Locomotoring

Over last weekend, we completed two hikes. The first one started from the charming Mindego Hill trail parking by the Audrey Rust commemorative site. We traversed the relatively flat Ancient Oaks Trail, went down Charquin Trail and then climbed up the steep Mindego Hill Trail. Earlier in the spring, we had hiked along Ancient Oaks trail and it was covered with poppies. Last time, we had been on Mindego Hill trail, it was under fog cover and had very little visibility. The second hike started by the main parking lot and we did an out and back on the Ridge trail.

In this article in Bay Nature Magazine, I learned that the Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis or Maul Oak) on Ancient Oaks Trail dates back to 1700s. Here on Russian Ridge, the trees are multi trunk and massive. Unlike the more common Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia or California Live Oak), whose leaves are serrated, these have long oval leaves. Up here, they are fortunate to get both winter rain and summer fog, the extra water, together with abundant sunshine, has supported a number of these giants. They are also exceptionally hard, dense wood was once used to make maul heads for splitting lumber. And compared to the Redwoods, they are curved and bent, and the yield on broad straight feet is narrow. All these factors have gone into their good health and long life. The only remaining health concern are us human hikers. The trunks are low enough to make it easy to climb. And it is easy to drag pathogens of sudden oak death from nearby Bay trees.