Castle Rock State Park is a treasure, climbers and hikers love it.

With Budget difficulties in California, several parks have been considered for closure to public access.
Castle Rock was on the list to be closed, but was granted a reprieve for one year by The Sempervirens Fund, here’s the press release:

Sempervirens Fund Commits $250,000 to Keep Castle Rock State Park Open

Agreement with State Parks signed on June 11, 2012

One-third of park will be open to hikers for the first time

LOS ALTOS, CA – Sempervirens Fund, a nonprofit conservation group, and California State Parks, announced this week that they have finalized an agreement wherein Sempervirens will provide $250,000 to keep Castle Rock State Park open for one year, starting July 1, 2012.  Castle Rock was one of the 70 parks slated to close this summer, but will now remain open to the public.  Sempervirens Fund is leading a collaborative fundraising effort with the Portola and Castle Rock Foundation, Adventure Out, and REI, with additional support from Planet Granite and Pacific Edge Climbing Gym.

As part of the agreement, an area of Castle Rock previously closed to public access, the San Lorenzo River Redwoods, will be open on July 1, 2012.  The addition of this 1,340-acre area, which contains the headwaters of the San Lorenzo Rivers and stunning redwood forests, will increase the accessible area of Castle Rock by 35% and add to the park’s trail system.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir

I am interested in the healing effects of Aloe Vera. I have used it for sunburn, burns, stretch marks and scars. It has many regenerative abilities. I welcome your comments and information.

John Gray has been doing research on various drugs, hormones and herbs for various ailments. For Women over 50 he recommends this:

NouVara’s MannosX Rejuvenating Aloe Vera Gel is packed with the healing nutrients of 10 Aloe Vera plants.
Aloe vera is the ultimate healing plant. The gel of the aloe vera plant has been used for centuries to soothe skin burns and treat skin conditions. In higher concentrations, aloe vera extracts can eliminate harmful bacteria as well. The reason is mannose.
Mannose is one of eight important glyconutrients needed by the human body. Glyconutrients are sugars used by cells in the body to produce glycoproteins and glycolipids, substances that assist with cellular communication.
Aloe vera is a good source of mannose. Mannose is mainly responsible for aloe vera’s immune-boosting power. One of aloe vera’s active ingredients in mannose is acemannan. Acemannan has shown to enhance the capabilities of the immune system and be an effective treatment for a multitude of viruses.
Nouvara’s MannosX Rejuvenating Aloe Vera Gel (click for video) contains up to 10 times the Acemannan content of other products on the market.
Vaginal dryness is a common problem for women in menopause but vaginal dryness can occur at any age. A decline in estrogen can thin and inflame the vaginal walls to reduce the amount of lubrication in the vagina. Along with vaginal dryness, you might also have itching and stinging around the vaginal opening. Vaginal dryness can make sex uncomfortable. We have discovered that Nouvara’s MannosX Rejuvenating Aloe Vera Gel can help add more lubrication and an overall soothing feeling to your most sensitive area.
Suggestions: Squeeze about 3 grams of gel (a little under 1 teaspoon). Put in vaginal applicator (purchased at any pharmacy). Insert fluid into vagina and leave in overnight (wear a pad). Repeat every other day for a couple of weeks and then continue to do this 2 times a /week or as needed.
The original use of the Aloe plant was in the production of Aloin, a yellow sap used by the pharmaceutical industry for many years as a laxative ingredient. Aloe vera gel has been used as a base for nutritional drnks, as a moisturizer, and a healing agent in cosmetics and medicines since the 1950s.
There are over 250 species of aloe grown around the world. Two species are grown commercially: Aloe barbadensis Miller and Aloe aborescens. In the United States, most of the Aloe is grown in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, Florida and Southern California. Aloe is also found in Mexico, India, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Australia and Africa.
Chemical analysis has revealed that aloe vera gel contains amino acids, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, proteins, polysaccharides and biological stimulators.
This aloe vera gel is not to be confused with the juice, which is the bitter yellow exudates originating from the bundle sheath cells of the leaf.
Ingredients: MannosX, Perflurodeclin, Water, Glycerin, Glyceryl Polyacrylate, Proprietary Oxygenating Complex (Deuterium Oxide), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol pH: 5.0-6.0
Consult your health care provider prior to enjoying Nouvara’s MannosX Rejuvenating Aloe Vera Gel. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

YES, we women don’t often talk about this. However, check it out.  (And no, he is not paying me. LOL. I am just trying to learn more.)

Often discussed in yoga classes, and described by body types and blood pressure among many traits, this is a pillar of Indian medicine. Various types of foods and beverages fit with one dosha or another. The 3 basic types: Pitta, Kapha, and Vata although one person has a combination of all three with one being dominant. There are many references and also many qualified and knowledgeable  practitioners in our area.

