Author Archives: AlphaRoaming

From down in Silicon Valley, the Santa Cruz Mountains separate the valley from the Pacific Ocean. From a distance it can look ominous. Up close you’ll see homes, a rock quarry, a few wineries, and some towers on Black Mountain … Continue reading →

Loaded 80 pound rig, near the top of Mt. Sizer. Panniers, tent, sleeping bag inside a trash bag, and a small Osprey Daylite backpack (and a sun hat near the handlebars, which fit snugly under my helmet): My first real … Continue reading →

Last day! The direct route back to Henry Coe HQ, and my car, was similar to my 2 previous days: roughly 12 miles, including one huge climb and lotsa smaller ones. Dawn on the hills, from camp: I packed-up a … Continue reading →

With about 12 hours from sunset to sunrise, I had plenty of time in my tent to watch the Milky Way through the netting in my tent roof (I did not use the rain fly) and to be woken by … Continue reading →

A juvenile stuffed “kitty” in the Visitor’s Center The pieces of my budding interest in “bikepacking” finally came together this past week. I purchased my first mountain bike in late 2010 because I wanted to go further into the huge … Continue reading →

The last time I had been to Mt Diablo, which looms over the area just southeast of San Franciso, was over 20 years when I didn’t wander far from the car. This time, one of my hiking accomplices and I … Continue reading →

A quiet monday morning and I was itching to get out of the house, despite nursing an injured knee. Hmmm…no hiking, no steep cycling…how about a low-key fall outing along the Santa Cruz coast? (“Injured knee” you ask? I recently … Continue reading →

Some people call them “seats” and some call them “saddles”. So as not to confuse the title of this post with equestrian sports, I’m saying “seat”! Last week I decided to stretch my recent cycling range beyond the 100km trip … Continue reading →

Yesterday I enjoyed a 14 mile loop with 2 hiking friends. It was a trail we’d all been on a few times before…in fact this same trail was the first time we hiked together back in 2008! The air in … Continue reading →

I thought I’d had enough of Nisene Marks State Park for awhile, following a very strenuous off-trail experience on August 10th. https://alpharoaming.com/2013/08/12/bushwhacking-aptos-creek-near-santa-cruz-ca/ Being the slow learner that I am, I jumped at the chance to join a group that had … Continue reading →