Old Dan Walking

[caption id="attachment_713" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sunset at 35000 feet"]

[/caption] To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Wildcat Loop Trail – Rancho San Antonio, CA(Opens in new window) 5 mile loop walk on the Wildcat Loop Trail in Rancho San Antonio County Park, Los Altos, California – August 26, 2009 Work took me back to the left coast again this past week, but fortunately after some all-day meetings I was able to take advantage of the extended sunlight hours and get outside for a quick walk. Two of my co-workers joined me for a walk through busy Rancho San Antonio County Park in Los Altos, California. This day-use park is leased by Santa Clara County and combines with an adjacent Open Space Preserve to provide 2300 acres of forested trails and other recreational features just minutes from overcrowded Silicon Valley. Unlike our nearly deserted April walk a few miles away in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, this place was bustling in a big way with runners, walkers, bicyclists, and RC plane hobbyists. Wildcat Loop Trail [caption id="attachment_710" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The south Bay from Vista Point"] [/caption] After busting out of the office and changing into some more appropriate hiking attire we hit the crowded highway for the short trip southwest of the office to Rancho San Antonio. We arrived with about 2.5 hours of daylight to spare and quickly headed out along the road/trail after picking out a suitable trail on the large map at the entrance. The trail changes character several times along our route, changing from a road walk at first to a wide asphalt path and finally to a narrow ‘real’ trail once we turn for the ascent up and over the Santa Clara Mountains. I notice the ‘Mountain Lion Habitat’ signs at the trailhead, although my hiking partner Mike didn’t believe there are any left in this area. Wildlife was surprisingly abundant though, as we spotted several groups of black-tailed deer, several colonies of ground squirrels, a hawk, a cottontail rabbit, a couple different flocks of California quail, and one visitor that got a lot of attention, a Western rattlesnake slithering across the trail directly in front of us. He/she was just cruising from the grassy area to the right of the trail to the wooded area on the left, and didn’t seem too bothered by all the attention. [caption id="attachment_714" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A centuries old Bay tree at Rancho San Antonio"] [/caption] The trail passes beside open grasslands, now brown in the typically dry California Summer, before slipping into the dry oak forest. After a short while we pass the 160-year-old Deer Hollow farmstead that still houses barn animals and contains a nice garden where huge sunflowers and pumpkins grow as well as many other plants. This is a popular spot for local school field trips. Soon after the Wildcat Loop Trail turns left and up the side of the mountain, gaining a few hundred feet via many switchbacks in the next 0.9 miles. Climbing, West Coast style. Along the way we are passed by jogger after jogger after jogger. If it’s solitude you’re after, this is definitely not the place. We warm up considerably by the time we gain enough altitude to start to see the Valley and San Francisco Bay in the distance. The characteristic Bay Area fog is visible to our far left, but the southern end of the Bay is clear and we can see for miles. Across the ridge expensive houses dot the mountain ridges. We pause to watch a hawk sail along in the upslope winds. Not long after we crest the mountain, and enjoy a break at Vista Point, a flat open area on top of the mountain with a nearly 180 degree view spanning from Sunnyvale south to San Jose. I take my birthday phone call from my son Thomas at this nice spot. [caption id="attachment_711" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Older Dan from Vista Point"] [/caption] Soon after we return via the other side of the loop, a nice downhill jaunt through an enclosed forest along a dry creekbed. We cross the dry creek on several nice ‘Smoky’esc’ footlog bridges. The return trip features our only sighting of some relatively small Coastal Redwood trees, a huge eucalyptus tree, a 200+ year-old Bay tree (of Bay leaf fame), and more black-tailed deer. This time we get to see a small buck with his rack of antlers. As the sun drops below the ridge we reach the car, and stay a minute to watch the RC planes and helicopters fly around the open field beside the parking lot. Mission accomplished, I was able to get one outdoor walk on this most recent trip. Thanks Mike for the suggestion. It turned out to be a memorable birthday walk filled with an abundance of wildlife and good company. [caption id="attachment_712" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Black-tail buck"] [/caption] Low elevation on today’s 5 mile walk was around 600’ at the parking area and high elevation was around 900’ at Vista Point. For pics of this walk, click the link below: Wildcat Loop Trail – Rancho San Antonio, CA(Opens in new window)

To skip the chatter and go right to the pics of this walk, click the link below: Old Sequoia Trail - Big Basin Redwoods State Park(Opens in new window) 4 mile loop hike on the Sequoia Trail (Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California), 2520 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - April 19, 2009 [caption id="attachment_312" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The crew getting ready to roll - L to R, Ben, Old Dan, David, and Randy"]

