In the weeks ahead we’ll be walking about 100 miles along the Costa Brava and in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. We’ll be following two self-guided tours offered through Macs Adevntures: Foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees and Hidden Gems of the Catalan Coast. As a shakedown I decided to put a few miles on my new hiking boots so on May 12 we put the dog in the car and drove to Briones Regional Park. The goals were to give our Carson some off-leash time, log five miles and check out the wild flowers. Briones Regional Park is a 6,225-acre park in the hills of Contra Costa County. It’s about a 20 mile drive from our house. In spring it’s a stunning park with oak canyons, and green rolling hills. The ridges along the top of the hills afford wide sweeping panoramic views. Later in the year the green grass becomes a golden brown and the temperature can be quite warm.
At one point on our hike Carson decided to get a drink in one of the cattle watering troughs and ended up taking an unintentional swim. Along one of the ridges we passed a herd of cows, and Carson did his best to hike in Joann’s shadow acting a bit shy. There were a couple of steep sections of trail where I was glad I had my hiking poles, and even so, I took my time descending the steepest sections of trail.
Over the course of our walk we logged 4.9 miles. You can see a map or our course above or view more details about the track here.
What hiking book brand are you using?
How long are those hikes in Spain that you are planning?
Boots…
Thanks for asking. For hiking boots I’m using Oboz Sawtooth II mid waterproof boots. These my be overkill, but I like to have good traction and ankle support. The two hikes we are doing are both 8 days.
They looked to have great tread. I have a couple of pair and they each perform differently. I looked into your hikes those seem like some great well planned (for the daily distances).