<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content"><channel><title>EveryTrail Feed</title><description/><link>http://www.everytrail.com</link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 09:28:21 -0200</lastBuildDate><pubDate>Sat, 25 May 2013 09:28:21 -0200</pubDate><image><url>http://www.everytrail.com/images/everytrail-logo.png</url><title>EveryTrail</title><link>http://www.everytrail.com</link><description>GPS travel community, geotagging, geotagged photos, Google Maps, GPS tracks, waypoints, coordinates</description><width>144</width><height>41</height></image><item><title><![CDATA[Dish 1/8]]></title><description><![CDATA[<br>]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1974185</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1974185</link><pubDate>Tue, 8 Jan 2013 14:18:55 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant]]></title><description><![CDATA[<br>]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1932592</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1932592</link><pubDate>Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:44:47 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dish Hike 6-12-2012]]></title><description><![CDATA[<br>]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1918672</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1918672</link><pubDate>Thu, 6 Dec 2012 15:58:40 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Return to Torineko Peak]]></title><description><![CDATA[<br>]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1780025</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1780025</link><pubDate>Sat, 22 Sep 2012 20:42:58 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dish Hike 9-21]]></title><description><![CDATA[<br>]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1778182</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1778182</link><pubDate>Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:46:27 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[9-19-12 Stanford Dish]]></title><description><![CDATA[<br>]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1775956</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1775956</link><pubDate>Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:23:40 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Park in the Fog]]></title><description><![CDATA[I took the day off and went up to my favorite park for a hike with my boxer dog Cody.  It was foggy and after yesterday's rain, a little damp.  Good hiking conditions as far as I'm concerned.   We parked in the main parking lot and hiked over to the Dutch Flat trailhead.  I was considering going north on the Heron trail and into the northwest corner of the park, but I dislike walking along Mt. Hamilton Road so I decided to turn the other way. We went South down the Dairy trail to the Brush trail and then return on the San Felipe trail.  We saw a lot of hawks and damned if we didn't see (and got yipped at by)  three coyotes together.   The hawks, mostly red tails, but at least one red shouldered, were everywhere and there were three together in one place.  I'm not an expert on raptors, but I think that this time of year you see them flying together quite a bit.  One of them was doing an s-pattern above the trail and didn't seem to mind me at all.  Unfortunately, the light was pretty low so I wasn't able to get a good picture.The coyotes were something else.  we were on the last section of the Brush trail and they came sauntering across the meadow ahead of us.  They picked up their speed a little when they saw us, but by no means did they scamper away and hide.  In fact one of them lagged behind the others and actually sat down and watched us walk by.  Then, as we continued down the trail they started howling and yapping at us from the ridge they had climbed.  It was a little unnerving to say the least.  Unfortunately (again) I didn't get any good pictures of them.We made the end of the trail and turned on to San Felipe which doubles back below the Brush trail, and as we passed the spot they had been yapping at us from the other side, they started yapping again.  Weird.Anyway as we came back towards the parking lot, the sun started to come out and it started to warm up.  The Mount Hamilton Observatory  came out from behind the clouds and I heard a hawk calling from a nearby tree.  Looking at it from the picture I'd say it was a Red Shouldered hawk.  Note the yellow bump on its sere.  Great Hike as usual.  I didn't even mention the wonderful oak trees along the trail but this is already way too long... <br><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_HuR5XNL40iE/TL0oiLkZcpI/AAAAAAAADi4/_4ludP1GQWM/s200/Foggy%20Day%20at%20Grant.JPG"/> <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_HuR5XNL40iE/TL0oiu5DZzI/AAAAAAAADi8/An1fghzquE0/s200/Ent%201.JPG"/> <img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_HuR5XNL40iE/TL0ojDkm_ZI/AAAAAAAADjA/3b5XPzX268o/s200/Ent2.JPG"/> <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_HuR5XNL40iE/TL0ojr6LPOI/AAAAAAAADjE/KHmXCnbq-ik/s200/Seven%20Trunks%201.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=855457</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=855457</link><pubDate>Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:39:55 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sonol Wilderness - Little Yosemite and the Canyon View]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sunol Regional Wilderness – Little Yosemite
 Valley and the Canyon View Trail

Sunol Regional
Wilderness website

 

The last of this week’s rain had passed through and I knew
it was going to be a gorgeous day so I played hooky and went for a hike at
Sunol Regional Wilderness.  I got my
usual late start and took the scenic route to the park via the South end of Calavaras Road –
where it goes by Ed Levin Park.  It’s a
pleasant drive and not that much longer than taking the freeway to the north
end of the road.

