Windy Ridge Practice Walk

We are fortunate to live on the West side of the San Francisco Bay in the Mid Peninsula town of Belmont. As you walk westward from any starting point you will be negotiating hillsides of various intensities.

Today we walked the "8" mile trail at Windy Ridge in Portola Valley. The first half of the walk takes you up four rolling hills. Topping the first introduces you to the second and so on. Eventually, you reach the final top with spectacular views of the Bay Area.

 

Early morning mist

A little higher and the day becomes sunny

Tangerine, chocolates and water at the mid way point.

Looking South towards San Jose, in the fog.

Looking South towards the Pacific Ocean, also in the fog.

The far off mountains on the Eastern side of the San Francisco Bay.

Stu uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone and is sharing with you the following track:

Name:		Track 007
Date:		Apr 27, 2013 7:21 am
Map: (valid until Oct 24, 2013)		View on Map
Distance:		7.31 miles
Elapsed Time:		2:28:04
Avg Speed:		3.0 mph
Max Speed:		7.8 mph
Avg Pace:		20' 15" per mile
Min Altitude:		535 ft
Max Altitude:		1,932 ft
Start Time:		2013-04-27T14:21:42Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	37º 22' 32" N
	Longitude:	122º 13' 23" W
End Location:
	Latitude:	37º 22' 32" N
	Longitude:	122º 13' 22" W

 

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In Preparation

In preparation of walking as pilgrims along the coast of Spain, the Camino Norte, we have walked 6 miles every morning and on weekends increased the distance. Recently, we are walking with our packs to toughen up our legs. Never before have we spent so much time in preparation of an adventure.

The Camino Norte is in Blue, Frances in yellow, Primitivo in red

Part of the reason is the formidable early challenges of the hills along the coast of Northern Spain. The many rivers discharging into the sea, have cut "V" shaped valleys through the coastal hills. Much like a saw blade, the walking path goes up and down sharply. The Camino Plata starts off rather flat, permitting the body to get used to the daily routine.

This is a profile of our first days walk. Meters are on the "Y" axis and the "km" are on the "X" axis. Remember, for those of us using non metric, multiply the meters by 3: Thus, 300 meters is 900 feet.

This Norte Guide unfortunately is in Spanish. The advantages in design makes it the best I have seen. It is thin and fits easily in our front pocket, it is spiral bound for ease of page removal, it's maps are full page and very easy to follow and, where the city is large enough, street maps with the "way" marked are provided. I would not want to be without this guide. www.caminodelnorte.es

These two Confraternity guides have 2010 covers with 2011 contents. I find they list the most places to stay and have better walking directions. I don't do well when a guide says turn left in 300 meters rather than left at the church. They are also the least expensive.

This guide has just arrived in 2012. Nicely concise with good directions. This guide covers the Norte, Primitivo and the Ingles.
In preparation of this blog, I have followed John and Robin Pigott's lead. An IPhone and iPod for pictures and an iPad mini as the computer. John used a digital camera which he prefers. The two apps that will help out are Blogsy and Wireless Transfer. Check out the Pigott's web site, agoodwalkunspoiled.blogspot.com
For an excellent blog with a guide to follow read: http://www.hikingthecamino.com/blog
For excellent weather reports: http://weatherspark.com/averages/32052/San-Sebastian-Basque-Country-Spain
We start the Northern challenge on May 14th and will post each time we find wifi available.

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