December 14th, 2010 by Busy Mommy

I always seem to get lost in Tilden park and never figure out where all the hiking trails are, even though I’m constantly consulting the park map, but that isn’t too surprising because Tilden is 2,079 acres, with a million windy driving roads. Today I managed to find a few!  Trails that is.  The loop I did today was fairly short, about 2.4 miles, and starts right behind the Brazilian Room (where, I might add, I was supposed to have my wedding until a tree brazenly decided to fall and cut off all the power…but that story’s for another post).  The trail starts out as Sibley Trail, and then I went right onto Wildcat Gorge Trail which meanders down aways and then alongside a picturesque stream and crosses two quaint bridges.  In no time at all you are hiking along Anza Lake (which I never knew existed till today) where you can apparently take your kids swimming in the summer.  Watch out though- there is a sign apologizing for “Swimmers itch” people sometimes get at Lake Anza.  Causes involve 2 key words- larvae and snails…didn’t get all the details but that was enough for me- they say it’s only uncomfortable, not dangerous, but seems a bit icky to me for the moment. I always keep hoping Nolan will get a full nap on my back, but usually he sleeps at most 20-30 minutes before waking up to be a nature observer along with me.  He was fascinated by all the ducks on Anza Lake and almost learned to say it!  Duck sounds remarkably like Dat so just a little stretch.  By the time we were almost done hiking he was finally pretty pooped and fell asleep.  I laid him down in the back of the car and drove off….just kidding!!!  I hung out, read, and ate my “after workout meal” while he napped for an hour.  That’s why I’m just loving my car these days- I keep the 2 left backseats down and it creates this little car-home where Nolan and I can hang out and where he is content to play when breaks are needed between errands and hikes.