 

This is my first trip to the park and the draw was that it
had a place called Little Yosemite.  I
figured to have garnered a name like that it had to be a nice place, though the
pictures I  had seen of it didn’t really live
up to the hype.  I think I found out why.I parked for free at a lot just past the VisitorsCenter
after having picked up a map at the entrance station which was not
occupied.  The lot was next to a
footbridge across Alameda Creek and I cut right to follow the Indian Joe Nature
Trail/Canyon View Trail.  The signage is
a bit worn out (to be generous) and there are a number of  unmarked but nonetheless well worn trails in
many places along this hike, and I managed to get off track a bit.  I followed the creek for a while before the
trail all but quit at which point I headed up a faint trail until I rejoined
the Canyon View.  I then took the
McKorkle trail back down to Camp
  Ohlone Road and followed it the rest of the way to
Little Yosemite, making numerous detours to check out the creek.   I soon made it to the bottom of the gorge
and began to understand why the photos I had seen were underwhelming.  The underbrush is very thick, and between
that and the steep banks, it was very difficult to get a good perspective.  Also, while there are rather dramatic rock
formations on either side of the creek, they are dark colored and blend into
the foliage so its hard to get a shot where they stand out.

 

In any case, we explored the area thoroughly and to get a
few good shots of the place and then headed up to the Cerro Este Road to where
it joins the Canyon View and headed back along that trail.  This was a nice trail despite the #@!$% cows
and their %$!@# pies. It’s a single track that at first follows the steep-sided
canyon and then wanders through picturesque meadows until it gets back to the
McKorkle trial where it drops back down into the woods.  There is a side trail that takes you to the
edge of a steep cliff that overlooks Little Yosemite.  It’s not a long detour and the drop off is
dramatic so I highly recommend it.

 

All in all it was a very nice hike.  There wasn’t a lot of elevation change, but scrambling
around the rocks at the gorge took its toll so the five miles or so was plenty
for me

 

Slideshow
on Picassa <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1194489-Alameda_Creek.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1194514-Thistle.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1194496-Clover.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1194503-Little_Orange_Flower.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=595945</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=595945</link><pubDate>Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:51:33 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park – Down to the River]]></title><description><![CDATA[Almost 39 years a go, when I was still in high school, my
family moved to Santa Cruz and one of my first memories of the area was taking
my Schwinn Super Sport up Graham Hill Road to Henry Cowell Redwoods and riding
the (often rough) trails down to the river. 
On Friday I took a vacation day and revisited some of that memory.

 

I could have parked for free down at the southwest corner of
the park, but I wanted a map and I really don’t mind contributing a few bucks
to the park system, so I parked up at the campground entrance and started on
the Graham Hill trail.  Like most of the
trails on this hike, the ground is very sandy, so with a few exceptions, even
where it was wet it wasn’t that muddy.  There
were little streams running in several places on this trail and there was a profusion
of little blue forget-me-nots just about everywhere I went in the park.

 

I was in Santa Cruz
to visit my parents for dinner and my dad, knowing where I was hiking joined me
at the junction of the Graham Hill trail and the Powder Mill trail and hiked
with me down to the Powder Mill creek. 
Whereas most of the GH trail had been scrub oak forest, we had now dropped deep into the
redwoods.  The creek was full and the
forest was thick with underbrush, shades of green, gold and the deep red-browns
of the young giants.

 

My Dad headed back to his car and I started climbing up the
other side of the canyon.  The trail
flattened out before too long, and I was back into the scrub.  

 

My original plan was pretty open ended, mostly due to the
fact that I couldn’t find a map with mileages on it on line, and in fact, the
map I paid $3 for at the campground didn’t have mileages either.  At the very least I was going to make it down
to the river on the Buckeye trail.   I
knew the river would be high and there wouldn’t be any place to get across, but
I thought it might be possible to bushwhack around to Big Rock Hole.

 

The Buckeye trail is a series of switchbacks down to the
river, and it’s mostly redwood forest.  I
could hear the river well before I could see it and it was as full as I
expected it to be.  I walked along it
until I ran out of trail and made the decision to backtrack and then take the Powder River Road
and the Pine trail back to the car.

