Rancho Cañada del Oro

My New Year's tradition is to eschew New Year's resolutions. As this year begins, though, I could use some inspiration. Motivation. Something.

And so I resolved that I should hike more often. In fact, why not start today?

We are blessed to have so many unspoiled places to visit, just a short drive outside the sprawling, heavily-developed valley. County parks, open space preserves, state parks—even national parks.

My chief biking/hiking buddy suggested Rancho Cañada del Oro, an open space preserve.

After taking a wrong turn and circling round on the Llagas Creek Loop Trail, we headed onto the trail we'd planned: Mayfair Ranch.

We crossed paths with a few hikers as we surveyed some of the hillsides that the Loma fire consumed last fall. Hay bales and signs have been placed to keep people from straying off the trail onto the fire roads and into the burn zone.

We also met a family on mountain bikes, but for the most part we had the serenity of the preserve to ourselves.

There were trailside mushrooms and a few flowers in bloom, and plenty of birds twittering about. Our fellow hikers had asked if we were participating in the annual Audubon Society bird count (no), but then I did spot a few small birds with yellow patches exposed above their tail feathers as they flew (Audubon's warblers?). Not to mention the turkeys we saw on the way to the park, and the ubiquitous turkey vultures circling overhead.

And so, with a five-mile hike, 2017 begins.