Bottom line: nice, hilly, really interesting rocks and climbing areas (there is an official climbing access trail).
I explored the east side of the park this time. Mason Creek trail is a lot like Mountain Lion on the east side of Golden Gate State Park: a long, gently-sloped trip up a valley with a creek down the middle.
The crystal-clear Mason Creek creek cut through snowpack, flowing over sand with almost no moss. It looked good enough to drink, except for the fact that now horses and dogs are on the trail right next to it now. Made me sort of sad.
In this photo, the light on the water in the middle was coming entirely through a ceiling of snow, not direct sunlight:
Higher up on the same trail:
Near the end of the Mason Creek trail, it passes below some huge walls of rock. The stone was pink, casting a glow into the green woods.
From the Staunton Rocks lookout:
I was a bit of a hurtin' puppy around mile 11 when I headed out towards the ponds. No energy even after some gel blocks and a bar. I pressed on.
To finish out the day, I headed up the Staunton Ranch trail to the climbing access trail. It was uphill, and I wanted to turn back. But I'm not going to get better if I wimp out every chance I get, am I?
Glad I toughed it out, because the Climbing Access trail threaded along some interesting rock faces. A couple of hippie-ish climbers came down with smiles on their faces, which said it all; this was a cool place.
Distance was 16.87 miles, time 4:35 (moving 3:29), elevation gain/loss 2,679 feet, avg. pace 16:18 (moving 12:23), and best pace 6:50.
