People: Jean Rusmore brings Peninsulans closer to nature and history through trail guides People: Jean Rusmore brings Peninsulans closer to nature and history through trail guides (November 13, 2002)

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

For more than 50 years, Jean Rusmore of Ladera has been hiking the forests and creeks and meadows of the Peninsula. For 20 years, she's been sharing her love of the plants and animals, cozy nooks and vistas, history and culture, with thousands through a series of guides to Peninsula trails.

"Peninsula Trails," written with Frances Spangle of Ladera, first appeared in 1982. After selling almost 70,000 copies, the fourth printing of the third edition came out in April 2001. For this edition, the late Betsy Crowder of Portola Valley joined Mrs. Rusmore in hiking all 577 miles of trails described in the book, which thread some 60,000 acres of public parkland on the Peninsula.

"South Bay Trails," first published in 1984 with the third edition appearing just a year ago, adds 568 miles of trails, traversing 220,000 acres of parkland, including Castle Rock, Big Basin and Henry Coe state parks. It is dedicated to Mrs. Crowder, who died two years ago in a freak automobile accident.

"She was a wonderful friend -- fun, adventurous, forthright, and very kind," Mrs. Rusmore says. "I miss her a lot."

This past August, Mrs. Rusmore's third trail guide, "The Bay Area Ridge Trail," appeared in its second edition. It describes 230 miles of the trail, which will eventually extend 435 miles along ridge tops ringing San Francisco Bay. All her books have been published by Wilderness Press in Berkeley.

What keeps her going? "It's a lot of work," Mrs. Rusmore admits. "I loved to be outdoors. I love the county. To have the focus of a book gives me the impetus to get out."

Jean Rusmore first went backpacking when she was 16 and climbed Mt. Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains with a cousin. "We had no fancy backpacks. We rolled up some food with a blanket," she says.

Those were the days when Anaheim and Orange County were big open country. "We rode bikes on country roads and hiked in the hills," Mrs. Rusmore recalls during an interview in the Ladera home where she and Ted still live after raising six children.

She met Ted Rusmore at International House at Berkeley, when she was studying physical education and he was studying psychology. They married right out of college.

Mr. Rusmore taught psychology at San Jose State University from 1948 to 1988. Early in that time, they joined the Peninsula Housing Association, and moved to the model community of Ladera in 1950, among the first 20 families. "We didn't have a phone," she remembers.

As a young mother, Mrs. Rusmore became friends with Ladera neighbor Frances Spangle, who introduced her to the League of Women Voters. They used to take their children hiking and backpacking to county and state parks, and Mrs. Rusmore joined the San Mateo County Trails Advisory Committee.

After the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, formed in 1972, began to buy new areas of open space -- Windy Hill, for example -- opportunities for hiking in local parks and open space grew dramatically.

"These were hidden gems," Mrs. Rusmore says. "Nobody knew about the trails. They didn't tell anybody."

Thus was born "Peninsula Trails: Outdoor Adventures on the San Francisco Peninsula," first published in 1982. The two women moved their hiking south, and two years later published "South Bay Trails: Outdoor Adventures in & Around Santa Clara Valley."

Mrs. Rusmore can even write while walking. "I scribble notes while I'm walking," she says. "I write on one page and leave the other one open. Then when I get home I transcribe my notes.

"I seem to have a visual memory," she adds. "It seems I can remember junctions and trees and vistas and creek crossings."

While Mrs. Spangle has retired to Marin County, Mrs. Rusmore is still a sturdy hiker. She especially enjoys monthly hikes with an informal group that calls themselves the "Walkie-Talkies." "They've helped me explore a lot of trails," she says.
Helpful guides

Even within the covers of a book, Mrs. Rusmore makes a fine guide to the varied experiences of hiking trails throughout the Peninsula. Helpful and knowledgeable, she tells you what you need to know, and never rushes you.

Besides maps, and information on climate and history and plants and trail etiquette, Mrs. Rusmore's Peninsula trail guides each has an appendix on how to choose a trail. Called "Trails for different seasons and reasons," this section suggests trails for rainy days or spring flowers. It gives short, level trails for kids, and long hikes or loop trips. It suggests trails for vistas, or bird watching, or historic ranches. There are listings for bicyclists, equestrians, and wheelchair users.

In the southern areas, Mrs. Rusmore particularly enjoys the trails around Castle Rock and Big Basin state parks, and the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail. This she enjoys doing as a series of loops, rather than a march that requires long car shuttles. One walk has three waterfalls -- Golden Falls, Silver Fall, and Berry Creek Falls -- she says. Another follows Opal Creek from its headwaters. "It's called that because the waters have some oils in them that give it opalescence."

Mrs. Rusmore and her companions have had lots of wonderful experiences, but no scary adventures. "We've seen bobcats and many deer, and crossed a lot of creeks," she says. "We crossed Waddell Creek on a narrow piece of aluminum like a single railroad track -- the bridge was out."

Closer to home, Mrs. Rusmore loves the Soda Gulch Trail in the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, west of Skyline. "The trail goes back into a ravine where lovely tributary streams run most of the year," she says. "It's really quite cool, with ancient redwoods."
INFORMATION

Jean Rusmore has written part or all of three books on trails:

** "Peninsula Trails: Outdoor Adventures on the San Francisco Peninsula," by Jean Rusmore, Frances Spangle and Betsy Crowder. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California. Third Edition, 1997. $14.95.

** "South Bay Trails: Outdoor Adventures in and around Santa Clara Valley," by Jean Rusmore, Betsy Crowder and Frances Spangle. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California. Third Edition, 2001. $16.95.

** "Bay Area Ridge Trail: Ridgetop Adventures above San Francisco Bay," by Jean Rusmore. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California. Second Edition, 2002. $15.95.