Yesterday, on 19 February 2023, my parents and I took a hike and walk in Round Valley Regional Preserve in Brentwood, CA. We saw lots of cows. You're probably wondering, "Didn't you just go on the 18th (the day before)?". Yes I did, but my dad saw the photos my mom and I took, and he wanted to go check out the preserve as well. My mom and I ended up going again taking him with us. I only took photos on my cellphone on this walk and hike. I hope you enjoy viewing my photos.
My dad still haven't recovered from his leg injuries a year ago, so he's back on crutches again (after tearing the muscle again). He climbed over the "gatekeeper hills" near the parking lot with my mom and they both sat near the creek for a while. I went on a hike and walk myself going from Miwok Trail to Murphy Meadow Trail then to Miwok Trail again, hitting the gate to the Los Vaqueros Watershed (which was closed), before returning via the same route.
Both photos I took are of cows, and they were both shot on Miwok trail.
A photo of cows and trees taken on Miwok Trail.
A photo of cows and trees taken on Miwok Trail.
My mom told me after sitting by the creek for a while, my dad wanted to go back to the car to take a nap. After, my mom took my dad back to the car, she came back to look for me.
Since cellphone service in the preserve is patchy, my mom and I communicated via the
Midland GXT1030 FRS Two-Way Radio (Affiliate Link) and the
Midland GXT1050 FRS Two-Way Radio (Affiliate Link). I did not expect the radio to be working too well in the preserve as the area is hilly and my communications with my mom would be partially obstructed, but the radios surprised me. I set both radios to transmit on "High". Our communication was somewhat broken and quite noisy at the 2 mile mark. I did off trail onto a slight hill on the side of Murphy Meadow Trail (GPS Coordinates: 37° 51' 04.6" N 121° 46' 56.4" W) to check-in with my mom twice. We were able to get the gist of what we were trying to communicate the first time (approximately 2 miles apart), and we had to repeat several times, but it was enough to get the message across. My mom said the radios completely stopped working at the 2.5 mile mark (second time I tried to check-in with her), but she thinks someone was using the same channel chatting in the parking lot (I heard patchy transmissions too and it seems a few kids were playing with their radios). As my mom came back to look for me, we used the radios to set a meet up point. Once we were within 1 to 1.5 miles, the communications were very clear despite the partial obstruction. We ended up meeting on Murphy Meadow Trail and started our walk back to the parking lot. I had a 3rd radio in the car because I knew my dad was going to go back for a nap. My dad used the extra radio I put in the car to communicate with us when we were around 3/4 of a mile from the parking lot. The communication was loud and clear despite the partial obstruction and the batteries in that radio running low (that radio switched itself to low power transmission due to the almost dead batteries). Overall, I was surprised at the performance of these 2 FRS radios from Midland!
The other story I wanted to tell was that around 1/2 a mile from the parking lot, my mom and I saw 2 Latino teenagers (probably around high school age) making attempts to tip calves and running. My mom said she saw them doing it earlier closer to the parking lot as well. We hiked as fast as we can toward the parking lot to put as much distance as we can between those 2 crazy teenagers and the cows they angered. As we were hiking away we heard several adult cows mooing very aggressively and they were running very fast toward those 2 crazy teens. If they got gored by a bull or headbutted by a heifer, they deserve it. 😂
This is all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos! Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.
