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Mt. Diablo 8/26/18

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This week, we went on our last longer weekend hike before the big one. After seeing how last week went, we tweaked our route significantly to make it a little bit easier. On the way up, we followed Gurmeet's route for the way down, going from Mitchell Canyon Road to Deer Flat Road and up to Juniper Campgrounds, and then Juniper Trail to the summit. It seems he had to walk on the road from the summit to the Juniper Trail trailhead, but we found a trail up to the right after the Juniper Trail hit the road for the first time, which avoids walking on the road, though there were 3 points where we had to cross the road in the short section from the trail's ending to the summit. When coming down from the summit, cross the parking lot to the patch of forest in between the two directions of the road and follow the trail down. Eventually, this ends at the road again. Head towards the bathrooms and picnic benches and keep going, until eventually, after a large parking lot, the trail sh...
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Mt Diablo 8/18/18

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This week, we tried to follow Gurmeet's directions to Mt. Diablo via Eagle Peak . Unfortunately, after quite a late start (started up at noon), we ended up ditching that plan halfway through, and looped back around upon reaching Eagle Peak. The late start was probably the biggest factor in this, because we ended up hiking straight through the hottest part of the day, which was rough in the portion of the trail to this point, as there was very little tree cover, and it was a very hot day.  Final route: Starting at the Mitchell Canyon Ranger Station, we took the Mitchell Rock Trail to Eagle Peak Trail, and continued until the junction with the Meridian Ridge Trail. At the junction we took a right turn until the junction with the Mitchell Canyon Fire Road, and then followed the signs back to the Mitchell Canyon Ranger Station.   Coming down from Eagle Peak A tree! The mountains looked pretty wispy on the way down, probably from the recent fires Alm...
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More Paper Piecing

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In continuing my attempts to really get the hang of paper piecing before committing myself to a more ambitious project, I decided to attempt another free Craftsy pattern. This time, I went with a rose (pattern here ). This actually went much better than I expected. While it was quite dense, it was a pretty good practice piece, since it allowed me to practice the technique itself without getting too caught up in the details. Additionally, since it used smaller pieces, it was a good use of scraps, and it was a good way to practice appropriately cutting pieces to use the least amount of fabric but still cover the pattern.
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Alum Rock Park 8/12/18

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Tried to follow Gurmeet's Grand Loop in Alum Rock , but ended up coming short about a mile because part of the Penitencia Creek Trail was closed. Instead, after following the Mineral Springs Loop out one way, we took Sycamore Switchbacks up to where it connected with the South Rim trail, then continued on the rest of the "Grand Loop" as written. These pictures are all from the final half of the loop, and, in fact, all from the South Rim Trail. The first half truthfully had much better views, but also a lot less tree cover (open space preserve), and a steeper hike, so a consistent pace was prioritized. South Rim trail, just after Sycamore Switchback junction Love most things about the picture, except for one glaring error. A reminder to take multiple pictures.   Again, heading down on the South Rim Trail.
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Playing with Paper Piecing

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On choosing a quilt pattern to make in the remainder of my summer, I was drawn to the Dear Jane quilt, that classic 169 square monstrosity. Over the last couple of weeks, Didi and I had been drawn to various tile patterns that would make stunning quilt patterns, and many of the blocks in the Dear Jane are of very similar styles. Of course, the plan for now is not the entire quilt, just 5 or 6 squares arranged into a twin-sized quilt. Much of this quilt, however, uses foundation paper piecing, a technique I had never used until yesterday. Before I committed myself to any of the squares, I decided to learn how to paper piece, and see whether or not I could plausibly use the technique on many blocks. I started with a walkthrough from Craftsy (found  here ), that used the free Wonky Star block (also from Craftsy, found  here ), and went through the very basics of the directions of fabric, how much to cut, and how I should align it. After working through a block of this, w...
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Pogonip 6/1/18

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Based on the map, we took an unofficial path down from a pullout on Coolidge Dr, then went up Lookout Trail until it joined the Pogonip Creek Nature Loop. This took us through a relatively steep forested area with views of the bay, and further down the Costco parking lot. Then we followed the Nature Loop until it connected with the Prairie Trail, which we took until it ended at the Brayshaw Trail. At the Brayshaw Trail-Spring Box Trail junction we took a right down the Spring Trail to make a quick detour to the koi ponds. Once reaching the koi ponds, we continued up the hill to get to the Lime Kiln. After this, we turned back around, following the Spring Box trail back to the Spring Trail, which was flat and wooded for the rest of the way back to where we'd parked. Pogonip Creek Nature Loop Spring Box Trail heading North Lime Kiln at Lime Kiln Trail-Spring Box Trail junction Spring Trail heading South
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These photos were posted using the scheduled post feature. Next to the Music Center - UCSC West In front of College Eight Cafe in Rachel Carson College
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