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.