 

This is a great hike in a very pretty park.  Except for about a half mile on the Powder
Mill road, it was all single-track.  
There were wildflowers blooming, streams running and though I ran into
about a dozen other people, it didn’t seem too crowded.  Highly recommended! <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1156940-Graham_Hill_Trail_2.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1156949-Horsetails.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1156906-Confused_Tree_2.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1156933-Forget_Me_Nots.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=580459</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=580459</link><pubDate>Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:55:34 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Ranch – Antler Point from Twin Gates]]></title><description><![CDATA[If you like sweeping vistas, wildflowers, and (ahem) squirrels, this is a hike you should consider.  At eleven miles, its relatively lengthy (for me anyway), but starting at Twin Gates eliminates some of the elevation gain and makes it a little easier in that regard.

 
It was a perfect day to be hiking, cool sunny and relatively clear.  The Canada de Pala trail goes up from the parking lot, past the upper end of the Yerba Buena trail and crests at a place with a large fallen oak; a very nice place to stop and take in the view (see my Oct 31 hike).  The trail then dips down and crests again, just a little higher before it drops down and passes the upper ends of the Los Huecos and HallsValley trails.

 
Most of this was familiar territory to me, but I hadn’t been beyond the end of HallsValley and I was looking forward to making the highest point in the park at Antler Point.  As you can see from the pictures, the wildflowers were out in force, particularly the Johnny-jump-ups, but though it was very colorful, I think its going to get even better over the next few weeks.

 
After we got onto the Pala Seca trail, as we were climbing up to the point a pair of rangers drove up and reminded me nicely that I should have my dog on his leash.  I often let him off when there is no one around for several reasons, but she reminded me that the rattlesnakes are out and about now and they could pose a danger.  So I snapped the leash back on and left it on for most of the rest of the walk which was good and bad…

 
Antler Point is at the end of a .3 mile single track that cuts off of the main trail.  The view is fantastic, but I wish the day had been a bit clearer down in the bay area. 

 
As if to confirm the ranger’s statement about the snakes being out, there was a gopher snake on the trail on the way back to Pala Seca.  It was pretending to be a stick, rather unsuccessfully as it’s tail was draped over the trail, but it didn’t move a micron even when I stuck the camera in its face.

 
There’s another beautiful overlook up there but it looks down into the Smith Creek canyon I saw the faintest of trails cutting right as I was coming down from the point.  I recommend you take a look if you go up there as the hillside is very steep there as it drops some 1500 feet into the canyon.

 
I was pretty tired, but I wasn’t going  to miss the rest of the Canada de Pala trail.  It cut steeply down to the Pala Seca cabin (occupied at one point by Herbert Hoover) and then into a marshy valley which I dubbed Valley of the Squirrels for its large number of fat, rather lazy squirrels.  Cody was constantly tugging at the damned leash, making photography and even just walking difficult.  By the time we left tat area I was pretty tired so other than running into a number of other hikers, the rest of the hike was pretty uneventful.

 
Great Hike!  I highly recommend it, but do it before the hills turn brown.  It will be unbearably hot in the summer.

http://picasaweb.google.com/brighto/20100327# <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1073878-Lupin_and...JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1073832-Bonhoff_Trail.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1073836-Checkerbloom.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1073837-Checkerblooms.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=549000</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=549000</link><pubDate>Sun, 28 Mar 2010 17:38:17 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Santa Teresa Park _ Ridge Trail Loop]]></title><description><![CDATA[For a period of about five years in the early nineties I
used to hike Santa Teresa Park with my dog Lucky almost every week.  We knew every of the park, especially between
the golf course and the Hidden Springs trail. 
We would most often start out at the Archery range on the Ohlone trail,
cut up on the CoyotePeak trail, and then
across on the Ridge trail.  Then Hidden
Springs back to CoyotePeak  and back down.

 

I repeated that loop Sunday, and despite meeting dozens of
people on the trail this time, it was as beautiful as I remember it.  

 

Except for one short section, Ohlone is single track all the
way from the Archery range to where it meets Bernal.  There were a good number of flowers blooming
along the first section of the trail. 
When it cuts away from the golf course it starts winding up the
hill.  This section winds through a relatively
dense forested area and right where you cut on to the Ridge trail, at Laurel
Springs there are a couple of picnic tables. 
There’s a very old Bay tree there that has sprouted a dozen or more
trunks, one of which leans lazily over a big, craggy boulder.  It’s a very pleasant spot.

