El Camino de Santiago and other trails.
I learned about this place thanks to a friend.
We hiked through California mining history. It was a really interesting place to visit and have an idea of how people used to live here.
We hiked 5.75 miles
This was an easy hike with beautiful views.
We hiked 5 miles today.
The day after Christmas, we went for a hike with the kids. It was a cold morning, and we hiked a loop that was about 3.82 miles with them.
As our friends are learning that we are training for our walk, they want to come along with us to hike. Also, we keep getting tips from people who have done it already. On Thanksgiving day we got presents to take with us on El Camino from a new friend that came to our house for dinner. She showed us her certificate and gave us some maps and presents to bring with us during the walk. I’m getting excited.
Today we hiked to Mission Peak. The temperature was in the mid-’30s when we started our walk. At the top of the Mission Peak, it was windy.
We hiked: 6.93 mi.
Today we hiked in Monte Bello Preserve. The weather was a little warmer than last week, and this time we stayed on the top of Black Mountain for a long time. What I like about hiking is that people are friendly, and most of them are willing to engage in a short conversation while walking. I’m fortunate to live in an area where I can go for long or short hikes.
Hike: 6.55 mi
This was our longest hike since we started training. This area of the Montebello Preserve is beautiful; it has fantastic views of the bay area. We had different microclimates along the walk. It was warm at the bottom of the mountain, so we, the inexpert hikers, left our jackets in the car. By the time we reached the top of Black Mountain, it was cool and windy, probably 10 degrees cooler. We only stayed for 10 minutes and turned around to descend because we were cold. We learned that higher altitude means cool temperatures, and no matter what, always bring a warm jacket in your bag.
We hiked 10.13 miles.
For the past few months, we’ve been planning when to go and how to get ready for El Camino a Santiago/ Saint James Way. Our travel agent in Spain already helped us arrange the places where we are going to stay.
Now, getting ready for the long-distance hike is up to us. Last month, we purchased our first pair of hiking boots and day backpacks. We’ve been going on short hikes on nearby trails to get some practice.
We learned the hard way that baseball caps are not effective in protecting us from the sun and that we need wide-brimmed hats for better coverage.
Pichette Ranch: Oct.18
Our first walk was five miles.
TrekTok 