Summer Nature Adventures
I love to hike, take photographs of nature “the way God made it”, AND I love to eat healthy food! Combine them all together and I call it a self-care adventure. I hope that everyone who reads this page feels inspired to create your own nature adventures. ENJOY!
Even though it can have great benefits for our mental and physical health, spending time outside often comes in the form of a quick walk sandwiched in between other activities. We owe it to ourselves to take a break from the busyness of life and spend some extended time walking, hiking, or taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of nature - to remind ourselves of who we are and what we want.
The summer months have brought a greater need to spend time doing yard work on the rural property where I live (especially this year!) in addition to more social and family engagements. As a result, my normal monthly nature adventure blog has become a seasonal one. While I’ve missed hiking for sure, I do still walk 3 miles near my home most days and I love spending time working in my yard - so I’m thankfully still getting plenty of nature in my life.
My summer adventures started off with a hike at Healdsburg Ridge Open Space Preserve with the Sonoma County Go Wild Hikers. Our group of 17 met for an early morning easy hike of 3.5 miles and 400 feet elevation gain. This beautiful 155 acre community park consists of a wide variety of wetlands, oak woodlands, rocky serpentine chaparral and open grasslands that are home to deer, jackrabbit, bobcat, coyote, mountain lion, and more than 40 species of birds.
The intent of the Healdsburg Ridge Open Space Preserve is to protect and enhance its natural and visual resources and to provide “passive” recreational activities for public use. Visitors are invited to explore the current trail network and check out the spectacular vistas throughout the property. Trails are easy to moderate hiking (2-3 miles) taking in views of Fitch Mountain, the Russian River, and the Mayacamas Mountains.
Whenever I’m in Healdsburg, I’m always happy to return to Oakville Grocery for another OMG AMAZING lunch of their Thai Crunch Mezzaluna - cabbage slaw, apple, orange, peanuts, & Thai dressing folded into a warm pizza crust. GENIUS combo and SO good! I’m sure they have other wonderful items available as well, but I’m good just repeating this one!
Oakville Grocery - founded in 1881 - is the oldest continually operating grocery store in California. Since its opening, Oakville Grocery has been a destination for locals and visitors alike - offering a highly curated selection of the best products from farmers, artisans and purveyors in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Healdsburg plaza.
In July, I went on another Go Wild hike at our local Foothill Regional Park in Windsor. Our group of 10 hikers enjoyed this beautiful community park with trails that wind through gently rolling oak woodlands and past ponds for a total of 3.5 miles and 500 feet elevation gain. While I’ve hiked at this park many times with the group, we took some different trails this day that provided lots more water views - and the cloud formations were exceptional!
Foothill Regional Park is a 211-acre wilderness park in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains. The park features thick oak woodlands, rolling hillsides, ridge-top views of northern Sonoma County, three ponds for bass and bluegill fishing, grassy meadows, and spring wildflowers. The park offers 6.8 miles of trails that vary from the challenging climb up Alta Vista Trail to the easy stroll along Three Lakes Trail. Westwood and Oakwood Trails feature beautiful woods of oaks and other trees and excellent views of Windsor and the Coast Range. Picnic tables and benches are located throughout the park.
Since I was doing my 23 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER YOU! nutritional cleanse this month, I just headed home after the hike to have some yummy, healthy food there instead of eating out somewhere.
Also in July, I joined the Go Wild group again for a hike at Helen Putnam Regional Park in Petaluma. Our group of 15 hikers did a loop hike that combined Ridge, Filaree, Pomo, Panorama and Savanna trails for a total of 4.75 miles and 500 feet elevation gain - a fairly easy hike. However, this is a day I just should have stayed home! Petaluma is hot, flat, dry, and BROWN in the summertime, so there are no photos worth sharing. Then, as we were hiking downhill, I tripped on a tree root and took a bad fall. The good news is that I was able to finish the hike, but by the time I got home my body was NOT happy!
Helen Putnam Regional Park is a compact wilderness park southwest of Petaluma. Its 6 miles of trails cross grassy hillsides and weave through oak woodlands. Ridge-top trails provide panoramic views of the city and the southern Sonoma County countryside. A fishing pond contains bluegill and other fish. An accessible playground, picnic area and gazebo are located near the parking lot. Helen Putnam Park's looped trail system lets hikers create walks of varying length and difficulty, making the park a great choice for beginning hikers looking for a bit of a challenge.
