Byxbee Park, Dec. 25, '11

Walking Distance: 3.2 mi. (~2.9 mi. "new" miles)
Walking Time: 1 hr., 25 min. (3:28 - 4:53 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Side of the road, near entrance to Byxbee Park, Palo Alto, CA

After a very pleasant Christmas morning, I went walking at Byxbee Park -- a converted former garbage dump (like many bayside parks). Packed dirt trails circled and covered the hills and mounds that were molded into a park-like setting, with sculptural features (primarily in the form of poles sticking up from the hills) at even intervals.

Previously, I had been focusing on these poles on the hill, and I turned right, before I should have, taking the Adobe Creek Loop Trail -- which went out to Renzel Wetlands.



So, this time I was careful to walk further out to the Bay and then Right following the trail closer to Bay - walked SE along packed dirt trail until I reached an interpretive sign titled "Interrelationships" showing the web of relationships in the baylands.

It was a cool, but clear day. The winter landscape had started to look a bit gray, and I found my eye lingering on the few bright bits of color  -- such as the small yellow blossom (shown at right).

I walked back same way I'd come, passing several people out for a holiday walk, or bicycle ride, and a very cute little dog in a santa suit out for a walk with its owner. There were a number of shorebirds and ducks in the bay visible from this trail.

Wildlife Sightings:
48 sea gulls; 172 unidentified brownish shorebirds (UBBs); 1 willet; 4 black-necked stilts; 173 ducks; 2 killdeer; 30 coots; 6 little brown jobs (LBJs); 4 crows; 1 UFO diver/grebe; 2 hawks/kestrels/falcons; 53 American Avocets; 1 kite (bird); 4 cormorants; 2 white snails 

Palo Alto, Geng Rd. - Dec. 24, '11

Walking Distance: .8 miles
Walking Time: 0 hrs., 45 min. (11:35 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.)
Start and End Point: Public parking lot, Baylands Athletic Center, Palo Alto, CA

On this short segment walk (#2/3 today), I covered a small stretch of paved trail (with sidewalks, and shown as a "red line" trail on Bay Trail map) on Geng Road and Embarcadero Road, in Palo Alto.

From the Baylands Athletic Center parking lot, I headed southeast on Geng Rd., passing a few squirrels and crows, and skirting some orange cones and long stretch of black PVC pipe that took up some of the sidewalk area on Geng. I enjoyed the smell of eucalyptus trees and the sight of brightly colored purple and white kale (cabbage family) being used as landscaping.


When I reached Embarcadero Rd., I crossed the street to Ming's (Chinese Restaurant), and put in a to go order.

While waiting for the food, I walked east on Embarcadero to Faber Place/Palo Alto Tech Center office complex (across the street from the golf course driving range), where I'd stopped walking previously. I turned around here and strolled back to Ming's to pick up my Chinese Chicken Salad for lunch (which was quite good); and walked back to Geng Road to the Baylands Athletic Center parking lot.

Wildlife:
14 crows; 11 little brown jobs (LBJs); 5 Canada geese (on golf course); 3 squirrels; 1 hummingbird; 1 bumblebee; 1 hawk