Camping in Big Basin

We seem to talk about camping all the time, but haven't actually managed to get away since Thanksgiving. Faced with a three-day weekend (for Adam at least) and beautiful weather, we decided to try a new, semi-local destination: Big Basin. It was very enthusiastically recommended at a party recently.

Drive time from Oakland is roughly 2.5 - 3 hours (the southern route, up from Santa Cruz, is longer but much more interesting). We had some car trouble in Los Gatos, lunch at Rocky's Cafe on Highway 9, and made it to the camp headquarters by 2:30 - just in time to get one of the last campsites. As we've discovered so many times, if we decide it's a good camping weekend, it's likely that the rest of the Bay Area feels the same way.

Saturday's hike - a heavily trafficked 2.5 hour loop near park headquarters - was perfectly adequate and not at all inspiring. Big Basin has a LOT of campsites in a very centralized area. This is great if you want to walk through the redwoods with a stroller or a cigar (or both).

But, we had a great night's sleep (yes, the "beast" guzzles gas, but it does fit a queen sized air mattress!), and were up at 8 am for a more ambitious hike on the northern boundary of the park (our route shown in white on the map; this is panel 2 of this map. Total hiking time at a fast pace = 3.5 hours. Total people seen: 7 (1 trail runner, 1 photographer, 3 camping hippies, and 2 mushroom pickers). It was great - absolutely worth the trip.

The Biggest Tree in Big Basin

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Not really - but it's pretty impressive still!

The Ascent

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Really, I was enjoying myself. You just wouldn't know it here...

Not a Bad View

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Northern Boundary of the Park

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Big Basin Campsite

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Fairly nice and private, if a little small.

Yum!

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Oysters

Oysters
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

As you can see, we take our cooking really seriously.

Adam and I hosted our first large-scale event with merged friend groups yesterday. It went off without a hitch - the rain even stopped for us. This platter Adam is holding definitely won the prize for best cooked oyster - you soak the oysters in an olive oil/salt/cilantro/vinegar base, then grill them in the shell, topped with a butter/ancho chile glaze. Yeah, they were pretty good.

We got the oysters - 150 of them - out at Tomales Bay Oyster Company. I can't wait to go back there on a sunny day - they have picnic tables and grills, so you can picnic right there at the source. It's out in Point Reyes, a little over an hour from Oakland.

January 2007 Reviews

My library queue - which has been stalled for what seems like months - seems to be moving again. I was able to get through a few titles that have been on my "to-do" list for quite some time. There's not a loser in this bunch, either - all were great reads.

1. The Painted Drum, Louise Erdrich, Rating: 4.3
Erdrich, an author I read for the first time back in October, really has an exceptional talent. The plot is layered and complex, full of well-realized characters and interesting twists. My only quibble is the cover, which depicts a woman obviously far too young and inappropriately dressed to be the narrator, or any other character. But just ignore that, and read the book.
2. Love and Louis XIV, Antonia Fraser, Rating: 4.0
Give me another six months, and I'll be an expert on European royalty. This is one of the best accounts out there. It chronicles the life of Louise XIV, and the women that shaped his life. I found it fascinating, never tedious, and extremely well-researched.
3. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami, Rating: 4.2
I can describe all of Murakami's books in the same way - odd and fascinating - but that doesn't mean each book is at all alike. Each is odd in its own, very special way. This is no exception.
4. The Perfectionist, Rudolph Chelminski, Rating: 4.1
I realized recently that I'm swiftly heading towards the day when I'll read more non-fiction than fiction (this assumes that we consider memoirs non-fiction). It's a few years off, but coming. The Perfectionist is a prime example of what's pulling me over - carefully researched, packed with interesting information, beautifully written, and "worthwhile" - you feel like you learned something by reading it. It's the story of Bernard Loiseau, 3 star chef, and the Michelin rating system. If you like food and France, you'll enjoy this book.
5. Between Meals, A.J. Liebling, Rating: 3.8
This was a lovely follow-up to The Perfectionist. Liebling, a deceased New Yorker writer, published this collection of articles near the end of his life. The subject: eating in France. Most of the narrative concerns the late 1920s, when he was a student in Paris. Liebling considered himself a "feeder" - not a gourmet - and describes the truly massive meals he ate on a regular basis. Here's a funny little tidbit about the author: He worked briefly in the sports department of the New York Times, and was fired for listing the name "Ignoto" (Italian for "unknown") as the referee in results of games.

