Los Trancos Open Space Preserve

"Every feature of Nature’s big face is beautiful—height, hollow, wrinkle, furrow, and line.” John Muir

Directions: Take Highway 92 west to Skyline Boulevard, then go 20 miles south to intersection with Page Mill. Turn left, proceed one mile, and look for parking area on your left. The Monte Bello Open Space Preserve is directly south of Los Trancos.

Grade: Easy. Elevation loss of about 200 feet.

Distance: 1.5 miles.

Time: Two hours to enjoy the trail and inspect the fault line.

Special Conditions: Toilet facilities across Page Mill Road in the Monte Bello parking lot. No dogs on trail. No drinking water. No bikes allowed on the San Andreas Fault Trail, but they are permitted on other preserve trails. Watch for poison oak at trailside. Check for ticks and watch for rattlesnakes. Preserve is managed by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. Phone: 650-691-1200; e-mail: mrosd@open.org.

We hear a lot about the “big one,” the “mother of all earthquakes,” which, believe it or not, will some day knock us off our pins. Stress will overcome friction, and the Pacific Plate will lurch forward at lightning speed, and where will it stop?

This week’s walk is your opportunity to view up close how nature adjusts to a sudden rupture of the Earth’s surface. In this area, the land shifted only about 2 to 3 feet, while north of the Golden Gate, the shift was in the range of 15 to 16 feet. This is only one fact among many found in the informative preserve brochure available at the trailhead. Be sure to pick up one as you start this hike, and take time to visit the eight stations along the way.

Station One identifies rocks that were moved over the course of a couple of million years to this location from Mount Loma Prieta, 23 miles to the southeast. That’s 23 miles or 121,440 feet of defined movement, compared to only 2 to 3 feet in the last 93 years, a clear precursor of things to come.

Station Three illustrates a typical “bench,” and a photograph in the brochure shows actual cracks in the earth’s surface. Other stations show the formation of sag ponds, landslides, pressure ridges, and other earthquake features. During this hike, keep your eyes on the posts—numbered posts mark the interpretive stations, and banded posts mark the fault breaks—yellow for the 1906 earthquake and white for minor fault breaks.

Start this hike at the west side of the parking lot (not the trail leading from the signboard). After a short climb, you cross a ridge with excellent views to the north and south. As the trail descends to an intersection with the Franciscan Loop Trail, notice the Crystal Springs Reservoir and San Andreas Lake to the north, both located along the San Andreas Fault Line. Cross over the Franciscan Loop Trail, and gradually descend along a grassy hillside under a canopy of oaks and over two horseshoe turns to a junction. A nice bench is located here in honor of Flora Lamson Hewlett, “who loved the mountains and helped others enjoy them as well.”

Turn left and continue along the Fault Trail, which is a loop into and out of the fault zone. Along the way are six more interpretive stations with interesting facts and observations on what happened during the 1906 quake.

This is a nice short hike for any season. Good views, open grassland, damp woods, and assorted wildflowers make this an ideal getaway. And while you’re there, read one more time the “Earthquake Preparedness” section of the preserve brochure, and protect yourself against the inevitable.

Your comments and hiking suggestions are always welcome. Fax to the Independent at (650) 692-7587, or e-mail to: trekertom@aol.com.