The Hiker’s Notebook

Posted March 27, 2019

Filed under Hiker's Notebook, Hiking, Life Lessons, Philosophical Musings

One of the features unique to the Sonoma Overlook Trail has been our Hiker Notebook, which is left at the bench at the top (see the blue box in the photo). Hikers are invited to “share your thoughts, express yourself, or just sign in!” And many of them do, as it turns out.

Over the years we have accumulated 23 mostly-filled notebooks, and now we are launching a project to comb through them and share some of the best entries in a series of blog posts. This post will eventually link to all of the posts of the series, so that there is one spot to get to them all.

In going through the books I was struck by how many people hiking the trail come from far away — from distant U.S. states but also foreign countries. They express deep appreciation for the trail and the experience of hiking it.

Other writers are inspired to wax philosophical, create a drawing, or express deeply held emotions like loss and heartbreak, hope, appreciation, and peace. These themes and others will be highlighted in the coming posts that will depict entries supporting that theme. Names will be redacted.

I hope you enjoy this series of posts as much as I have enjoyed reading your entries. You are a diverse and interesting group of hikers and it’s been nice to get to know you even by a tiny bit. Keep sharing!

Tick Season is Here

Posted March 7, 2019

Filed under Hiking, Insects, Seasons, Spring, Ticks

Yesterday, after pulling invasive weeds on the Overlook Trail, I found a tick lodged in the inside of my arm. So today, as soon as I got home from my session of weed pulling, I stripped and inspected myself before heading to the shower. I was shocked to find that another was attached to my side. It had apparently bit me before I even had a chance to find it. I was out for about an hour-and-a-half. Luckily, I hadn’t yet mailed my envelope to the Sonoma County Department of Health Services to test the first tick for Lyme disease, so I added it to the envelope and doubled the check (they charge $33 to test a tick).

Part of the problem is that these buggers are quite small (see the picture of my first tick). That means when scanning for a tick on your clothing or body, you need to look for a very small, essentially black dot. Also, my work takes me off the trail into the vegetation, which most hikers and runners have no need to do (so my story isn’t necessarily indicative of the actual danger).

In a weird confluence of events, I found the first tick while in the quarterly meeting of the Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards. I discovered that my arm was sore, and I couldn’t figure out why that would be, so I looked at it, and found the tick. Thankfully I never go anywhere without my Swiss Army knife, so I ducked out of the meeting and extracted it with the tweezers. I wrapped it in a tissue for safe keeping.

To prevent your own up-close-and-personal encounters with ticks (which is really the purpose of this post), I suggest doing the following:

Avoid touching or brushing against vegetation.
Inspect yourself and others for small black dots.
Tuck pants legs into your socks.
Shower after your hike.

I made a couple signs to this effect to put at the entrances to the Overlook, and will make another two for posting on the Montini. In my ignorance, I hadn’t realized that ticks would be out by now. Richard Dale, of the Sonoma Ecology Center, told me at the Stewards meeting that they have been out for a couple of weeks. In the future, I hope to be better about warning people of the danger as soon as it becomes real. Even I could have used the warning. Stay safe out there, hikers and runners!

Hike to the top!

Posted February 21, 2019

Filed under Hiking

Our Wednesday hikers had a beautiful, sunny hike this week. Come join us–8:30am every Wednesday morning. We meet at the Overlook Kiosk, hike through the cemetery, and then to the top!

Happy Hikers

Posted January 31, 2019

Filed under Hiking, Seasons, Winter

Now that it’s winter and we spend more time indoors, it is SO-o-o-o-o enjoyable to start the day with a hike on the Overlook Trail. Maybe a tad of cabin fever is being experienced here in Sonoma, because we had a BIG group of Happy Hikers show up today for our Wednesday morning hike. . . .Come join us any Wednesday at 8:30 for a Cabin Fever Cure.

PS. . . A HUGE thank you to Stewards Roy, Lynn, and Bill for getting the fallen tree on the trail removed PRONTO so that our hike was safe and unobstructed.

A Current Trail Map

Posted November 15, 2018

Filed under Hiking

As readers of this web site know, although we have re-opened the upper part of the Sonoma Overlook Trail to hikers, the lower, re-routed part remains closed until sometime in Spring so the rains (which we hope we get) can help pack the new trail. Therefore, for quite some time hikers will need to enter the Overlook system either by entering from the Montini Preserve (across Norrbom Road on Rattlesnake Cutoff trail), or hike up through the cemetery using the roads marked in purple (see map) and enter from the Toyon Trailhead.

Alternatively, you can drive up to the Toyon trailhead, where a limited number of parking spaces are available. If you do that, please be aware that the cemetery gate is locked around 4:00 pm, so be sure to be out of the cemetery by then.

Thank you for your bearing with us as we get the Sonoma Overlook Trail back into great hiking shape.