the light house about 2 miles away and saw tents and lots of people just down the coast. It turns out there was a kayak surfing contest going on. We leaned on the fence on the cliff top and watched 3 or 4 contestants surf the waves. It was fun to watch. They did a trick where they would do a 360 turn at the bottom of the wave as they were surfing it. We tore ourselves away from this cool entertainment to head back. We spent much of the hike catching up with each other on our lives since it had been a while since L. and I had been out hiking together. We also struggled to get her digital camera working with no success. Oh well. The cool trees and the neat water fall will just have to be a picture in my mind until I get to Santa Cruz again. It was a very mellow beautiful hike.


This week is busy with meetings. Yesterday I met with my mortgage broker at lunch to refinance my loan to get a 15 year fixed loan and a lower interest rate. The loan application is all filled out and we are waiting for after Greenspan speaks before locking in an interest rate. Today I have to deliver books to Rhoda and then go to therapy. Wednesday I have to be home in the afternoon for Comcast to install digital cable. Thursday is actually normal! Friday I'm off at 9ish for a physical at Kaiser to get my fitness center health form filled out so I can use the fitness center again. Phew. Next week I'll continue this madness and get my car to Mtn. View Foreign car to see if they can figure out why it stalls so much. Auto Repair Specialists had no clue.