I’m generally not a fan of New Year’s resolutions and rarely ever bother to make one. Forcing myself to be a better version of me while the weather remains cold and terrible just doesn’t seem fair. I understand the idea of new year, new you, but can’t I just follow the Earth’s lead by waiting until the weather improves and better myself then? The idea of a spring resolution makes more sense to me. It’s like spring cleaning, but for your life.
Anyway, If I did make a resolution, which I didn’t, it would be to do more of something I enjoyed. More camping, more traveling, more brewery tours, more wine tastings, more Netflix binges, more time sleeping…I think this is going the wrong direction. More hiking. I should go with more hiking.
Sticking with my Not a New Year’s resolution, I was lucky enough to be somewhere warm enough to start the year off right with a hike. Happy New Year’s Hike!
Located on the northeast side of Chico, CA in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada is Bidwell Park. At over 3,600 acres, it is the third largest municipal park in California. (Thanks, Wikipedia!) The park is divided into two portions, the lower and the middle/upper park.
Full disclosure, this is where this post starts to match the terrain. It gets rocky. Being that this hike was not planned by me, and was actually somewhat spontaneous, I did not have the chance to look at the map prior to the excursion. I can confidently say that I am not 100% sure where we hiked.
Here’s a map of the area: Upper Bidwell Park Map
I know that we parked by the gun club, found a trail, and started from there. Looking back through my photos after, I took a picture of the rock formation known as Monkey Face. Did we take the trail up Monkey Face? Unknown. Unlike other posts, I’ll keep the trail descriptions to a minimum. Please enjoy the photos instead.
Monkey Face in the distance!
A zoomed in version of the photo above for a better view of Monkey Face.
Gradually making our way to the top.
Now for the views from the top. The entire climb took about 15 minutes.
Notice the rocky terrain at the top. The trail disappears at the top, allowing hikers, human and doggo, to explore as they wish.
Photo op at the top!
That cluster of people creeping in the background is more of our hiking party.
After enjoying the views, we headed back down the trail. We took the same way back down but that cluster mentioned about found a different way down on the other side of the rock face.
Looking back, this was a very pleasant hike with rewarding views. The trail was mostly flat, with a few areas the required some light climbing. It was a popular trail for dogs as well as people, which tells you about the extent of the climbing. Looking at the park map, there are tons of different trails going further into the foothills. I would love to be able to explore the area further with a better understanding of the trails. Next time!