Chasing Goals

Looking north toward the downtown San Jose and the SF Bay

Late this afternoon I had the chance to experience some trails in south San Jose's Santa Teresa County Park. Being close to work was nice, and being close to the Almaden Quicksilver park encouraged me that this would be a nice place. I started at the south side, Stiler Ranch entrance. The sign said 3.75 miles to Coyote Peak. It was already 5:00 PM and I had to be done by sunset so I set out for 2 hours. I was able to amble along quite well and hit the peak right at 600 PM. The trail starts with a connecting trail just above private roads and horse-oriented homes. Then it follows a creek of sorts with running water at spots, passes by what looks like an old campground complete with large empty pool under magnificent oaks and other creek trees. Eventually, at about mile 1.3 the connector met up with Santa Teresa trail system. I took the appropriately named "Rocky Ridge" trail. It followed back into a small canyon with an intermittent creek at the bottom and lined with the oaks and willows. The trail followed just outside this cool vegetation, crossed the creek bed and gently headed up and around the canyon until it hit the ridge line. Continuing the relatively gentle slope, the trail followed the really rough rocky ridge all the way to Coyote Ridge. It was only .3 miles to the peak and the clock said it was 5:40. So I made it up and checked out the radio tower and the views. It was a good time to consume water and an energy snack. The temperature was in the low 80s and I had no hat or shade as i hiked the trail so I was worn down. Now rejuvenated and knowing I had only an hour to get back and not familiar with the trail options, I decided to take the same trail back. (I'll check out the other trails another time.) On the way back down I reflected on the trail and decided it was rather boring and my motivation was mostly about beating the clock and making the peak The rocks on the ridge were genuinely interesting because of how rugged they were and colorful from the lichens on most. But the grasses were all dry brown and no evidence of animals was seen. I did have a little excitement near the end of hike when I heard a big noise in the trees down by the creek. It turned out that turkeys were dropping out of a tree to look fo food. The one tom was enormous, he looked like an ostrich! And finally on the up hill side I heard some padding about in the manzanita brush. Sounded like something large, but I never did get a glimpse. - A shout out to Susan for encouraging me to get the boots and pack. They were great, feet feel great and the pack is just right for the necessities of this type of hike. (The old IBM Storage Systems plant, now Hitachi is at the base of this hill.)

Almaden Quicksilver County Park Hiking

Second time in this park. Took the historical trail a few weeks ago which follows dirt roads used for years in the mining operations on this hill. But today I hiked in a different area, starting at the Mockingbird Hill trailhead. The single track, hiking-only, trail followed the contours of the hills out onto grassy knolls and into deep dark ravines. One actually had a running water stream. Lots of magnificent oak trees filled with silver gray lichens, just beautiful. One section was a whole hillside full of the largest manzanita bushes (almost trees) that i've ever seen. They were showing off bright red trunks, and bushy limbs provided shade as I hiked through. Time getting tight, I climbed up the Prospect #3 trail up to the Randolf road trail. Easy downhill grade for a mile or so with sun low on the horizon filtering through the trees. As the day progressed to sunset the bugs started their evening calls. Lots of little birds in the underbrush but no other animals seen today. The Randolf road dropped to a connector trail, Buena Vista trail which followed down the front of a hill back to the New Almaden Trail. A little over a mile back to the Mockingbird Hill parking lot. A nice respite from a busy work world.

Almaden Quicksilver County Park Historic Hike

Nice 6.5 mile hike around the historic mines and related operations from the late 19th century in Santa Clara County, CA. The route was highlighted by a Boy Scout as an Eagle project with stop posts providing site descriptions in a brochure created for the Eagle project. The indigenous americans were enamored by the bright red stone found in the side of the hill here. A U.S. military captain knew the red stone contained mercury (with sulfur) and captured the mine for himself. At one point President Lincoln issued a writ ordering the mine to be taken over by the government, but the local military leader refused to follow the order and Lincoln reconsidered and withdrew his order. There are over 100 mines on this hill, all closed up now. There were 1800 people in the camps during the heyday of the mines. The miner camp became a CCC camp in the 1040 era where many people found work and were very constructive for the local economy.

The weather this afternoon was sunny, clear, and about 93 degrees in the sun. Since it was late afternoon (4:30 start time), there was plenty of shade on the roads/trails where the temperature dropped to a comfortable range. This time was good because it brought out lots of wildlife. I almost stepped on a eight-rattle snake, bumped into a fox nosing around in the plants on the high side of the road, deer running across the road, and a 6-point buck grazing in a cool glen. Of course, lots of birds, squirrels and lizards flew and scrambled through the bushes. Beautiful huge oaks, some with lots of color from the lichen and moss, stood in large groves and were surrounded by wildflowers, manzanita chapparal, and grasslands. Views into San Jose, the eastern hills, and the lush green western hills were inspiring.

A nice change of pace and some good exercise. A good way to finish the day.

Hiking Fremont Older Open Space Preserve

Fremont Open is adjacent to Stevens Creek County Park, jutting into Cupertino and Saratoga, CA.

The views are beautiful from throughout the preserve. The top skyline view is of north San Jose and the bay. It is from Maisie's Peak, the highest point in the preserve. The lower skyline view is the San Jose downtown and points south, also from Maisie's Peak.