 

Just beyond Laurel
Springs and before you start to climb again there is a little, rocky meadow
that was full of blossoming poppies; another pretty spot.  Once you start to climb, you break out of the
trees and the Santa ClaraValley begins to open up
below.  To the east you can see Metcalf
road winding up the foothills and the power lines that originate in Coyote
making their way up the hills and into Grant Park.  To the north you can see down town San Jose and beyond.  Of course if you make it all the way to the
top of CoyotePeak you get a much more expansive view,
but for the amount of climbing you do on the Ridge trail, you get your money’s
worth.  The flowers were very nice along
here as well, though not in full bloom yet.

 

At the north end of the ridge the trail hooks down to the
Hidden springs trail.  After a short
steep climb you come to a meadow with a little pond on the right.  The trail flattens out until you approach the
Coyote peak trail.  Again, the flowers
were nice, but not quite spectacular yet.

 

Coyote drops steeply back towards the Ridge trail with one
last overlook before you’re back in the forest. 
I had been walking slowly, taking a lot of pictures so it was nearly
seven and the shadows were getting long when I got back to the car.  

 

This is a very, very nice three and a half mile hike with
enough elevation change to make it moderately challenging, a variety of terrain
and some wonderful vistas.Big pictures on Picassa: http://picasaweb.google.com/brighto/SantaTeresaParkRidgeTrailLoop# <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1055901-lucky20.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1055892-Purple_Flower.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1055900-White_Stars.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1055875-Bridge.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=541334</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=541334</link><pubDate>Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:27:24 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Ranch - Torineko Peak]]></title><description><![CDATA[javascript:nicTemp();  There's no place called Torineko Peak that I know of, but some little friends of mine passed last week, and I thought that in their honor I'd name a beautiful place that seems to have no name other than Scenic Overlook after them.  Humor me if you will, they were very dear to me.Cody and I got to the park before nine and headed up Dutch Flat moving slow and stopping at every opportunity to snap a picture or two.  It was clear and chilly, but the climb kept me warm.  There were many more flowers today than any time I've been up here since October and with all the rain I'm sure it will only get better.  The poison oak is budding and turning much of the underbrush a shimmering red.  There's an amazing amount of it along this trail.Thanks to Antonys inaturalist.org entries I was able to ID the flowers I took pictures of.  I've (barely) started making a few entries of my own there. There was a light dusting of snow on Hamilton and other mountains to the east but much of it was gone by the end of the hike despite what most of us thermal wimps consider cold weather.  It was cold enough at the top that I put a windbreaker on over my fleece.So yet another hike at Grant, I really will branch out one of these days.Doug <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1012960-Neko_and_Tori.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1012966-Fuchsiaflower_Goosberry_3.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1012967-Fungus.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/1012969-Grant_Park_Entrance.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=525204</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=525204</link><pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:20:53 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Ranch - Bonus Hike]]></title><description><![CDATA[javascript:nicTemp();OK, so you're probably thinking I'm kinda stuck on Grant Ranch and your right, but it's close and I like the place and I'll branch out a little one of these days...In any event, this is the bonus hike because the power was out all day at work and I came home at about 11 and it was just a gorgeous day and, well, who wants to clean the garage anyway.I didn't have anything  in mind when I started out except maybe that I'd like to see how McCreery Lake filled in after the rain.  I decided to park in the main lot again (gotta make the pass pay off) and hike up the Hotel trail to the lake.  The lake was as full as it gets - water flowing over the top of the dam.  I circumnavigated the little pond looking for likely subjects and finding ducks, turtles and a few flowers.We cut over to Halls Valley trail via the McCreery Lake trail along a little canal that funnels some of the water from the little lake over towards the big one.  At the bottom of the trail near where the Los Huecos trail originates there's a good view of the countryside north of the lake and what might be a way to get over to the Washburn trail.  Its my guess that the easiest way would be to follow the trail along Grant lake and stay above the arroyo.  Maybe someday.Today we headed up Halls Valley.  At this point I had Antler point in mind among other things.  It's the one area of the park that I haven't been to and in fact, it wasn't to be today either.  If you haven't been up the Halls Valley trail, I recommend it.  It's a bit over two miles from the fork and while the elevation change is considerable, the trail is seldom uncomfortably steep.  At the bottom it winds through the trees and is relatively flat for maybe a half mile.  Then it winds up the hill through an occasional grove of oaks but mostly out in the open.  About a half mile from the top I was surprised to see a little cascade next to the road and a little bit after that there was a noisy colony of acorn woodpeckers in an old, mostly dead oak.By the time I made the top, I was pretty tired and it was pretty late.  I decided to cut up to the top of Los Huecos and head down that trail.  Los Huecos is much steeper than Halls Valley and about a half mile shorter. It affords a good look at the valley to the north and west.When I got down near the bottom; when I could see McCreery again we cut off the trail and down to the lake.  I took another shortcut on the other side of the road and was able to get home in time to start the barbecue before it got dark.Nice hike, but I am going to conquer the Antler next and I know how I'm going to do it. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/956155-Start_Hike.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/956152-Ranch_House.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/956139-Hawk.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/956147-McCreery.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=504212</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=504212</link><pubDate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:31:12 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Ranch - Exploring the Valley]]></title><description><![CDATA[Pics at Picassa:javascript:nicTemp();This was supposed to be an easy trip to try and get some off the cobwebs off, but I ended up doing about six miles without too much elevation gain. I took the Snell trail to the White barn, cut over to the Corral trail on an unnamed trail, jogged over to the Eagle trail to Canada de Pala to the Hotel trail and back.  There's nothing special about this track.  The best section is probably the Canada de Pala.  I went off trail in several places and would like to follow the San Felipe creek to the edge of the park as it  looks pretty interesting.Heres a map of the park:javascript:nicTemp();I hadn't realized it, but there are three separate drainages from the park.  The San Felipe that runs south, possibly to Anderson, Smith Creek which runs north to Calavaras Reservoir on the east side of the park and another northern drainage from Grant Lake to Alum Rock Park.The most interesting part of the hike was when I encountered a tree with bottle-brush type blossoms that had attracted a crowd of insects including bees, lady bugs flies and a butterfly.  I really wish I had brought my tripod.   <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/955955-RT_Hawk.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/955954-RT_Hawk-1.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/955931-White_BArn.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/955949-Lady_Bug.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=504118</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=504118</link><pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:57:29 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Verdant Madonna]]></title><description><![CDATA[big slidewhow javascript:nicTemp();This was supposed to be at least a five mile hike winding
through the heart of the park, but due to exigent circumstances I had to cut it
short.   I’ve been to Mt. Madonna park
many times, but most of the time I hiked from Mt. Madonna road along the Loop trail
(what an imaginative name) for a mile and then back with my dogs, so I really
don’t know the park very well.

