April Foolery at Almaden Quicksilver - Sun Apr 1

April Fools Day arrived and coincidentally was the re-scheduled date for the April W.A.I.S.T. Management hike at Almaden Quicksilver County Park.

We had a great turnout: me, Alberto (the leader; great job), Sarah, Michael, Jay, Anne, Maura, Barbara, Ed, and Linda (a special occasion to have her join us).  11 if you count Raleigh.

It was a modest hike.  We went up the Virl O. Norton Trail, wandered along the Randol Trail (with some detours) and then down the Buena Vista Trail to the New Almaden Trail which by which we returned to the parking lot.

The biggest detour was to climb up the Day Tunnel Trail only to find there wasn't anything of interest at the top.  So we turned around and retraced our steps on that one.  We were looking for the old mine shaft entrance where you can walk a ways into the tunnel.  That must be one of the other marked mine sites we didn't get to (San Cristobal, Santa Isabel, or April tunnels).

On the first major downhill after leaving the parking lot we found a group of bicyclists in the trail.  One women was sitting with her head kind of between her knees.  We asked if we could help but they said no.  A few minutes later, a fire truck drove up and administered first aid of some sort.  I'm not sure how that turned out.

We stopped for lunch at the Buena Vista mine site.

On the way back, Maura slipped on the wet rocks crossing Randol Creek.  She used her left arm to break her fall, and unfortunately, broke her wrist.  Ouch.  But she was amazing.  Jumped back up, refused to stop, and continued on to the end of the hike.  I was kind of worried we might have to summon that fire truck to come back, but that wasn't necessary.

We enjoyed a beer in the nice picnic area (although Maura declined in order to get to the hospital to get her arm fixed).  Thanks to Michael for that.

The hike was claimed to be around 4 miles but I added up the official length of all the trail segments and it came to over 5 miles.  I'm guessing 600' elevation gain (the top of the Day Tunnel trail is at 1200' according to the map).  Not too bad.

Next month is Bay to Breakers.  Remember we're doing the naked centipede thing again this year! (April Fools!).

But Barbara hinted at some kind of surprise extra-curricular hike the first weekend of the month.  Stay posted for that.

Hike totals: 5 miles,600' elevation gain

2007 totals: 113 miles, 25,900' elevation gain

Moon Over Mt. Eden - Sat Mar 31

On Saturday I took a break from various projects around the house to do a quick hike at the Mt. Eden trailhead at Stevens Creek County Park.

Raleigh and I went left at the start of the trail, down along the edge of the neighborhood there to the small corral (with 3 horses and 1 pig, as I noted in a previous post).  I had my altimeter and took careful measurements to see how much climbing this trip involved.

You go up maybe 25 feet from the parking lot, then descend to a little dry creekbed close to the road, then climb up another 25' or so to the washed out section of trail, then descend to the corral.  That's at 725' (according to my altimeter).  From there it is uphill the whole way to the end of the trail at the vineyard.

 

As you can see, it was getting dark.  That spot was at 1375' give or take.  So 650' climb from the bottom.  Add the little uphills along the way and it's a 700' gain for this loop.  Obviously, it is way more if you take the loop in the opposite direction :-).

Nothing much to note along the way.  It's just nice to be able to get out and away from civilization within a 15 minute drive from one's house.

Hike total: 2 miles, 700' elevation gain

2007 totals: 108 miles, 25,300' elevation gain

Sticking it to The Man at Fremont Older - Fri Mar 23

Took another Friday afternoon (evening, actually) walk with Raleigh up to Fremont Older.  We had a beer bash at work so I could get out reasonably early again.  I remember now that the week before Kai let us out early (he was heading out on vacation and was feeling generous, I suppose).

We did just about the same hike we had done Wed morning.  Well, not quite.  I headed up the hillside (cross country) from the bend in the road near the Creekside trail (following a firebreak, so it isn't like I'm trodding on untouched soil or anything).  At the top, Raleigh picked up the scent of something and we went across the grassy hillside across the Haystack trail (fire road).  There was a coyote sitting in the grass there.  They sometimes give Raleigh fits because he doesn't quite know what to make of them.  They look like dogs, but probably don't smell like normal dogs.  And they aren't with any people.

Anyway, we headed back over to the road.  A passing bicyclist remarked that the ranger was parked on the road up by Hunter's Point and he might write me a ticket for going off-trail.

Imagine that!  I told the bicyclist that they'd have to drag me kicking and screaming out of my land (or my portion of the public's land; my portion being that part which is well off the trail).  Actually, I checked the sign on the way out and it said that bicyclists and equestrians must remain on designated trails.  Which means, to me, that us folks on foot can go wherever the hell we please (even if it does mean regretting it a week later when the poison oak is at its worst).

Well, I headed towards the ranger but before getting there, I turned off on a short spur road, went cross country (take that!) up to Hunters Point, then down and around, returning back by the road and Creekside trail.

Arrived back at the car at sunset minus 30 seconds.  We're getting pretty good at that.

I've been studying the map and am planning a "Compleat Fremont Older" expedition which will have us covering every inch of trail in one outing (plus maybe Parker Ranch Trail to boot).  There are a maze of trail in this park!  Could require lots of advance planning to make sure we don't miss any.  Could be a good candidate for a moonlight, covert operation (as this park definitely closes after dark).