The view to the left is of Hunter Point from Maisie's Peak. These are two good destinations for my two hour escape from the office exercise opportunities. This preserve has a nice set of trails perfect for this mid-50 office mole seeking to return to some kind of idea of my previous life as a human. There is just enough variation in elevation to break a good sweat and start pressing the muscles into shape again. There are a good set of options for a couple of hours of hiking without much backtracking.

I started at the Prospect Road parking area at the back end of the Saratoga Country Club. The parking is free and has space for about 15 cars. A portable toilet is available here. There are two immediate options to get into the preserve, a trail to the right of the signpost, and the paved road continuing past the parking area. A few yards up the road is the entrance to the creekside trail. This was a pretty trail for my return route. For the way up I took the road which passes by some interesting homes. I'm envious of their rural setting and nice views. Passing the last house, the road becomes dirt and the creekside trail meets the dirt road. A little way up the road, the Seven Springs trail takes off to the right. This was a wonderful choice. It tracks about 2/3 of the way off the Ranch Road valley floor, wandering among high trees and plenty of undergrowth. Lots of scrambling animals were all around me, mostly birds, squirrels and lizards. I did have a couple of deer lead the way for me later in the park.

This Seven Springs Trail traces just below the ridge line and then drops down to the Ranch Road. It leads down to private property or as a trail back up a steep haul to the Hayfield Trail (back in the direction I came from). But I continued on the Seven Springs trail to head over to about the northernmost point of the preserve. It circles back just below another ridge line. After about a mile, there is an interesting short side trail (to take at another time). It promises to be a pretty stand of trees and undergrowth in a little canyon. I continued up to Hunter's Point and admired the view for a minute.

From there I headed down Hayfield Trail, a wide firebreak road between fields of grasses with a smattering of oak trees here and there. Near the intersection that goes back down toward the parking area I could see the remnants of a walnut orchard, at least a few rows of mostly dead trees. Continuing on Hayfield Trail, I crossed over to the next ridge and set of trails in lush hills. At the Toyon Trail junction, I chose to take it and enjoyed the shade and relatively level trail for a few hundred yards. There is a tall and large Eucalyptus tree in the nook of the hill. The tree was rattling noisily in a wind. But strangely none of the other oaks or pines was experienced it. Deer scrambled up the hillside as I passed. The junction with Bayside Trail became the turning point to start heading back. The trail climbed a bit to join Coyote Ridge Trail, another wide dirt fire road trail. This is where a couple of deer walked the road in front of me for a hundred yards or so, with heads turning back now and then to see if I were still coming. I found my way to Maisie's Peak for the view and a couple of pictures. Then I headed down to Coyote Ridge Trail and the intersection with Hayfield Trail, Seven Springs Trail, and down to the Creekside Trail. This creekside trail was steep; I was glad I decided t take it down to the parking. It was nice a cool inside the shade cover from all the trees. Prospect Creek was dry but it is obvious that it runs quickly when there is rain and cuts deep in spots.

Total hike was about 6.9 miles. Gained about 500' starting at 580' and peaking at 1050', with four 200' gains and a couple of 200' drops, finishing with a 500' drop from Maisie's Peak to the Parking lot. The hike took about 2 hours.

NHWP 2010 Trip

Amazing view of the city Sibenik, Croatia on the Dalmatian coast. The city is over 1000 years old, going all the way back to the Ottoman Empire as evidenced by the rock fortress on the top of the two hills. Inside the city are at least 4 Catholic churches each built about 100 year apart in styles showing the impact of the church on the lives of the people as well as the impact on the church from other cultures influencing Croatia. One can feel the culture brought from the Turks, Greeks, Romans, Russians, and Germans.

As the sun lowers in the sky, the boys prepare to swim in the modern pool. One of the few really up to date structures in the area. This area is not so prosperous. empty lots, crude construction, run-down buildings, narrow and cobbled roads are everywhere (though the road we traveled through Croatia was a tool road, very new, and very smooth and modern).

What an experience. Modern and Ancient abutting. Just as the Olympics are both modern and ancient. Good inspirations.

See the rest of the pictures from the Croatia part of the trip here.

Also, here is the day by day blog as entered by one of the dads on the trip.

See the rest of the photos from the opening evening of the new Spieker Aquatics Center at UCLA along with the first home game of the season for the Men's Water Polo team.

High School Started

It was nice, but summer is over now. Good news is I am working from my home office this week and get to see Davy play in a scrimmage tomorrow afternoon and possibly in a JV tournament this weekend. Bad news is work is droll with a corporate audit starting Monday, and we're scrambling to be ready to try to look good. So I'll miss the NCAA tournament at Princeton this weekend. Instead I fly to the Bay Area Sunday afternoon. Will stay through the following weekend to watch the NCAA NorCal tournament at Stanford the next weekend. This is the busiest time of the year... Be sure to check out the UCLA Men's Water Polo web site for news releases, schedules, roster, etc.

Dinner in San Raphael

Excellent, unusual, fun, casual, authentic.

Good times.

Evening in San Francisco

Nice evening from the north tip of San Francisco from Lincoln Park. 

Back in the Bay Area

On work travel again this week.