LabMeetingsEvents

New Almaden credit: Jesper Rautell Balle

Local escapes

Some of Mark's favorite nearby escapes

• Alpine Pond-Horshoe Pond loop -- 3.5mi great views and two ponds.
  • Drive to intersection of Page Mill and Skyline (rt 35). Park in lot for Alpine pond. Head south toward Horshoe pond, go around it, come back on a parallel trail.
  • Terrific views down to the ocean. Can be hot (exposed west-facing slope) on hot days
• Long Ridge OSP loop -- about 4.5mi total. Nice mix of very different ecosystems and great views at one point to toward the ocean. Good anytime.
  • Drive south ~2mi? from Page Mill/Skyline intersection. Park in small lot along route 35 on either side of road.
• Purisma Open Space Preserve -- Fairly big preserve with wide variety of scenery from dense cool redwood canyons to open vistas. You can spend all day here. It's a down and up loop place - start high, descend, climb back.
• New Almaden quicksilver mine & park. Has a museum and trails. At one time among the largest mercury mines in the world, it featured "Spanish Camp, English Camp, and Chinese Camp" with schools, etc. -- now mostly reclaimed by forest. Also featured in Wallace Stegner's classic novel Angle of Repose

Angel Island adventure

Adventure to Angel Island on Sunday 10 Nov. 2024.

• Ferry leaves from San Francisco Ferry Building.
  • There is a weekend ferry that departs at 10:15
  • To make this ferry one could catch Caltrain at 08:25 from Palo Alto (see schedule for other locations)
• Mark is thinking to take his bike on Caltrain, bike to Ferry Building, and then take bike to the island to ride around the ring road.
• We invite members of the AREC ME310 teams to join us.
  • We might have a couple of lab bikes (should check tires) available.