Locomotoring

The Alambique Trail is a 4.7 mile service road that starts near the main parking lot and climbs 1400 ft to the Skyline Blvd. We had covered the first 0.7 miles of Alambique trail in April. Last weekend, we had traversed 1.7 miles of the upper end of the Alambique. This warm weekend, we were lucky to find a parking spot at this popular Folger stable. We met at least a dozen other diverse groups on the trail, a few solitary runners, groups of octogenarians on a slow and steady climb, a group of girls on horses and a few young families pushing baby prams.

For much of the trail, one can hear some traffic noises, although they didn’t bother us. The trail is shaded which makes it wonderful during summer months. The first half of the trail also has some well paced benches to rest up. The Alambique flat, after 2.7 miles and 800 ft of steady climb, is a charming creekside rest spot. For us, it was the longest hike to date and we were paying attention to the benches on our way down. We learned about the existence of ghost redwoods although we didn’t spot the specimen. Also noticed a banana slug, the sighting was unusual for the time of the day and weather.