From the WIKI:

Ayurveda (Sanskrit: ????????; ?yurveda, “the knowledge for long life in Vedas”; /?a?.?r?ve?d?/^[2]) or ayurvedic medicine is a Hindu system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India, in Rigved, the oldest known text in written form, where Chyavana rishi, son of Bhrigu rishi is mentioned for whom the herbal preparation Chyawanprash was first prepared, 10,000 years ago in Ashram of Chyavana rishi on Dhosi Hill in the Vedic state of Brahmavarta in India.^[3] The Su?ruta Sa?hit? and the Charaka Sa?hit?, encyclopedias of medicine compiled from various sources from the mid-first millennium BCE to about 500 CE, are among the foundational and formally compiled works of Ayurveda. Over the following centuries, ayurvedic practitioners developed a number of medicinal preparations and surgical procedures for the treatment of various ailments. Current practices derived (or reportedly derived) from Ayurvedic medicine are regarded as part of complementary and alternative medicine.

Safety concerns have been raised about Ayurveda, with two U.S. studies finding about 20 percent of Ayurvedic Indian-manufactured patent medicines contained toxic levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic. Other concerns include the use of herbs containing toxic compounds and the lack of quality control in Ayurvedic facilities.

Rocks that change and flow!

We think of rock formations as solid and unyielding, but Castle Rock has great examples that help us undertstand how much influence the elements can have and how this entired area is changing.  Vaqueros Sandstone is the name of the formation underlying Castle Rock State Park.

It looks like it might have once been pudding, or melted and bubbled – it has a special name- TAFONI. These intricate patterns result from the different erosion rates of the harder and softer regions within the sandstone. The harder regions with more calcium stay cemented together, while the softer regions with less calcium erode away. This formation might also remind you of fossilized sponge or coral.

TIMELINE: this entire area was once a broad sea floor, 30 to 40 million years ago. It was once a marine shelf, the sediments were deposited before the San Andreas fault existed.

The falls continue pushing the changes in the park: Phil Stoffer of the USGS in Menlo Park says

“In winter and spring, Castle Rock Falls, on Kings Creek near the Saratoga Gap trail, plunges about 80 feet down the rocks. Vaqueros Sandstone formations are found at spots around the Central Valley and at locations in the northern and southern Coast Range. Whether it was all originally formed in a single location and then broken up is not known. It could have been formed by similar conditions off the mouths of many ancient rivers during that era. In many areas, Stoffer says, the formation is just a few feet thick. But in the Santa Cruz Mountains, it crops up in a uniquely coherent mass, more than 2,000 feet thick.

The sandstone, a mix of quartz and feldspar crystals lightly glued together with organic compounds from ancient sea life, continues its journey today. Tectonic upthrust here matches or exceeds annual erosion, so the stone moves ever higher, and elements migrate within the rock, dramatically sculpting the shapes of exposed knobs of stone. Rainwater infiltrates the rock and dissolves calcium carbonate and other glues within it, then transports them back out to the rock surface via capillary action. Here they harden and armor the outer surface with a shell up to several feet thick. Meanwhile, unglued inner grains crumble, hollowing the outcrops from within.”

The sculpted shapes have built the large and distinctive forms of Castle Rock itself, Goat Rock, Skull Rock, and other smooth and bulbous nodes that attract and awe hikers and climbers. Some pictures of GOAT ROCK follow.

Castle Rock State Park is an extraordinary place, located in the SF Bay Area.
ADDRESS
15000 Skyline Blvd.
Los Gatos, CA 95033-8291
Park Office Telephone: (408) 867-2952 BEST TIME TO CALL is 8am when the rangers are starting their day.

FINDING THE PARK: YOUR GPS may indicate that you have arrived, just as you are passing the Rod and Gun Club, but continue on about 1/2 mile further until you see the large State Park sign that is at the entrance of the parking lot.

The park is located on Highway 35, just 2 1/2 miles southeast of the junction with Highway 9.
Castle Rock State Park, CA Latitude / Longitude: 37.2317 / -122.1158
PARKING: You will have to pay for parking $8 day, however, many people do park outside along Skyline Blvd. If you park in the parking lot, put your payment in the small payment envelope you’ll find near the kiosk. Seal it and drop it in the green, metal post with the slit for the envelopes. The rangers will ticket your car if you have not paid.

• Information about the trails
• YELP for Castle Rock SP
• Information published by Bay Area Hiker
• Article on Castle Rock Geology

Great course offerings. This is the first year that Yoga has been taught as a certificate course at College of San Mateo. There are 3 required yoga classes, one required yoga PE class and first aid. To get the 200 hours to be yoga alliance certified requires commitment, time and dedication. It is doable, fun, and will change your life. All this for the cost of units at a CA Junior college.

• Denaya Dailey, instructor for certificate program
  Adjunct Professor
  daileyd@smccd.edu
  Yoga Teacher Training at CSM
• Overview of Kinesiology at CSM