No Longer Exclusive: Hiking at Foothills Regional Preserve

Ruddy Ducks

Date: January 14, 2024
Place: Foothills Nature Preserve, Palo Alto, California
Coordinates: 37.365572, -122.180560
Length: 3.5 miles
Level: mildly moderate

Foothills Nature Preserve Is a lovely little park in the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peninsula, west of Palo Alto. This used to be an exclusive park, open only to residents of the City of Palo Alto. In recent years however, it was opened to the general public. Since its public opening I had the chance to hike there a few times, but a couple of weeks agoI had the opportunity to lead my family hiking group on a hike there. Pappa Quail joined me, and already in the parking lot at Vista Hill he took his first phot of a bird. 

Anna's Hummingbird, male

 After a few minutes of looking at the views all around we hiked down from the parking lot on the north side, then looped around the Vista Hill Road south to the Chamise Trailhead. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 

True to its name, Chamise Trail cut through high chaparral, most of which was composed of chamise bushes. A few large oaks and some laurels also thrived on that hill slope. 

Chamise Trail

In a short distance down the trail we reached a trail junction, both of which were of Chamise Trail. We took the right arm of the trail, heading west. It was a gorgeous day and, after yesterday's rain the air was clear and the visibility great. There were also lots of mushrooms all over the place. 

Turkeytail Fungus

We turned on a short trail spur leading to a view point. What could be seen from that view point was the opposite hills covered with luxurious oak forest. Had the chaparral been lower we might have been able to see the little lake in the park but as it were, even the dam was barely visible from that point. There is a nice bench there however, and I got the kids in the group engaged in a little trivia quiz about winter in the Bay Area.  

I knew ahead of time that we won't be seeing much view from that spot. The main reason why I led the group there was the lichen and the mushrooms along that path. 

Lichen

I enjoyed pointing out to the hiking families all the variety of fungi we were seeing along the way, some of which looked very different than the standard cap-shaped mushrooms. 

The coolest fungus we saw was the one called, "witch's butter". It was fresh and brilliant yellow, and all the kids tried prodding at it to see how it feels. 

Witch's Butter Fungus

Other mucus-looking fungi weren't as appealing to the kids. I still thought they were cool. 

All the way down Chamise Trail there is a picnic area where we sat for a snack break. After the break we continued south past a small grove of redwoods on Wild Horse Fire Road.  

Wild Horse Fire Road

The last time I was in this park before that week was in the fall of 2022 before the rains begun, and everything was dry. It was nice to see the lush vegetation all over. The soil and the herbs and grasses were still very damp from yesterday's rain.

Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia parviflora

We turned northeast on Toyon Trail and started climbing uphill. At first we walked through a mixed forest of oaks and laurels. On my prep hike there four days before I had to push my way through a tree that collapsed on the trail. By the time I was there with the group the fallen tree was already chopped and removed, but we did stop by its remains for a show and tell about erosion. 

Toyon Trail

Higher up the trail exited the forest and meandered for a short distance through tall chaparral. From that point we once again had a nice view of the forested hill slopes across the valley. 

This chaparral had a different bush composition than what grew on Vista Hill. The chamise was there too, but there were many more other bush species, including coastal sagebrush. I introduced this aromatic plant to my group and we all sniffed it and enjoyed the fragrance. 

Coastal Sagebrush, Artemisia californica

We didn't stay in the chaparral for too long. The Toyon Trail delved once again into the forest and there we encountered many more fungi, some in the shape of really large mushrooms. This one in the ohoto below made me think that the tree grew its own satellite dish. 

Mushroom

Toyon Trail ascends continuously for half a mile. We walked slowly, allowing for the smaller kids to catch up with everybody else, and enjoying the chaparral places that were exposed to the warm sun.

Toyon Trail

When we reached the upper part of the trail it became clear why it was named 'Toyon'. The toyon bushes were everywhere there, along that part of the trail, and all of them were baring berries. I tasted a few - still too early. 

Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia

A bit below the highest part of the trail there is a high bench that overlooks the beautiful view of the valley below with the grass flat where the picnic area is. We stopped there for a few minutes to enjoy the view and to take photos.

The rest of the Toyon Trail was completely within the forest. It got a bit cooler and everything from soil to vegetation was pretty damp. We were walking on the north-facing slope. 