More East Bay Parks

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Continuing our series of weekend walks, this picture is from Joaquin Miller Park, conveniently located roughly 8 minutes by car from the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. Not bad, right? 500+ acres of redwoods, hardy any people, and (I imagine on a clear day) really good views of the bay. Apparently there are regular concerts in the park, too. Last Season they offered The King and I, of all things.

We did this hike.

Joaquin Miller Park

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Pink Party

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

There aren't enough theme parties these days. Sonya's birthday party was "pink", including the cocktails. She also made everyone wear nametags, which was really great. None of that "I know I should know who you are..." guessing game. May there be more parties like this in the future.

Karl's 30th Birthday

Karl's 30th Birthday
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Adam and I logged in 900 miles of driving time this past weekend - Oakland to Los Angeles to Santa Barbara to San Francisco. Other than a flat tire in Malibu, it was smooth sailing. Thanks Karl for providing an excuse to head south - and kicking off the year of 30th birthday parties that seems to be upon us.

A Dog's Life

A Dog's Life
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Not that the Bay Area's awful or anything, but this is the dog beach in Santa Barbara. Can you imagine what the people beach looks like? Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair.

Lafayette Reservoir

Lafayette Reservoir
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Here's another east bay find (thanks to Lisa for taking me here originally). The Lafayette Reservoir is a 10 minute drive from Oakland, has a well-groomed hiking trail, allows dogs, and has a fairly interesting nature walk with lots of native plants (ask at the gate for a plant guide).

Life is a little too busy lately - we're planning a lot of trips, and working too hard - so I'm trying to get the most out of my immediate surroundings. Next time we'll check out the reservoir's border trail, which looks a bit less tame (and hopefully less crowded).

December 2006 Book Reviews

Better late than never?

1. Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber, Rating: 2.5
I made the mistake of thinking this would be a "fun" read - Marie Antoinette, seen through a fashion lens. It's a serious, scholarly, extremely well researched and documented look at her life (it includes 120 pages of footnotes and citations). The author's credentials are serious and I admire her effort; the actual work is really dry. And the biggest problem? She describes clothing very poorly. I finished the book and still don't have a clear idea of what the clothes actually looked like.
2. The Scroll of Seduction, Gioconda Belli, Rating: 3.0
Another look at European royalty, this time Juana the Mad of Spain. There's little published (in English, at least) about this interesting woman, supposedly driven mad by her husband's wandering eye. My biggest quibble with this account are the utterly unbelievable liberties the author takes to flush out the story. Rather than creating a 3 dimensional character, Belli creates a caricature.
3. Middlemarch, George Eliot, Rating: 3.9
Middlemarch is funny and sharp, even biting at times. There's clearly an agenda from the get-go, and I found it interesting how she focused people to display that how they really are, and how they are perceived by others, are so often different. The book is long - it was a struggle at times to finish - but worth the effort.
4. The Texicans, Nina Vida, Rating: 4.1
After a slightly bumpy start, this short, compelling novel swings into high gear, detailing the lives of numerous characters with intersecting lives. It's fun.

Sabine in Repose (Overhead View)

Sabine in Repose (Overhead View)
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Berkeley Pier

Berkeley Pier
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Have you ever been out there? It's one of my favorite spots in the east bay. This is the view from the end of the walkable portion. The original pier was 3.5 MILES long (3000 feet are currently safe to walk on). Pretty impressive, especially if you consider that the Bay Bridge is only 5 miles long.

The Chase

The Chase
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

The Battle

The Battle
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Triumph

Triumph
Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Book Stats 2006

Philadelphia

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

We got back late Tuesday night, after numerous delays, layovers, and weather problems. Philadelphia was very relaxing. We slept more than I've done in months, and enjoyed the balmy weather (warmer than it is here in the Bay - something's very wrong with that). Adam's mother's house is a bit of a zoo (in the good sense). In addition to two cats and a dog, there's a turtle that roams the house. Outside are numerous deer, squirrels, and 14 turkeys.

Baby the turtle and Jackson the dog

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Native Forest

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

I've included this last picture of the backyard to show what a forest in Pennsylvania is supposed to look like (and did look like) - Adam's mom has diligently removed all of the non-native species of planets.