Tromp Blog

Enjoy the changing colors of the leaves and the serenity of hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Oh, and a chai recipe to warm you up!

This is a great opportunity for a guided outdoor experience.

Long referred to as “The Door,” Del Puerto Canyon winds 22 miles through the Diablo Range, connecting the San Joaquin Valley to San Antonio Valley and, eventually, the greater San Francisco Bay area.

A gargantuan spiderweb hangs across the steep dirt road. It shimmers, translucent in the sunlight, slack lines nearly imperceptible. As I duck the web and trudge further up the road's corkscrew turn, the thick brush, thistle, weeds and poison oak part, revealing an ancient looking stone bench on the shoulder above the road.