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Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:41 pm
by Wandering Daisy
Well, this is kind of a stupid trip report, but what else can we do now?

I have been walking my dog about 5 miles daily, much of the time down at Sailor Bar on the American River, since I can walk there from my house. Even walks in the neighborhood sidewalks can be fun. Yesterday the wild turkeys were strutting and mating, all fluffed up with feathers scraping along the sidewalk. Unfortunately, I was not carrying my phone so no pictures. The flowers are blooming but it is the lush green grasses that are so beautiful. Monday, a friend and I met at the fish hatchery and then walked around Lake Natoma (12.5 miles in 4 hours), sometimes on the bike trail, and sometimes on the horse trails. We got off into some amazing tailing piles, saw a lot of ducks, geese and other wildlife. Wednesday I combined a neighborhood loop and Sailor Bar for a 10 mile hike. All the time I have been very careful to stay 6 feet from anyone. I have walked these routes for years but never seen so many other people out. One fellow laughed and said one good thing about this crisis is that people are getting fit and discovering that there is life beyond shopping. I think of all the happy dogs who probably do not to get to walk much until now.
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Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:47 am
by The Other Tom
Thanks, Daisy

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:39 am
by austex
\:D/ And Lupe is one happy/good looking/lucky dog. Thanks for the "tr"
In my neighborhood I see more and more people walking their dogs and kids in strollers as ,y office faces the street. Good to see people being more active. Hope they continue it after the stay hom order...

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 6:53 am
by balzaccom
We're doing the same. Our completely first world problem is that there is really only one hill in town. We make about a three-mile loop out of it...but there is really only one road that goes up and over the top of it. So we've been seeing a lot of that hill...

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 7:41 am
by RichardCullip
We are doing the same down here in Poway, CA. There's over 50 miles of city maintained trails in Poway and we are seeing most of them 4-6 miles at a time. So far, the few people we see on the trails are remarkably friendly and very conscious of social distancing.

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:38 pm
by giantbrookie
Yes this is how we do it. I think Californians in general are fortunate for having a variety of outdoor options close by. You know I was thinking that this might be getting me out a bit more this time of year than normal. Last week had two days of outright hiking fishing: Mar. 20 up the Sonoma Coast on a dual geologic mapping and fishing trip. Good combo of both. That place has a surreal track record in saltwater fishing for me. Something like 95 hard hits on 100 casts spanning 6 trips going back to Oct 2019. Then Mar. 21 was poke poling on some rocks in the Pacifica area. Folks at the nearby beach were the pretty much the opposite of social distancing, but few folks ventured out to the talus rubble on the rocky point north of the crowded beach. Today was another day of poke poling, this time in the morning in the drizzle. Very few folks there because they closed the parking lots after the big crowds last weekend. In the meantime the family has also been running cross country at one of the East Bay parks. I never was in to distance running, but with the gyms closed (no basketball, among other things) I figured I'd give it a try, so three weeks ago I ran 2 mi for the first time in my life. Things went pretty well (improved time nearly every time out) until something popped in my right hip on a descent to begin the run on Wednesday. Probably will be back in action by Monday, though. I figure running there on weekdays is preferred. Weekends get too many folks crowding the trail, walking shoulder to shoulder etc.

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:42 pm
by CAMERONM
Los Angeles has closed pretty much all of the local trails, parks, the beach, walkways. It will be very hard to find any trail. They were even handing out $500 tickets for people who crossed the beach to swim in the ocean...
With the yoga class and the gym closed, my nearby set of 100 stairs have become even more valuable for keeping in shape. But everyone else thinks so too. I now wake at 5 so I can do my workout in the dark where so far I only run into a few people.

My preoccupation with the safety of all public places revolves around the potential danger of "aerosol transmission". Opinions about it vary wildly, but I would say that given the fast worldwide spread, I believe that it is more dangerous than generally believed. This article in the Los Angeles times also supports that notion: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/st ... r-outbreak

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:15 pm
by Rockyroad
I recently gave up trail running and started running the neighborhood sidewalks again, sometimes crossing the street whenever I see anyone else. It's impossible to keep 6ft distance on singletrack when passing hikers and I didn't believe 6ft was enough distance on windy days anyways. With recent reports of potential aerosol transmission, why take a chance? I lose on the scenery and workout factors but I can make up some of the workout by increasing pace, distance, and cadence.

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 6:28 pm
by franklin411
Communicability and lethality are not the same thing.

Re: Hiking in town during "social distancing"

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 10:43 pm
by wildhiker
Well, the Bay Area counties have extended their "shelter-in-place" health orders to May 3 and added further restrictions to shut down or restrict more activities. Santa Clara County, where I live, still permits travel, including out of the county, for outdoor recreation, but San Mateo County, where my daughter and her family live, has added a stipulation to the order that you may only travel for recreation within a 5 mile radius of your residence! Of course, San Mateo County has also completely closed all its open space parks with trails, and State Parks and beaches in the county are also closed, so the order effectively limits you to "hiking in town", assuming you strictly comply.
-Phil