'Safari Sarifornia©'
(Seeing 'The Big Bay Area Picture')
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In order to define and explore 'The Neverlands' (California Bay Area), Calidocious Inc. offers a series of guided tours to mountain peaks at the perimeter of 'The Coasts of Zinfandel'- alternately called 'Greater Sarifornia©'.
The hikes are called the 'Safari Safornia', or 'Watership Downs' hikes (meaning 'Hiils having to do with Water' from the name of the book by Richard Adams.) One peak is featured each month. (The Seven Hills of San Fracisco are jointly considered to be one of the "peaks").
With the exception of the 'Pinnacles/Chocolapolis' and Yosemite hikes, the vistas from all the peaks included in the hikes include views of either San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean. Any of the hikes can be done year round, but some are best done in the wet, or dry, periods of the year.
Each hike is ideally followed by a visit to a restaurant or cafe in the town of Amiquéo (or Old Mayfield) in Palo Alto. This follows the motto "Hike High, Camp Low".
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| Zoot Rose (Sutro Tower) on one of the 'Seven Hills' of San Francisco. |
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| The 'Portala Expedition' Campsite was the site from which Portola explored the San Francisco Bay Area. It is about two miles from 'Amiqueo' (Mayfield). |
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| Nine hikes to the perimeter of 'The Neverlands', plus one hike in San Francisco, one in Big Sur, and one in Yosemite. |
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| In addition to hikes at the perimeter of the Bay Area, there is a summer ('Sarifornia-XXL') outing to one of the peaks in the High Sierras such as Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Although most of the hikes are not currently offered as 'Language Practice' day trips, they can easily be done as self guided hikes.
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The twelve 'Neverlands' hikes, clockwise from Mt. St. Helena in Napa, are:
1. Mt. St. Helena
2. Mt. Diablo
3. Las Trampas Park (Sarifornia Hills)
4. Mission Peak Moonrise/Sundown Hike
5. Pinnacles National Monument (Chocolapolis)
6. Ventana Wilderness via Big Sur.
7. High Sierrras/ Yosemite
8. Little Basin Park- Eagle Rock Trail
9. Big Basin Park- Berry Creek Falls Trail
10. Purisima Open Space Preserve (Sarifornia Springs)
11. San Franciso Hills
12. Mt. Tamalpais
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Note: The San Francisco Hills, Ventana Wilderness and Yosemite hikes aren't included on the map.
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A long-term goal of Calidocious Inc. is to sponsor summer courses at the U. of Colorado in Boulder. At the bottom of the page are highlights of Bolder walks or hikes throughout the year.
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-January-
On Jan.1st, several hiking clubs organize 'New Year's Day' Mt. St. Helena hikes.
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| Mount St. Helena State Park- (The inspiration for 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson.) |
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| Mount Diablo State Park |
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| -February-
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-March-
(Sarifornia Hills)
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| Las Trampas County Park |
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| Mission Peak- The hike is held within a day or two of the full moon, which rises just as the sun is setting. |
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| -April-
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-May-
(Chocolapolis)
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| Pinnacles National Park |
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| Ventana Wilderness above Big Sur State Park |
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| -June-
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-July-
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| Yosemite National Park |
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| Little Basin State Park |
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| -August-
(Sarifornia Springs)
By late fall, most of the creeks and streams of the Bay Area are actually just trickles. However, hiking in the Redwood forests is most pleasant during the late summer and fall because the forests are often rather wet and cold during the rest of the year.
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-September-
(Sarifornia Springs)
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| Berry Creek Falls- Big Basin State Park (picture taken in the Spring) |
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| Purisima Creek- Courtesy Open Space Preserve Photo by Andy Weber |
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| -October-
(Sarifornia Springs)
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-November-
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| Coit Tower on one of the 'Seven Hills' of San Francisco |
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| Mt. Tamalpais State Park and Water District Open Space Preserve |
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| -December-
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The focal point of all the hikes is the mythical tree "El Palo Alto", which Gaspar de Portola used as his base camp after he 'discovered' San Francisco Bay- (which had been discovered by native Americans about ten thousand years earlier.)
Although 'El Palo Alto' was killed by soot from trains early in the last century, several new redwoods have grown to take its place, and are now almost as high as the original tree was. The trees are about a hundred yards from the Portola monument.
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| The Portola Expedition camped by 'The Big Tree'- 'El Palo Alto', and used the tree as their reference point for exploring modern day 'Silicon Valley'. |
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