 

I started in the same place, off of the unpaved road that
goes between Summit Road
and Redwood Retreat.  There’s a wide spot
in the road there with room enough for two or three cars.  The Loop
trail should be called the eucalyptus trail as it is lined with large
eucalyptus trees from the road all the way to the junction with the
Merry-Go-Round trail. They are oddly out of place in a wood that is otherwise
dominated by young second or third growth redwoods.  The trail runs along a steep hillside and the
first thing you come to on it is a little stream that plunges down from the
road, into a culvert benieth the trail and into a steep canyon on the other
side.  As you can imagine after all the
rain, it was quite lively.

 

Actually it’s surprising that there is only the one little
creek along this part of the trail; there are several canyons it cuts
across.  I believe the reason that there
are not more is that the water seeps underground.  In fact there are several places along the
trail that water bubbles from the cut above the trail and then seems to melt
right back into the ground.

 

As I mentioned, the forest is dominated by young redwoods;
surprisingly young in fact.  I have to
think that this area was logged right up until the time that it became a
park.   In researching the history of the
park I came across a brief article in Bay Nature magazine written by a
great-great grandson of the cattleman Henry Miller who had a summer home at Mt.Madonna.  javascript:nicTemp();  He writes: “I recall a lovely trip in
the late 1940s to Mount Madonna when the redwoods and the underbrush were not as tall and
thick as they are today, leaving marvelous vistas open to view.”  I also found it interesting that there are no
young eucalyptus trees; just the big ones along the road.