I do believe one could park at the foot of Parker Ranch Trail withnodifficulty, however...watch for an update soon.  Full moon is on April 2.

Hike totals: 2 miles, 200' elevation gain
2007 totals: 106 miles, 24,600' elevation gain

Good Morning Silicon Valley - Wed Mar 21

I took Raleigh out for a morning walk to Fremont Older on Wednesday.

We rarely get out in the morning, even on weekends.

It turned out to be a much better time to visit Fremont Older.  Seems everybody else was going to work or something.

Plenty of free parking.  Went up the Cora Older trail (which I usually avoid due to crowds).  Looped around Hunter Point and returned via Creekside Trail.  It was another beautiful spring day (that string of good weather ended today; I'm looking out the window at the rain right now).

It was kind of nice to look out on the valley in the morning light.  I think retirement might not be so bad...

Hike totals: 2 mi, 200' elevation gain
2007 totals: 104 miles, 24,400' elevation gain

Mt Eden Loop - Sun Mar 18

Sunday evening rolled around and I felt compelled to go out once again (third time on this weekend).

Took the short drive to Mt. Eden trailhead and took the "normal" route: up the main "trail", then up the ridgeline to the upper road, up that to the deadend at the vineyards, then back down the backside (following the private horse trails which they graciously open to public passage - thank you kind landowners).

Nothing of note to report, though.  It was late so we hustled down, then back up to the car (which is a bit disheartening) to finish before dark.  Only saw one other person: a homeless-looking kind of guy laying in the sun at the top of one of the switchbacks.  He would have kept me there till dark listening to his tales (about dogs) if I had let him.  Which I didn't :-).

Hike totals: 2 miles, 500' elevation gain
2007 totals: 102 miles, 24,200' elevation gain

Harver Bear Ranch Outlaws - Sat Mar 17

For some reason, I got it in my head that the new Harvey Bear Ranch county park (Santa Clara County) allowed dogs.  I don't know why.  But I planned a trip there, went (with Raleigh), and returned.  It wasn't till afterward that I noticed (researching another hike) that this park actually doesn't allow dogs on the trails.

Oops.

No matter.  We only saw 2 other people (but we did run into them twice during the afternoon).  Otherwise, we had the park to ourselves (aside from a couple people with horses and one guy with a llama in the parking lot).

The bottom line: I think they only care about the dogs in parks where there are people or if the dogs cause a problem.  Kind of like smoking pot, I suppose.

It continued to be a gorgeous spring weekend.  Warm and sunny with lots of poppies blooming.  I have lots of pictures which I'll upload later.

The hiking there is mediocre.  The lower reaches of the park are open and I'm sure very hot in the summer.  The ridge up at the top, above Coyote Lake, is nice walking with lots of oaks and gradual ups and downs.   This would be a nice up and back hike from Coyote Lake parking (thus avoiding some of the exposed, lower western-facing slopes and much of th climbing).

After we got to the top of the ridge, I decided to climb to the highpoint at the northern end of the park (there's a similar hill at the other end which we didn't get to).  At the top are piled a bunch of large rocks, which I had to scramble on to get to the highest point (which I just had to do :-).

Jumping down off the rocks, I heard what I immediately thought must be a rattlesnake!  It rattled and rattled and rattled for what seemed like minutes.  I stood still looking for it.  I wanted to take a picture and it didn't sound close enough to strike.  I never did figure out where it was.  As I retreated, it did another long rattle.

So I call that hill Rattlesnake Hill.

We headed south until it was time to head back.  Given more time, it would be nice to hike that whole ridge which would make about 8 miles or so up and back.  We doubled back a ways and headed downhill.  We had to chase some cows out of our path.  Got back to the car at sunset, exactly (as usual).

This hike puts me at the 100 mile mark for 2007!

Hike totals: 9 miles, 1500' elevation gain
2007 totals: 100 miles, 23,700' elevation gain

Spring has Sprung at Fremont Older - Fri Mar 16

Took off from work early on this Friday (I don't remember why; mostly fed up with crap going on there, probably :-).

I decided to head up to Fremont Older with Raleigh.  I don't usually get out on weekdays.  The first problem was that they were working on the railroad crossing at Prospect Rd.   I had to find the detour through the Seven Springs subdivision.  That wasted precious moments before sunset.

Then, the parking lot was still crowded.  Bad enough to find it that way on a weekday.  But with the main road blocked?  Sheesh.

We did get a spot and headed up the road.  Took the creekside trail cutoff, as usual, then got to the fire road through the grassy hillsides.  Poppies everywhere.  It was sunny and warm.  The grass was green.  Raleigh had a great time eating it.

It was already getting late so we just went up to the Hayfield Tr turned left, went a ways, then cut back down to the fire road leading back to the Creekside Tr.  Saw a few deer on the hillside above the trail where they usually assemble.  Nothing else of note.

But a nice outing to close out the work week.

Hike totals:  2 mi, 200' elevation gain
2007 totals: 91 miles, 22200' elevation gain