The turn out was small for the double dip hikes but the trips were fun.
Two of us turned up for the Skyline hike. The weather was gorgeous. The sun was shining brightly but there was enough of a breeze to keep us cool during the hike. We set off at 9:15 a.m. and went past the little pond near the parking lot and then got on the Ridge trail. We ambled along the Ridge trail enjoying the view of Portola valley and seeing the fog way out over the ocean. Lots of little lizards were rustling about as we hiked. We took a small break at Horseshoe lake. After circling the lake, we missed a turn and went a little ways down a trail next to a creek until I realized that we should not be going "down" so we turned around and found the right turn. We got back to the parking lot with time to spare for me to get to Long Ridge.
I drove to Long Ridge and had a nice lunch next to Peters Creek and then headed back to the parking lot to meet the next gang of hikers. At the beginning of the Long Ridge hike there were just two of us on the hike. We descended to Peters Creek and then tackled the biggest hill of the day, about a 1/2 mile of steady up hill. At the end of this uphill was the reward of sitting on a log with a great view off of Long Ridge and munching on our snacks. Towards the end of our break a third person popped out of the woods to join us. She had arrived late and luckily managed to find us. We headed off to do a small up and down loop and then hiked back on the flat Peters Creek trail. Our third member decided to hike some more and said farewell to us as we started the short ascent back to the cars.
All in all it was a great day. The weather was marvelous and the company was great. I expect I'll try this set of hikes again, but next time perhaps not on such a busy weekend in June.
Cathy