Fern Canyon, Van Damme State Park

We've been having an incredibly long string of beautiful days lately. Seems like about two weeks now. With record flooding in North Dakota, record tornadoes in the mid-country, record fires and droughts throughout the south, we should be thankful. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and 53 degrees at Van Damme this morning.

J. Loomis photo

The trail in Fern Canyon is finally in pretty good shape. There's several tree trunks across the trail that you need to climb over but at least all of the mud has finally dried. At Russian Gulch, the trail is not so good, stinging nettles having just about taken over it.

Thanks, Fran, for bringing Dorothy today. Also present were: Pat, Nancy B., Cindy, Jim, Neil, Suzi, Tanya, Patti, Johnny, John, Charlene, Ron, Toni, Peter, Nancy and Tom (18).

NEXT SUNDAY, JULY 3RD @ 8:00 A.M.: A&W LOGGING ROAD, along the Noyo River, (see "Our Routes" above.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Hare Creek on Father's Day

This morning it was beautiful at Hare Creek. We ran and walked Jackson State Forest 400. I forgot to check the temperature upon leaving my car but I think it was 53. Skies were blue and sunny, though this particular road is mostly in the shade. Anyway, it was really nice. John took this iris picture. The iris' are everywhere and really pretty.

We had a visitor today. Thanks Sarah, for joining us and we look forward to another visit. Also present today: John, Patty, Gay, Mark, Jan, Marc, Peter, Toni, Geri, Maddelyn, Scott, Orah, Steve, Nancy and Tom (16).

Seven of us enjoyed breakfast at David's Deli. At breakfast, Scott told us that he, Maddelyn and the rest of the family are moving to Spokane, WA and this was their last run. We'll miss them all. We are also losing Kim, Brian and Adeline, moving to Colorado Springs, CO. Best wishes to the Blacks and the Butlers. We need to recruit new runners!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads!

NEXT SUNDAY, June 26th @ 8:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, (see "Our Routes" above). Fern Canyon's trail has dried out enough now but a few trees remain across the trail.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

MacKerricher Haul Road

For those that missed the "Sheetiron 300" a few weeks ago on Navarro Ridge, Steve D. has given me this picture that depicts well what it was like.











Thanks to John L. for this MacKerricher State Park photo. It was taken last year in July but today was a carbon copy.

It was a beautiful, 53 degrees, about half sunny and half overcast with just a slight breeze.

Present today were: Johnny, Gay, Mark, Nancy B., Nancy T., Roger, Scott, Maddelyn, Kennedy, Cheryl, Neil, Charlene, Ron, Rick, Toni, Bob, Peter, Nancy and Tom (19).

Ten of us had a really good breakfast at The Laurel Deli after our run/walk.

NEXT SUNDAY, June 19th @ 8:00 A.M.: HARE CREEK, GRAVEL PIT ROAD (see "Our Routes" above). Don't get confused, this is the Hare Creek trail off Hwy. 20.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7:00 A.M.: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.

Ten Mile River Logging Road

Remember how stormy it was last night? Well, not this morning! It was a balmy 54F, a bit overcast and humid, but an otherwise clear morning with only a gentle breeze. We welcomed Patti back to the group now that she is living and working here again.

Also making the trek up north was Roger, Nancy, Mark, Gay, Geri, Scott, Maddelyn, Melissa and Johnny (10). I heard Roger say that the Osprey are back on the tree-top nest, but Melissa, Patti and I took a sharp left at the bottom of the hill before that and went running along Ten Mile beach. There's no dogs allowed on that beach, but the rest of you should try a variation on that route (go straight just BEFORE going down the hill), as the beach is quite nice and the up hill coming back is much more civil.

Tom and Nancy appear to be the inspiration for going to breakfast, so when they aren't here we also seem to break off and go our separate ways.

NEXT SUNDAY, DATE @ 8 AM: Looks like this should be our last big rain system before "summer" finally arrives. Yay! See you all at MacKerricher Haul Road next Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to running along the bluffs.

EVERY TUESDAY @ 7 AM: RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK, beginning on Point Cabrillo Drive, 1/10 of a mile north of its south end.

EVERY THURSDAY @ 7 AM: VAN DAMME STATE PARK, beginning at the beach.