[Open Space] Monte Bello

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I'm so glad you liked the sweet potato chili that I posted yesterday. If you give it a go, let me know!

Evan and I had big plans for this morning - a hike! So we've established the fact that we live in gorgeous northern California - but I just have to reiterate: we love this place. There is a program here called Open Space Preserve. Here's the lowdown:

"The Midpeninsula Open Space Regional District is a regional greenbelt system in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is comprised of nearly 60,000 acres of land in 26 open space preserves protected for public enjoyment, making a preserve system of diverse and unparalleled beauty in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country." - OSP website

We were talking about this exact fact on our hike. We love that we are located in a place that is so rich in culture, full of up and coming businesses and start-up companies and close to two major cities, San Francisco & San Jose. Yet we can drive 15 minutes and be here:

 
We headed to the Monte Bello OSP and chose to tackle a 6-mile hike with a 1,000 ft. climb. It started off downhill, and I was loving it! 

After about 2 miles of a fabulous descent into a wooded area filled with babbling brooks and fun bridges, we encountered my first enemy of the day.

It's a hill!

Another hill!

Y'all, maybe I'm just a wussy, but that 1,000 ft. climb was no joke. I believe it was at the second hill that I asked Evan if I could just crawl. He laughed, but I wasn't kidding.

You can see our home!

After making it to the top and celebrating our victory, we enjoyed the final miles of our hike until enemy number two...

Do you see that scary beast?!

Coyote on the prowl!

He just kept trotting along on our trail - I was absolutely terrified, while Evan tried to assure me that running into a coyote was just like seeing a cat. Wild animal = house cat. Yeah, he didn't really calm my nerves with that one!

We ended up splitting off to the right, when the coyote took the trail to left. While I know that we were probably very safe and not in harm's way, it was still a shock to be that close to a coyote. Evan loved it!

We're excited to check out the other Open Space Preserves and are already planning our next adventure!

Is nature easily accessible where you live?! Do you like being outdoors?