 

Ah
well, I ramble a bit, but there isn’t that much more to tell.  I cut up the hill at the junction and then
over to the Tan Oak trail which is a pleasant single track that cuts back
towards Mt.Madonna road.  There was a family with young children on the
trail below the nearby campground.  They
were the only people I saw on the hike. 
There is a swampy area right at the end of Tan Oak  and much of the water that collects here must
flow down to the road originating the creek that I crossed early in the hike.

 

As
it turns out, it was probably just as well that I had to cut the trip short as
it began to rain shortly after I got to my car. 
I must go back and explore the rest of the park some time soon. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/892748-Cascade.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/892747-Cascade_2.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/892758-Spring.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/892757-Remains.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=481283</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=481283</link><pubDate>Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:44:32 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Ranch, Dutch (not so) Flat]]></title><description><![CDATA[javascript:nicTemp();This was an excellent hike that included the full length of the Dutch Flat trail, the west end of the Canada de Pala trail, the Eagle trail and the San Felipe trail.  If you don't want to do the full 8 miles, just hike to the scenic overlook, about two miles from the parking lot.  The ridge at the overlook drops steeply off on either side of the trail affording magnificent views into  both Halls Valley and the Santa Clara valley.  The 900' +climb is somewhat challenging for old farts like me, but it's definitely worth the trip.The weather wasn't particularly good today; it was overcast for the whole hike, but the temperature was probably mid fifties and the wind was negligible.  I didn't see too much wildlife, but I did come across what looks to be a mountain lion track on the Eagle trail, and what was left of a hawk on the San Felipe trail.  I saw red tails at the low end of the hike (one flew out from under the trees twenty feet ahead of me) but none up top. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/817047-Cotton_puffs.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/817080-Wood_Fern.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/817048-Dutch_Flat_at_Heron.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/817052-Green_Grass.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=454066</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=454066</link><pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:06:34 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Ranch, Roundup]]></title><description><![CDATA[javascript:nicTemp();So I went back to Grant Tuesday to do the loop I intended to do on Sunday; Canada de Pala, Hotel, Foothill, Bonhoff.   It was another nice day after Monday's rain and the trails to the west of the Twin Gates parking lot were closed to bikes and equestrians because of the rain.The lower part of Canada de Pala is all downhill and serpentine.  It runs along the power lines from the road to beyond the Hotel trail.   I stopped underneath one of the towers to change to my big lens as there was a red tail circling.  As I was doing that I heard a screeching sound and before I could turn around to see what it was, a huge brown bird flew over my head and landed on the tower very close to me.  It was a golden eagle, but before I could get it in my sights, it saw me and bolted; dropping below the ridge line and out of sight.  It was immediately pursued by the red tail I had seen earlier, apparently upset at the eagle for violating its territorial  rights.  We continued on down the trail and soon began to hear the Grant Ranch cattle lowing in the meadows below us.  Sure enough, when Cody and I got to the Hotel trail junction we began to see, hear and smell the bovine behemoths.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not sure that cattle have a place in public parks whether it be in this one or the Sierra wilderness.  Here we are paying big bucks to restore the riparian habitat and we have these huge non native animals tearing up the hills crapping everywhere and fouling the streams.  Where's the value added?OK, enough ranting.  We continued on up the Hotel trail running into several contingents of the herd on the way until we reached Eagle lake which is supposedly closed for restoration.  I guess the cows on the other side of the fence walking in the lake and fouling it had been hired by the county to help with the restoration.  Sigh.At Eagle, the Hotel trail ends and the Foothill trail hooks east.  This is a very nice, heavily wooded trail with a series of steep ups and downs.  At this point it was getting late in the day and we had to increase the pace to avoid getting a ticket.  We made it to Bonhoff as the sun was disappearing behind the Santa Cruz mountains.  Bonhoff was familiar, I had limped up its steep hills a few days earlier.  My knee was okay today though, thank goodness.  It was dark when we made it back to the trailhead, but no ticket; thanks again... <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/803242-Trunkcated_Oak.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/803231-White_Barn.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/803237-Park_Center.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/802498-HT_Wires.