Trails Galore

Dear fellow trail runners, hikers, and mountain bikers,

This is a friendly reminder to inform you about the wonderful trails of Upper Campus. Above the main section of the UCSC campus, there are miles and miles of trails lined with such treasures as blooming flowers, mushrooms, wildlife, and beautiful, elegant, ferns. These paths are magnificent as the sun shines through the redwoods or as they are laden with mist. No time is a bad time for a stroll among these majestic giants.

For an official map of the trails, click here

winter adventures

The rains have come again and the outdoor enthusiast is trapped inside. There are those bold few who venture out into the wet and cold- which is always rewarding. But what about us less hard-core types who are very fond of a stable core body temperature? What do we do when we can not scratch that adventure itch?

Answer: get together with fellow enthusiasts and watch people who are really, REALLY good at what they do. I am referring to, of course, the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

Pack your backpack and hike on over to the Rio Theater the evenings of February 26th and 27th because the shows start at 7pm. For more information including a description of the films (each night is a new series of films), click here

get outside and do some good

Ever wonder how you can combine your love of the outdoors with positive change?

The Ventana Wilderness Alliance is a volunteer- run organization dedicated to keeping the Ventana Wilderness wild and open for public use. Projects include trail maintenance, watershed restoration, and removal of illegal grow projects.

Their mission statement:
The Ventana Wilderness Alliance is a grass- roots organization whose mission is to protect, preserve, and restore the wilderness qualities and biodiversity within public lands within Northern California's northern Santa Lucia Mountains and Big Sur coast.

If you are interested about this organization or want to know more about the breathtaking trails of the Ventana Wilderness, click here

If you would like to part of a larger land management community with more lasting effects, consider attending the Western Wilderness Conference in April. For more information, click here

Happy Trails!

Free Bike Race

Attention Bicycle Enthusiasts!
The UC Santa Cruz bike co-op is hosting “Coop d’état bicycle alley cat”. It’s a fun race around up and down the hills of campus involving a scavenger hunt and games. If you can’t make it to the race, the Co-op is a great resource for bicycle know- how.

Date: Sunday, February 7th, 2010
Start Time: 1pm
Start Point: The Bike Co-op (Upstairs above the Bookstore)
Registration Fee: FREE!

For more information about the bike co-op, click here

Surf Ecology - Rio De Janeiro

We've got an exciting field report from one of our Adventure Out surf instructors, Melissa Leggett. Melissa has been down in Brazil all winter long starting up an amazing program to get local kids more involved in taking care of their beaches. In Melissa's words

I have been giving surf lessons with environmental education and beach clean-ups afterwards to the local children of Macumba beach, most of which are children of the owners of the beachside kiosks. Most of the trash on the beach here comes from people buying food at the kiosks, so the idea is that these children will share this information with their parents who will encourage people to pick up their trash from the sand. We've been seeing great results so far; a few of the kids clean up the beach on their own, and people on the beach are leaving their trash in piles instead of spread across the sand. We've been giving these classes for free, and are working on getting sponsorship for the program.

Sounds like amazing work. If you're interested in the program, let us know and we can put you in touch with Melissa.

Finding Aloha Surf Movie - 3/27 in Pacifica

Pacifica Beach Coalition (PBC) and Pedro Point Surf Club invite you to a benefit screening, reception, and big raffle for "Finding Aloha," on Friday, March 27th, at 6:30pm and 8:30pm at the Sanchez Art Center. Filmmaker Phil Walker took 8 years to complete it and recently won "Best Documentary" at the Honolulu International Film Festival. Producer and co-star Dan Moore, also a past Billabong XXL winner, will be on hand at the screening to field questions from the audience.

"Finding Aloha" tells a story of adventurous athletes like Layne Beachley, Dan Moore, Jimmy Hall, Vetea David and Mark Andersen, who find the key to harmony in the Hawaiian islands. They discover, and nurture, aloha. (more...)

Proceeds help the Coalition produce its annual April 18th Earth Day celebration and community-wide cleanup. If businesses or others wish to donate items for raffle prize baskets, contact Lynn Adams at 650-355-1668.

Favorite Day Hikes: Fall Creek

Today's post kicks off a new series of blog entries called "Favorite Day Hikes". Northern California is abound with incredible hiking opportunities and we are so lucky here in Santa Cruz County to have an insane amount of biodiversity that we can get different hiking experiences without having to travel too far.

The trailhead for Fall Creek is in the town of Felton, CA, and Fall Creek itself is part of Henry Cowell State Park. This trail will always hold a special significance for me as it is my dear mother's favorite hike in Santa Cruz. I have many memories over the years walking on this trail with my mom, and the two of us still meet there regularly to share an afternoon stroll.

The trail itself is a 6.8 mile loop that twists and turns - up and down hills, through the creek-bed itself, under fallen trees, over branches, etc. It's the "Mr. Toads Wild Ride" of day hikes and all the while, you stay beneath the shade of the redwood forest (great hike for a hot summer day!)

CLICK HERE FOR A MAP TO THE TRAILHEAD

Enjoy this fun hike!