Toyon Trail

Little ferns decorated with beads of water droplets adorned the slope to out right. They looked very delicate and beautiful, like fairy jewels. 

Adiantum, Adiantum jordanii 

Fr the most part of the trail we were surrounded by the trees but in a few places there was a big enough gap in the trees to allow us a view down on the lake below. 

Toyon Trail descends near the entrance gate. There we turned left to go to the lake's south shore. A large grass field stretched between the entrance station and the lake.  From the hill slope opposite of us protruded one dead tree and on its end I spotted a hawk. 

I pointed the bird out to pappa Quail who immediately identified it and started photographing. Seeing where he was focused at, all the kids in the group flocked around Pappa Quail, asking to brrow his binoculars. One of the other kids had his own set, and between the two of them, everyone got to have his or her moment of frustration and learning how to properly use binoculars. 

Red-shouldered Hawk

While all the kids were focusing on the hawk Pappa Quail found another being to focus on - a small herd of deer roamed the hillside across the entrance road. A young buck was more cooperative than the other deer. 

Deer

The hawk took off from his perch and landed in the lawn, where it busied himself for a while pulling bites from the grass. Upon enlarging the photos we saw that he was eating earthworms. 

Red-shouldered Hawk with Earthworm

Eventually we left the wildlife behind and continued to the lake. From the boat landing we had a very nice view of the calm water and the pretty reflection.  

Boronda Lake

We continued slowly along the lake shore. Whenever Pappa Quail saw an opening in the lake side vegetation he stopped and searched the water for waterfowl. There were no lifers for him that day, but he did make one unique observation: a male ruddy duck in his breeding colors, in the dead of winter. Quite unusual. 

Ruddy Duck, male, breeding colors

For the sake of comparison, here is another photo of ruddy ducks that Pappa Quail took that day, and it features a male in its winter plumage, normal for the season. 

Ruddy Duck, male

There were other duck species swimming in the lake. A few gadwall ducks floated lazily on the calm surface, moving away until the vegetation hid them from the eye. 

Gadwall

Ducks are pretty but I left it to Pappa Quail to photograph them. I focused on the beautiful reflection and the fluffy clouds that floated in the sky and below the lake's surface. 

Boronda Lake

Even this ate on the hike we were seeing new mushrooms. Each mushroom we found had the kids gather around me asking if it was good to eat. I am hardly a mushroom know how so every time I had to disappoint them, saying that I didn't know and that it's better not to. 

Mushroom

There was another interesting finding that captivated the kids' attention - a gall on a low stem of oak. It was an already empty gall. The kids were fascinated by the explanation of what that was. Nature is very cool.

Oak Gall

There is a small island in the lake near the dam, and an arch bridge connecting the trail to the island. We stopped there for a break. The kids run up and down the bridge and I gazed at the water. 

Boronda Lake

We didn't go all the way on the island. After the break we continued across the dam to the there side of the lake, where we would pick up the eastern arm of the Chamise Trail. I loved the pattern of clouds that stretched westward across the sky. 

From the lake to the summit of Vista Hill is less than half a mile on Chamise Trail. The slope is fairly mild and everyone took on the trail with good energy and speed. Some oak trees we saw on the way had their boughs arched over the trail. In one place the oak branch was so low I suggested pricticing limbi skills to pass underneath. 

Chamise Trail

One of the nice things about Foothills Nature Preserve is that the soil is light and absorbs water well. This means that after the rains the trail was damp, but not muddy. It was easy to walk on, without clay platforms attached to the soles of our shoes. 

Chamise Trail

From one of the high view points on the trail we detected movement far below - a pair of deer walking on the slope of the dam. 

Pappa Quail zoomed his lens to maximum for the deer. 

Deer

Near the trail junction that completed the loop we passed an oak tree that was covered with moss and lichen. It looked all dressed up and fancy. 

Once we got to the Vista Hill Road all that was left was to go up to the summit parking area. On the way back we didn't go around the hill, but went straight up, passing near a small grove of really tall and really red manzanita that looked like full grown trees. I touched one of them, enjoying the feel of the smooth, cold bark. 

We had a lovely hike on a wonderful winter day between the preceding rainy day and the rainy day that followed.  We were fortunate to see, not only the forest waking into renewed life fueled by the rains but also some really cool wildlife, and a whole garden of mushrooms. This little park will definitely be a return destination for me.