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=447115</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=447115</link><pubDate>Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:44:04 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grant Ranch, Southern Scramble]]></title><description><![CDATA[Big slideshow: http://picasaweb.google.com/brighto/GrantRanchSouthernScramble#I had never been to the Twin Gates trailhead or to what looks like a trailhead at the Smith Creek CDC and what I found out is that the CDC is gated off and there were a few no parking signs around the fence that encloses it.  So I went back to Twin Gates and started from there.  My plan was to loop on four trails; Bonhoff , Foothill, Hotel and  Canada de Pala, but that's not how it worked out.  When I got to the first junction I decided to go down and check out the CDC because it was only .3 miles away and when I got there I could hear the creek running so I decided to walk the Smith Creek trail and when I got deep down the Creek canyon I decided to bushwhack over to the Manzanita trail and walk to the southern end of the park and at that point just walking back to the car was enough of a hike especially since my left knee was giving me trouble, a byproduct of the bushwhacking I'm certain.The Bonhoff trail is a roller coaster; steep ups and downs especially right before the Foothill/Manzanita junction.  There are views down into the valley at first, then the observatory comes into view.  Foothill looks like an interesting trail  I will definitely be back to check it out.   Smith Creek was an interesting transition from the dry grass and oak habitat  to the deeply shaded, dense growth creek canyon.  climbing up out of the canyon was strenuous but not exceedingly so.  There was a decent trail for much of the way and I was able to skirt around the steepest grades. I was struck by the large deep red Manzanita on the way up.When I broke out of the thick forest, I climbed to the top of a nearby hill to reconnoiter and sure enough, the Manzanita trail was in sight.   I was glad to get back on the fire road as the terrain off trail was very spongy and often slick.The Manzanita trail is a pleasant, easy hike and ends at the southern border of the park.  I was looking to see if there might be a trail that cuts over towards Eagle lake and the Hotel trail, but I didn't see anything obvious.  I'm guessing that it would be a very difficult bushwhack.  I scoped it out on Earth and found a few possibilities, but they may have been outside of the park.On the way back down I spotted a cat coming out of the woods into a meadow well below me.  I scrambled to get my big lens on and managed to get a few poor shots before it scurried back into the woods after having made us.  The rest of the hike was uneventful and a little painful as my left knee was acting up.  It was especially painful on the steep slopes on the Bonhoff trail.  Hopefully it isn't too bad as I plan to overnight at the park next week and do a long loop. <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/796584-Bonhoff_Trailhead.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/796588-Canada_de_Pala.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/796612-Oak_Hills.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/796609-Mighty_Oak.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=445015</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=445015</link><pubDate>Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:06:16 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lost Spidy Found; Inquire Within]]></title><description><![CDATA[Big slideshow at http://picasaweb.google.com/brighto/ChillyDayAtJDGrant#slideshow/5413889441722503186Wednesday 12/9 was cold and gray; cold for around here anyway.  There was a dusting of snow at the top of Quimby Rd. and Mt. Hamilton Road was closed past the park entrance; they had a sheriff posted there to turn people back.   I also found another hat.  Is anyone missing a Spiderman hat?We parked in the central area of the park, right near the head of the Snell trail.  Right off the bat, still in sight of the trail, I spotted a bobcat on the path well in front of us.  I got the telephoto lens on about 5 seconds too late to get a long distance shot of it.  We took a wrong turn right there at the beginning and ended up going by an amphitheater that's near the campground and then into the campground itself.  I found the spot that I intend to inhabit when I camp up there hopefully around the holidays when I have some time off.We headed back down the way we came and then cut off at an old paved road down toward the Snell trail.  I heard but did not see a Red Shouldered hawk in this area.  Considering all the Red Tailed hawks in the area I thought that that was a little bit surprising.  In fact I saw a pair of Red Tails almost imediately afterward.I was going to go up the Brush trail all the way to the Dutch Flat trail and then decide how much farther I could go, but I took another wrong turn and ended up walking the San Filipe trail. It was all good, I would have never made it all the way around Dutch Flat anyway and the route I ended up taking got me to the car as the light was fading.On San Felipe, above the Snell Barn there was what looked like a new sign  that discussed a restoration project.  I noticed that a lot of the live oaks in this area don't look so live.  Many of them are choked with that nasty non-native moss (is it mistletoe?) and many look flat out dead.  Across the trail from the sign was the stub of a fireplace.  I didn't poke around it to see what kind of structure used to be there.  I'll have to check it out another time.The San Felipe trail is at the edge of the hills and  has a little bit of up and down to it while affording a nice  close-up perspective of the valley.  