[/caption] Ok, so I have a 'real' job. During the week you'll typically find me behind the desk of my assigned 5x8 slice of America, trying to make a living. "When is my trip to the Smokies?". Well, on occassion my real job interferes with my habit and I have to travel somewhere on the other side of America. Just such an occassion recently interrupted my hiking schedule, but fortunately for me California has a trail or two around specifically for Smoky Mountain hiking addicts to catch a fix while traveling on business. Sunday, April 19th I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get one of my travel companion co-workers from back East, David Greene, away from his computer long enough to visit some of the famed Coastal Redwood trees just southwest of our Santa Clara offices. To my surprise he decided to join me and my other co-workers Randy Ott and Ben Tyson, after getting an early start and putting in a full day. So just after noon we grabbed a quick bite to eat and some disposable cameras and headed southwest...destination Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The drive over was less than 40 miles, but it would take us quite a while due to the a couple of the typical Bay Area traffic jams and some slow driving over the Santa Cruz mountains and through the winding Park entrance road. Along the way we passed increasingly gorgeous California homes and the quaint small town of Saratoga, which I'll definitely have to come back to with Melodi some time. One of the traffic jams was just outside of Saratoga at Saratoga Springs, where a huge picnic was underway. I have no idea what the hubbub was all about, but the barbeque smelled fantastic. We passed many wineries too and thought about stopping for a tasting, but our late start meant we had to keep going or we would see no big trees on this day. Just before entering the Park you begin to notice the massive redwood trees growing all around. Most of these are not the true giants, but we did find a few worthy of stopping for a picture. We had nothing but $5 disposable cameras, and David was rightfully concerned that pictures would not do the trees justice. After what seemed like forever on the supremely windy entrance road, we reached Park HQ and a chance to get some water, a map, and do the tourist thing. Also, Old Dan is also Bald Man Dan and I had forgotten my hat...so I forked over a few bucks for an official Big Basin hat. The weather today was 100% sun and very warm, with record highs all around the area. Bald Man Dan would need a hat. Stepping out of the car near the Park HQ and Visitor Center, you can't help but look up and go.....WOW! These massive 2000-year-old Coastal Redwoods grow over 300 feet tall. David had never seen these giants before, and he was definitely awestruck. This is must-see TV. The parking lot was pretty full, but we would find out later while walking that the trails, campgrounds, and picnic areas were pretty much abandoned. Seems strange to me with 10 million people just a 45 minute drive to the north. [caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="198" caption="Looking up a giant redwood"] [/caption] David and Ben talked to the Ranger at the Visitor Center and picked out a nice 4 mile loop trail called the Sequoia Trail. There are no "giant Sequoia" (Sequoiadendrum giganteum) trees growing in Big Basin, they grow only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas. Here only the taller but less girthy Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees grow. This was my 3rd time visiting the Redwoods, and I have yet to see a Sequoia. Off we went along the trail, noticing tree after tree. We must have stopped 50 times at different trees for pictures and to enjoy the peaceful silence. A blue jay joined us for a while and made lots of racket I assume trying to distract us from his nest. The Sequoia Trail winds through woods that have clearly been marked by fire on many occassions. The Redwood trees show the damage sometimes 100 feet up the trunk. Also impressive were the fallen giants all around. The forest was more diverse than I thought it would be, with many different species of trees, ferns, mushrooms, and wildflowers all around. Not like our Smokies, but more diverse that I imagined. We wound around through the trail and finally crossed the nearby road to view Sempervirens Falls. It looked like it had been quite dry up here recently, and the falls were not very impressive. But the ferns growing along the rock face, the opal color of the water, and the young Redwood growing in the pool made it a nice resting spot. We continued on up the trail, soon reaching Slippery Rock. Slippery Rock was about a 200 yard long barren rock incline that seemed like it would certainly live up to its name in the rain. But for Ben, Randy, David, and I, it was just a chance to work off some of the desk jockeying we had done all week. It was nice to get the heart pumping and do some incline walking, because the trail was reasonably flat most of the way. [caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The three amigos and one giant Coast Redwood"] [/caption] We looped around the Park and walked briefly beside Opal Creek, which was barely moving due to the lack of descent. We still were noticing tree after tree, and we stopped occassionally for pictures of the really giant ones. David continually joked that without decent camera equipment our pictures are going to look like we were standing in front of a pine tree at Harbison Forest back home, and unfortunately in many cases he was right. Soon we came to a peaceful bridge crossing at Escape Road, and we walked the road back to the headquarters. Along the way I kept noticing how empty the campgrounds and picnic areas were. Soon we reached the car and all of us commented about how very very happy we were that we decided to step away from our computers for a few hours. On the way back to Santa Clara we were treated to three deer and coyote passing just feet from us. It was a nice ending to a really peaceful walk among the giant Redwoods of coastal California that none of us will soon forget. [caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Coastal California has a few nice views too"] [/caption] I'll add more pictures when we get them developed (yeah, remember when you had to get pictures developed?). For now...see what we have below... Update April 21, 2009 - Well, I got the pictures developed but most did not turn out...bummer! I've added the few that did to the album. For pics of this walk, click the link below: Old Sequoia Trail - Big Basin Redwoods State Park(Opens in new window)