Hiking: Henry Cowell State Park, May 15, 2010

Went camping at this nice redwood forest in Santa Cruz County. The campground entrance is from the east of the park, separate from the day-use entrance at the north. The two entrances are connected only by trails, so you can't just drive through. The campground facilities were well maintained and not too crowded on a Friday.
We started hiking at the campground, up the Pine Trail. At a short distance was the observation deck. After taking a few pictures here we walked along the Eagle Creek Trail. This took us through a beautiful redwood grove. At the intersection with the Pipeline Road we turned on to the River Trail. Just about 0.1 mile ahead was a great view of the river. The round trip was less than 4.5 miles and mostly shaded. The trails were pretty well-marked - didn't need a map. Some trails were sandy (having been part of the sea-floor many years ago). Also, be prepared to hop over many horse-droppings along the way. :)

A large map of the hike can be found here.

Hiking: Fremont Older Open Space Preserve, Apr 4, 2010

This park is attached to the Stevens Creek County Park and very easily accessible from the South Bay. Since it was a cold day, we made do with short 3.5 mile walk along one of the smaller loops. The elevation change was minimal, but the trail still provided an awesome panoramic view of the South Bay at a lookout called "Hunter's Point". Keep an eye out for bird life and an ear for bird sounds. There were a wide variety of both this morning.
A large map of the hike can be found here.

Hiking: Stevens Creek County Park, Mar 7, 2010

Visited the park again after exactly one year. The park was lush green after the recent rainfall. We walked around the Rim Trail, an unremarkable 1 mile loop. The trail to the reservoir was closed at this time, so we walked up on the main trail, away from the reservoir.
A large map of the hike can be found here. We covered about 5.8 miles, and gained about 1400 ft in elevation.

Hiking: Big Sur, October 2009

This was another camping plus hiking trip. While there are many campgrounds here they still get booked a few months in advance - so book early. Be prepared to run into many people. The campgrounds were pretty crowded even at the end of summer.
We went hiking on the Mt. Manuel trail. It starts at the far end of the campgrounds and goes all the way up to Manual Peak. The total elevation gain on this trail is around 3000 feet, but we couldn't make it all the way to the peak. The trail was blocked by a fallen tree, making it difficult to continue on without dying.
A larger map of the hike can be found here. Our phone ran out of battery in the middle, so the track is incomplete. The blue marker shows where I think we reached.

Hiking: Sanborn Skyline County Park, June 27, 2009

This was a short camping plus hiking trip. We arrived at the Sanborn Skyline County Park on Friday evening, pitched our tent there for the night. Early next morning, we hiked around the park. We started on the Sanborn Trail at the campground, then walked along the San Andreas fault trail and came back via the Peterson trail. It was really quiet and peaceful in the morning. Not a whole lot of people around. The trails were mostly covered except for a few patches of sunlight.
Here is a larger map of this hike. This was a short hike, approximately 4.5 miles, with an elevation gain of ~1200 feet (the Android had some trouble hanging on to the GPS signal because of the thick tree cover, so the stats aren't that accurate).

Hiking: Rancho San Antonio, June 13, 2009

We went to Rancho San Antonio this morning on the recommendation of a friend. This was a very good hike. It begins with a consistent uphill, and once you get to the top the view is really pretty. On a cloudy day like today, it looks almost Costa Rican, as a fellow hiker noted. We saw some busy hummingbirds, several Californian blue jays, many rabbits, black squirrels, a colony of ants (possibly redecorating a recently acquired home).
Here is a larger map of this hike. We walked for about 7 miles in all and recorded an elevation gain of ~1700 feet on the Android.