The Eagle trail starts a slow steady climb up, but even at its highest point of this hike we were below 2000 ft.    The Brush trail continues up and hooks back around so that we were headed almost back towards the start.  This is a pretty trail with colorful trees draped across the trail and an occasional artifact from the ranch.  At one point on the Brush trail I saw a Peregrine hunting.  There ws an acorn woodpecker squawking nearby and the falcon slipped around a large oak in that general direction.  Not surprisingly, the woodpecker quieted down.We soon hit the Dairy trail, still heading up.  there were patchesof snow along the trail as we approached 2000 ft, the sun was behind the hills and I was starting to get chilly.   The trail starts dropping back down before it hits the Dutch Flat trail and we started making time.  I found a kid's Spiderman hat on the way.  I guess you know its December when you keep finding knit hats on the trail.  We got back to the car at about 5:30 just as it was starting to get pretty dark.  Another great hike at JDG, I'll be back!  <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/778463-MHO_from_the_Snell_Trail.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/778464-Old_Road.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/778465-RT_Hawk.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/778466-Fireplace.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438486</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=438486</link><pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:52:05 -0500</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Who who?]]></title><description><![CDATA[I haven't been out hiking for a couple of weeks mostly due to a cold, so today's hike wasn't going to be a strenuous one.  And I got a late start so it wasn't going to be a long one either.It was Grant again.  I'm determined to know all the nooks and crannys in that park  like I used to know Santa Teresa.  The day was cloudy and cold; you can tell there is a storm blowing in and this one is supposed to be comming from the Arctic.  The first picture in the slide show is actually from Quimby road on the way up.Cody and I arrived at the Grant Lake parking lot at about 3:30 and headed up the Lakeview trail.  I was huffing and puffing by the time I got up to McCreery Lake and sat down for a moment to set up my camera.   As I was getting up to head along the McCreery lake trail, the sun came out from behind the clouds for a few moments.  It almost looks like a nice day in my picture at the little lake, but as you can see in the next picture, looking up the hill I'm skirting, the sky was full of cold gray clouds.   The McCreery Lake trail is a single track that follows a little canal that runs between McCreery and the Halls valley trail.  Right at the point that we get on the new trail there is a Eucalyptus grove.  We turned up the Halls valley trail towards the Los Huecos fork.  By the time we got to the fork what sunshine we had was gone.  I took a picture of Grant lake right from the fork and you can see how gray the day is.The Halls Valley trail is a rather slow climb for the first half mile and then it starts to climb pretty quickly.  I knew at this point that I had neither the time or the energy to loop back around to Los Huecos and right about the time I realized this, I noticed an unmakrked single track leading off to the left and down into a deep valley.  Perfect.  We turned down that and hiked  a nice trail that had recently been frequented by horses down to a small meadow about .4 miles off of the main trail.  We climbed to a spot above the meadow and took a break.  I would like to have stayed there for a bit longer.  Cody wasn't too restless and I wouldn't have been surprised if something had wandered into the meadow, but the light was fading fast and we had a mile and a half to go to get back to the car.There's just one more thing worth mentioning about the hike, but it requires a little background.  I used to volunteer at a wildlife center where I took particular interest in the larger birds and made fast friends with one of the educational animals, a great horned owl named Loki.  To make a long story not quite as long, I learned to imitate Loki's hooting pretty well so when it started to get dark and the Owls at Grant (of whom there are apparently several in the area I was hiking) started hooting, I replied in my best imitation owl voice.    Then when we were back to the eucalyptus grove, I heard an owl very close; right above the trail in fact.  We exchanged a few hoots and then I headed on down.  Damned if the Owl didn't fly away from cover and perch on another branch directly above me.  Now I could see his entire profile against the fading gray sky.  It was much to dark to get a picture unfortunately, but it was a very cool encounter just the same.Good hike, I hope I can get up there for a longer one next weekend at the latest.Big pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/brighto/WhoWho#slideshow/5412373317677932962 <br><img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/773648-South_San_Jose_from_Quimby_Rd..JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/773649-Sun_Hits_Lake.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/773650-Hillside.JPG"/> <img src="http://images.everytrail.com/pics/thumbnail/773652-Mossy_Trees.JPG"/> ]]></description><guid>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=435897</guid><link>http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=435897</link><pubDate>Sun, 6 Dec 2009 22:21:16 -0500</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
	