Yesterday I embarked on a bit of a time traveling journey
I have always wanted to take the hike known in my part of the woods
as "Path of the Padres"
it is called this because it was the path through the Diablo Range taken by the Padres
as they came from mission San Juan Bautista 35 miles along the Los Banos Creek and into the Central Valley in the early 1800's. My journey began with a pontoon boat ride for about 3 miles
to shore there we stopped and looked at the Tule that the Native Americans used to make skirts, boats, then we went to shore and began our 5 mile hike, along the path we saw beautiful wild flowers, eatable plants, came to a spot where the Native American tribe would crush acorns into a sandrock and continued our journey. Our lunch stop was located were the historic "baths" deep pools in the creek carved in bedrock which gave Los Banos it's town name. In 1805 the mission Padres and accompanying soldiers washed and rested here in Los Banos del Padre Arroyo simply known now as Los Banos Creek.
The canyon floor was is covered with 576 acres of old growth sycamore forest described by the Fish and Game biologists as the largest and most intact natural community left of it's kind in California.
I will continue more of this blog with photos later this week
