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Machu Pichu/Amazon Trip, May 18 thru June 2, 2001:

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News, events, and topics about the trip to Machu Pichu, Peru, and the boat trip down the Amazon, May 18 thru June 2, 2001. To have an item added, e-mail the specifics to John Conover, or distribute it via the mailing list.


Upcoming events:

  • Friday May 18, 2001 Depart for Peru, returning June 2.


Past events:

  • Saturday May 5th, 2001. The Rancho hike. Great hike but hot! I did the contour map and we went 10 miles and elevated 1000 feet! Amazing! Pictures were from Layard.

  • Saturday April 21st, 2001. Met at the Castle Rock parking lot at 9AM. Castle Rock State Park. Took Highway 9 out of Saratoga to Skyline (Hwy 35) and turned left. Castle Rock is about 2.5 miles down Skyline, on the right. The park covers 3600 acres with over 30 miles of hiking trails. Castle Rock itself is less than half a mile from the parking lot, Castle Rock Falls is about a mile distant. Other trails will take you toward the Saratoga-to-the-Sea Trail, or Castle Rock Camp. The where to go when you get there, but don't wait for the Kirbys were in Seattle. Marilyn Howard has dead tree media pictures.

  • Saturday April 7th, 2001 The votes were for a Mount Umunum hike in the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District. Pictures were from Layard.

  • Thursday March 29th, 2001. Dr. Richard Thompson of Travel Medicine and his wife were our guests for dinner at "Chevy's" at Town and Country Center in Sunnyvale. It is on Mathilda Ave. We will meet at 6:30 pm. Dr. Thompson had a copy of our itinerary. He let us know what immunizations are recommended and also will tell us about what we will need in the event of altitude sickness...etc.

  • Saturday March 24th, 2001. Hope springs eternal... was a rescheduled version of our rain-cancelled hike in the Forest of Nisene Marks. We met at Adrianne's on the morning of the 24th. We left there at 8:30, so for you social types... had to get there any time after 7:45 for coffee and chatter. For you sleepy heads... you waved goodbye if you wer not there for our 8:30 take-off. Directions: drive to Santa Cruz and head south toward Aptos on Highway 1. Turn left on State Park Drive, right on Soquel Dr., and watch for Aptos Creek Road. Just a reminder... this was anticipated to be a wet hike, including creek walking, so everyone brought a change of whatever they thought might get wet. It's a long way home if you're cold and damp.

    Pictures, and comments by Layard: Scaling the map given to us we hiked 9.5 miles. This was not a geodetic survey map so the number of switch backs on the map most likely were not correct as I think there were a lot more so we most likely hiked > 9.5 miles! We started at 10:30, were at the falls around 1:30 and returned to the van at about 4:30. We had 6 difficult creek crossings (a bunch of minor ones) and the second to the last one stopped Adrianne. It was a bugger. The weather was really nice and cool and over cast but no rain. It did rain coming back on 17 between Santa Cruz and Los Gatos. This was a tough hike. ~1000' elevation change.

  • Saturday March 10th, 2001. Pinnacles National Monument. East of the Salinas Valley in the remains of an ancient volcano, Pinnacles National Monument consists of 24,000 acres of unique land renowned for the beauty and variety of its spring wildflowers. It is spectacular in its vistas of spires, sheer-walled canyons, massive monoliths, and talus passages resulting from years of tectonic plate movement. Open year-round, it is divided by hiking trails into East and West districts. Our hike We met at Adrian's at 8:30 to car pool. Pictures, were taken by Layard.

  • Saturday Feb 24th, 2001. Forest of Nisene Marks. Because that is a bit farther away, we met at Adrianne's to car pool at 8AM. For those who drove straight to Aptos, met at 9AM. Directions: Drive to Santa Cruz and head south toward Aptos on Highway 1. Turn left on State Park Drive. Turn right on Soquel Drive. Turn right on Aptos Creek Road (Word has it that this may be a bit hard to find, so PAY ATTENTION!) Once on Aptos Creek Road, look for a parking lot on the right side of Aptos Creek Road. Meet at the parking lot at 9AM.Pictures, of course, were taken by Layard.

  • Saturday Feb 17th, 2001. February birthdays for Patti and Connie. Pictures were taken by Layard.

  • Saturday Feb 10th, 2001. Sawyer Camp Trail. A narrow, winding, 6 mile long paved trail (with optional extension at the north end) through San Francisco watershed lands. Views of Crystal Springs Lakes. This lush, frequently deer-filled bit of woodland belies its proximity to 280 and our fast-paced civilization. Directions: 280 north to Bunker Hill Drive exit, cross over the freeway, then go north on Skyline Blvd past Crystal Springs Dam to the entrance gate. Parking is on the side of the road. Pictures of the Sawyer Camp hike were taken by Layard.

  • Sunday Feb 4, 2001. Three runners and seven walkers spent a brilliantly sunny Saturday taming Almaden Quicksilver Park. Our group swelled to include Cathy and Mary (Cathy of Cathy and Steve who will be going to Peru in May). As you probably saw from the pictures, we had a great hike and only got lost a couple of times.

  • Saturday Jan 27th, 2001. Hiked (part of) the Almaden Quicksilver trail. Meat at 8AM. There were 25 miles of trails, many following old roads that lead to the mercury-producing cinnabar ore mines that were once the most productive quicksilver mines in the world. A mining Museum at 21570 Almaden Rd is open Saturdays from 1-4. Directions: There are 3 entrances: Almaden Road, Mockingbird Hill, and McAbee Road. We met at the Almaden Road entrance: Almaden Expressway to Almaden Rd & go 1 1/2 miles on Almaden Rd to the park entrance. Pictures of the Quick Silver hike were taken by Layard.

  • Saturday, Jan 20, 2001. January Birthdays: Joined in the celebration for Adrianne, Roger, and Tim at Marilyn Morris's house on Sat Jan 20th at about 7PM. Layard took many pictures.

  • Saturday, Jan 13th, 2001having declined our breakfast pizza, but replete with homemade bread and fresh ground coffee, a group of 8 piled into a 7 passenger van and departed for Rancho and the first scheduled Peru conditioning hike. We had a cool, sunny day, and a comfortable 3 1/2 hour hike along the PG&E trail. Trailside photos documented our progress, and new hiking gear was tested. Watch out Peru... we'll be ready!

  • Monday, Jan 1, 2001. Met at 10:30 AM in the parking lot of Ohlone College to hike Mission Peak. Dressed warm. Brought food and libation to share at the top. A good time was had by all, and Layard took many pictures.

  • Sunday, December 31, 2000. New Year's eve at the Conover's. Tim and Connie made enchiladas for dinner, and the New Year was ushered in with libation and spirits. Layard chronicled the event with a few pictures.




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