sbrobert
By Robert Bernstein
One more Sierra Club hike report from the recent past!
DISCLAIMER: These photos do not represent appropriate distancing under current conditions. This hike was on January 26 long before these orders went into effect. If you go out in nature now, please keep at least six feet from other hikers.
Our Sierra Club hike on January 26 went to Gibraltar Rock by way of Rattlesnake Canyon. There had been a forecast of rain, but that forecast changed as it got closer. The weather was perfect for hiking, not too hot or too cold. The only down side was that it got foggy near the top, so we did not have much of a view most of the time near the top. But the fog did lift long enough to get some good views after all!
Here are all of my photos from this outing.
We had a wonderful group of ten people who kept a moderate pace. Not too fast or slow. We took breaks for water and to look around, but everyone was doing well.
The cool damp weather had been good for the ferns:
And there was water in Mission Creek:
Since it seemed to be a strong group, I decided to take the slight additional distance on the way up to visit the water trough on the alternate Rattlesnake Canyon trail.
There were quite a few berries on the Toyon bushes:
Toyon is one of the few native plants that has edible berries. They don’t taste that good, having a flavor and consistency about like Styrofoam. But they are safe and nutritious if you are stuck for food in our local woods.
We also stopped for bit at the Meadow on the way up.
After the Meadow the Rattlesnake trail gets steeper, but it is still a good trail. It ends on Gibraltar Road near an overlook. Here everyone paused to celebrate arriving at the top of the trail!
I am always impressed with how many bicyclists ride so far up Gibraltar Road:
We walked up Gibraltar Road to Gibraltar Rock where several people were climbing the Rock.
No ropes or other technical gear allowed on Sierra Club outings, though. We took the trail instead! Dagmar led the way behind me, followed by Matt, Negar, Diana and Aanjelae,
At the top we posed with the mysterious fog as a backdrop:
On the way down we got a good view looking back up at Gibraltar Rock in the fog:
And we did one final group photo at the Cookie Monster Rock on our way out!
All Sierra Club hikes are on indefinite hold for now. But I plan to post more photos from a backlog of hikes I have not shared yet. By all means get out in nature. Just be careful to keep a safe distance from other humans!