Fortunately, I stopped at Aqus Cafe for my favorite California Wrap before leaving Petaluma and had leftovers for dinner that night because I couldn’t do anything else for the rest of the day. By the next morning, I was grateful and amazed that the inflammation and pain was gone - leaving only some issues with my spine that my chiropractor was able to remedy a few days later. YAY for a healthy body!
Aqus Café was created to foster community by providing a space for people to meet, connect and get to know each other. Locavore’s delight in an extensive selection of locally produced artisan foods and beverages, from breakfast scrambles and locally made pastries, to delicious paninis, plentiful salads, wheat-free, gluten-free and vegan options, and tasty dinner time offerings.
At the beginning of August, I met my dear friend for a fabulous hike on the Tennessee Valley Trail in Mill Valley. It’s an easy out-and-back trail of approximately 4 miles and technically 180 feet elevation gain, but it really depends on the routes you take. We hiked the upper trail going out to the beach and then detoured up the hillside of MANY stairs to the overlook. After going back down all the stairs (my calves screamed for days afterwards!) we sat on the beach and took in the sights, smells, and sounds of the ocean for awhile before heading back on the lower trail. All in all, it was wonderful to experience the variety of terrain and vegetation - all while spending time with one of my favorite people!
Tennessee Valley is an amazing offshoot of the Marin Headland. With hiking and cycling trails and a plethora of wildlife, you would never know that the bustling metropolis of San Francisco is 20 minutes away. The Tennessee Valley trail is a leisurely hike that meanders for approximately two miles through serene, rolling hills down to the Pacific Ocean and turns around at Tennessee Valley Cove. Along the way, you’ll hike past shrublands, wetlands, and a lake before you get to a cool little secluded beach.
After our hike, it was definitely lunch time and the plan was to drive 30 minutes up the coast to Stinson Beach - since my longtime go-to restaurant, The Dipsea Cafe, is now closed. We drove all the way there and then drove around for another 30 minutes looking for parking, and then drove another 30 minutes back to Mill Valley to try an unknown restaurant there. Well, it was a beautiful drive, right??? By the time we ended up at Floodwater Restaurant, it was 2:30 and by the time we got served it was 3:30 - and we were STARVING!!! So much so that I completely forgot to take any photos of our fabulous lunch. We shared a Wild Arugula Salad (with sliced peaches, crispy chickpeas, and shaved gouda cheese) and a Positano Pizza (with sliced potato, garlic, leeks, mozzarella, and fresh basil). The food was to “live for” and we ate it all!!! LOL!
My final summer hike was with the Go Wild group again at Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen. Our group of 20 hiked the Mountain trail up to Deer Camp and then down Lake trail through mixed forest, redwood groves, oak woodlands, and grassy meadows for a total of 5 1/2 miles and 970 feet elevation gain. Definitely a good workout for sure! This is a BEAUTIFUL park and it was so nice to commune among the trees there - one of the few local places that hasn’t been ravished by fire in recent years.
Jack London State Historic Park, comprised of 1400 acres, is the legacy of Jack London, one of America's most famous authors. The park offers historic buildings dating to the late 1870's, great scenic beauty and more than 20 miles of trails open to hikers, bikers and horseback riders.
Since I was passing through the east side of Santa Rosa on my way home, I headed to a long-time favorite restaurant, East West Cafe for a delicious turkey burger and huge salad. Excellent food and the service was wonderful - as always.
A favorite among locals and visitors alike, East West Restaurant has been prospering in Santa Rosa for over 30 years. This culinary heaven is best known for their creative menu that combines food styles from the Eastern and Western part of the world, and includes a large variety of tasteful, fresh and local ingredients which embrace vegan and vegetarian options as well as high quality animal protein dishes.
So that’s it for my summer self-care adventure days. As of this blog post, I only have one hike scheduled in September to Abbott’s Lagoon in Point Reyes and then, my annual birthday trip to Fort Bragg in November. We shall she what unfolds other than those. In the meantime, I hope you are inspired to create your own uplifting experiences. I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.