Goslings Galor

I've witnessed lots of baby birds in the past month here at Lake
Merritt and the Oakland waterfront parks including Middle Harbor
Shoreline Park. So get out there while they are still cute and fuzzy.
(It may even be too late! Our feathered friends grow quickly.)

More Friends Doing Good Deeds on Bicycles

(Ray and Steve in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills on a training ride. Photo credit: Steve Burton.)

Last year I was a little shocked (actually more than a little) when my friend Ray told me he and his husband were going to ride bikes 545 miles in the AIDS LifeCycle from San Francisco all the way down to L.A. Not that I didn’t think Ray could do it, but I know him to be more of the lounge by the pool with a nice cocktail type rather than the endure lots of breathlessness and muscle pain on a bicycle type. But in spite of my shock I was super proud of him for “pushing his limits” and “getting out of his comfort zone” as they like to say, while raising funds for HIV and AIDS awareness and research. And this year I'm double proud because he and Steve are going to do it again.

Friday night they had a fundraiser at Buck Tavern in S.F. complete with raffle, beer bust, and drag show. I went and it was a really good time. Unfortunately my pictures from my phone are just a blurry mess so I had to steal one of Ray and Steve's photos off of Facebook. I love this photo and I love the little furry ears growing out of their helmets... (I'm so jealous. I hate my bike helmet.) Anyway, I wish the both of them the best of luck and success on their journey.

More Information:

• Ray’s fundraising page
• Steve’s fundraising page
• AIDS LifeCycle official website

UPDATE: Healthy Lungs Coast to Coast

I have a backlog of posting to do, but i wanted to share this and test
out posting from my iphone.
My friend Shawne took off today on his bike ride across the United
States from the Golden Gate Bridge to Washington DC. He has a Spot GPS
Tracker with him. I'll post the link later, but here is a photo from
the bon voyage gathering...
(I apologize for the quality of the photo... there is a scratch on my iPhone’s camera lens covering.)

UPDATE:
I should mention that Shawne is doing this to raise awareness about lung health and to raise funds for the American Lung Association.

• Shawne's Spot GPS track of his journey is here.
• Shawne's Bike Ride Across America Facebook page.
• “Healthy Lungs Coast 2 Coast” Shawne’s story and donation link.
  

Hike #3 Trails Challenge ’09

Yours Truly in front of San Leandro Bay with the Oakland hills to the north behind her.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline Bike Ride For my third Trails Challenge 2009 “hike” (See original post about EBRPD's Trails Challenge) I didn't do a hike at all—I did a bike ride. Not all of the trails in EBRPD are just for travel by foot. Quite a few are available to wheeled users as well. Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline is one of these wheel-friendly parks as it has many paved pathways. I used this paved opportunity to take my bike out for a sunny Easter Sunday ride along the waterfront from Lake Merritt to MLK Jr. Reg. Shoreline including parts of Bay Farm Island & Alameda. Since only seven of the seventeen round trip miles where in the Trails Challenge Guide I've only included those seven miles in my Trails Challenge total. View all of my photos from this hike on flickr. Trails Challenge “Hike” #3 Stats: Date Completed: April 12, 2009 Location: CA, Oakland, Alameda, & Bay Farm Island, Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline Mileage: 7 trails challenge; ~17 mi trip total Elevation: Sea Level Trails Challenge Total Miles: 28

Google Earth image of my route. Click for larger view.

Topographic map of my route. Click for a larger view. (The yellow line is the “Trails Challenge” portion of my route. The red line is my route to the regional shoreline, and the blue is my return route.) More Information: Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline official site My previous post(s) about MLK, Jr. Reg. Shoreline All of my Trails Challenge 2009 posts

Hike #2 Trails Challenge ’09

Yours Truly contemplating the interesting trickle that was Murietta Falls on our visit.

Ohlone Regional Wilderness: Lake Del Valle to Murietta Falls & Stewart’s Camp Backpack For my second Trails Challenge 2009 hike (see original post about EBRPD's Trails Challenge) I chose a recommended hike that I’ve wanted to do for quite awhile now—Murietta Falls in the Ohlone Regional Wilderness south of Livermore. Murietta Falls is supposedly one of the tallest waterfalls in the Bay Area falling 100 feet over a huge chunk of serpentine rock jutting out of the surrounding grassy oak savanna and draining into La Costa Creek. The Trails Challenge trail guide lists it as “the longest continuous drop waterfall in Alameda County.” This waterfall however doesn’t have much water volume and can be less than spectacular or even dry if visited too late in the season or in a low water year like this year. The Trails Challenge guide lists it as a “winter” hike just for this reason, but I was willing to risk it as the weather was still cool—the San Francisco Bay Area's valley interior can get blistering hot—and since spring has sprung, I was hoping that the wildflowers would be out. Another consideration was that all of my trail guides stress the strenuousness of this trail. I figured I would better enjoy this hike as an overnight backpack which shortens the daily mileage and elevation gain/loss, and luckily, since stewart’s camp trail camp was available and only half a mile away from the falls I could. On our visit it turns out the falls were more of a dribble than a gush, but fortunately my hiking partner Amy's and my efforts were more than rewarded with vast views of lush green hills, fields of beautiful wildflowers, soaring raptors, frog-filled ponds, coyote howls and sweet solitude. View all of my photos from this hike on flickr. Trails Challenge Hike #2 Stats: Date Completed: April 2 – 3, 2009 Location: CA, Ohlone Regional Wilderness (south of Livermore) Mileage: ~14 mi round trip Elevation: +/-4485' RT, ; lo pt 750; hi pt 3,372' Trails Challenge Total Miles: 21

Google Earth image of our route. Click for larger view.

Topographic map of my route. Click for a larger view. More Information: Ohlone Regional Wilderness official site Two-Heel Drive’s Murietta Falls day hike report Calipidder’s Murietta Falls day hike report Tom Stienstra’s Ohlone Wilderness article on SFGate