Ron Erskine

Hikers visit the newly-opened, iconic radar tower atop Mt. Um.

Stunning Summit

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
Most beloved landmarks have an air of aesthetic elegance that endears them to us. Most, but not all. The massive radar tower atop Mt. Umunhum that has looked out over the Santa Clara Valley since 1957 gets no style points, but this sterile concrete obelisk is loved nonetheless. [...]

Nature Pathway

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
From high on the Arrowhead Loop Trail at the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve, the scene below is bucolic and still. Coyote Creek, lined with cottonwoods and sycamores, meanders north toward the bay; orchards and hayfields rustle in the prevailing northwest wind; remnant [...]

Sweeping Views

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
Every January 1, we begin the year by making a resolution with an eye toward self-improvement. Each of us could do a little less of this or a bit more of that, but we rarely stick with it. Several weeks into the new year, we revert to our old ways. Last January, a group of [...]
Mirror Lake Yosemite

Whitewater runoff

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
Plentiful winter rains bring a spring of singular delights: energized creeks, top shelf wildflower displays and green hills that persist through April. As wonderful as our lowland spring has been, it is quaint and timid compared to the cirque du soleil of water shows in Yosemite [...]
FIRST STOP View of the old military hospital within Camp Garrison on the western side of Angel Island also the known as the Ellis Island of the West. Photo By Ron Erskine

A 360 degree seaview

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
Here is a bit of trivia perfect for a bar bet that will surely win you a free round: From what Bay Area mountain top do you overlook seawater no matter which direction you face? In my footloose single days many years ago when the earth was still mostly molten lava, I lived in a [...]
MOTHER LODE A calendar-worthy scene of flowers carpeting the desert floor reaching into the distance at Anza Borrego Desert State Park in the Colorado Desert.

Desert Bloom

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
After five years of drought, winter rains doused the southern California deserts this past winter. The result has been a desert wildflower super bloom that has made national news. On average, a special desert spring like this occurs about every ten years. Friends who have made [...]
russian ridge by ron erskine

Amazing Views on the Trail

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
Russian Ridge is a crown jewel among the open space preserves strung along Skyline Boulevard atop the San Francisco Peninsula hills. From the preserve parking lot at the top of Page Mill Road, hikers on the Ridge Trail are quickly rewarded with amazing views: the Pacific Ocean, [...]
VAST LANDSCAPES Golden Gate National Recreation Area spans 77,000 acres, including miles of beaches from San Mateo County to Marin County.

Traversing the Headlands

Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
From Sweeney Ridge in San Mateo County, where Gaspar de Portolà first saw San Francisco Bay in 1769, to windswept Tomales Point at the very northern tip of Marin County, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) spans a vast distance and a staggering variety of [...]
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