Category Archives: Trip Report

North Peak, Mount Diablo after the Fire

By ameet | Published: 30 September 2013

I hiked the North Peak Trail in Mount Diablo State Park over the weekend. Like many others, I was curious to see the aftermath of the big fire that raged on the mountain three weeks ago. You could certainly see large areas that were burnt out. Black, charred skeletons of trees were abundant in some […]

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Short Nature Ramble at Long Ridge Open Space

By ameet | Published: 20 April 2013
Peters Creek Trail

It was a nice sunny afternoon in early April and Long Ridge Open Space Preserve looked quite inviting. As expected, the wildflowers were putting on a great show. We started with Peters Creek Trail. The view was wonderful, as you looked northwest along the trail.   In the first stretch from the parking lot, we […]

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Eastern Slopes of Highland Ridge

By ameet | Published: 17 February 2013
Milkmaid

This is an account of an afternoon hike in mid-February, on the Eastern slopes of Highland Ridge, in Morgan Territory Regional Preserve. The starting point was the intersection of Morgan Territory Road and Highland Ridge Trail. In the very first section I came across a murder scene. A little scrutiny revealed the identity of the […]

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Newts on the Ridge

By ameet | Published: 20 November 2012
California Newt

The recent rains made for a nice surprise on my hike last weekend. I went to Pleasanton Ridge in the afternoon. It was refreshing to see everything turning green after the hot, dry days of summer. Soon I came across my first California Newt as it was crossing the trail. I find their determined plodding quite […]

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September Outing – Back Creek Canyon on Mount Diablo

By ameet | Published: 17 September 2012
California Ground Squirrel

A nature hike on the northern slopes of Mount Diablo is a good way to enjoy the Mount Diablo wilderness. We started from the Mitchell Canyon Staging area, went East on Murchio Rd and then started climbing up Back Creek Trail. Along the way there were lots of Variegated Meadowhawks. It was a hot day […]

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A Summer Afternoon in Lime Ridge

By Anisha | Published: 5 July 2011
Lime Ridge open space

An Afternoon in Lime Ridge May 2012 It is a pleasant, sunny afternoon in the East Bay. My brother and I are on a nature hike in Lime Ridge open space, an area stretching from Walnut Creek to Concord, and home to a variety of reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, and insects. The landscape is a […]

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Lizards on a Log at Las Trampas

By ameet | Published: 18 April 2011

It was a nice weekend in early April and Las Trampas Regional Wilderness was beckoning. There was no rain. It turned out to be a good day for lizards and butterflies. And some early wildflowers were already blooming. The most common were the California Buttercups. Then I started seeing the butterflies. The first one was […]

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Salamanders at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

By mihir | Published: 20 March 2011

It’s about that time of year again when salamanders become easier to see around the bay area so I took a few hours today in between bouts of severe rain to poke around some logs at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. We’ve seen several amphibian species here before including California Slender Salamanders, Yellow-eyed Ensatinas, California Newts and Western […]

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Dragonflies, Amphibians at Morgan Territory

By mihir | Published: 17 August 2010

An afternoon stroll in Morgan Territory Regional Park this Sunday, prompted by delusions of spotting a Puma (aka Mountain Lion, Cougar), turned into an above-average, all-around wildlife outing. During our hike , in addition to several birds and butterflies, we observed in great detail several species of dragonflies as well as a couple nice amphibians. […]

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Afternoon Walk and Rattlesnake at Briones Regional Park

By mihir | Published: 3 August 2010

A brief walk around noon in the hot sun at Briones Regional Park didn’t reveal much in terms of spotting many different species, but did give some great views of possibly the largest Western Rattlesnake I have ever seen (it must have been close to three feet if not over). It’s not often that you […]

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