Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25125
PHOTOS, CHRISTINE CALDWELL SAWYER CAMP HISTORIC TRAIL On those days when skatin' pleasure takes precedence over pain, mil yourself along the Sawyer Camp Historic Trail in San Mateo County. This six-mile former stagecoach mad, now a dedicated bike path, runs north alongside the Crystal Springs Reservoir and San Andreas Lake thmugh a veritable jungle of live oaks, poison oak and fragrant laurel trees. The pavement's just OK, but that's more than compensated for by the contemplation of such natural wonders as the Jepson Laurel (a famously big-ass tree), as well as a monument marking the location of a section of the San Andreas earthquake fault. At about the halfway point, you will notice you're climbing . A lot. When you summit, you'll see a rock marking the nearby campsite of the first European explorers to lay eyes on San Francisco Bay (1769). Don't let the roar fmm the now nearby freeway kill your appreciation of that historic camping trip. Flee the scene on the sweet downhill corkscrew that starts your return leg and gets you back into the woods. Watch the turn after the banking: it's no joke. The Historic Trail is about 20 miles south of San Francisco along Freeway 280. Take the Black Mountain exit, go right and bear left at the golf course and continue for a couple of miles. FOR A MAP OR MORE INFO, CONTACT THE SAN MATEO COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION FOUNDATION AT 650-321-5812. Feeling your Wheaties? Wanting some wine? Cruise the Silverado Trail, a 27- mile (one-way) skate thmugh Napa County's wine countly. The route-not a trail 01' bike path, but an actual road-will take you through the area's scenic mlling hills, past vineyards, wineries and the like, on a mostly wide, mostly smooth shoulder. The winery tours are the stuff of legend, and the hills don't roll too much. But the shoulder does narrow a bit between Howell Mountain and White Cottage roads. You can, of course, skate less than the full 27 miles (thel'e is a nice picnic area at the Conn Creek Winery at about Mile 13, which is as good a place as any to turn amund). But if you do choose to go the dis- tance, make sure you have a ride back, and definitely watch for tipsy tourists making rash driving decisions. To get there, take Highway 29 north and exit at Trancas Street, which you'll need to follow for a few blocks before it intersects the trail. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL SF SKATE GURU AND FRIDAY NIGHT SKATE ORGANIZER DAVID MILES AT 415-752-1967.