Martin's DW

The Bay Area Ridge Trail includes a 5.8-mile spur from the Woods Trail to the summit of Mount Umunhum. I had previously hiked up Umunhum on 29 October 2017, but I still needed to connect the Bald Mountain Trailhead with the Woods Trail. So I did that today. 1.9 miles of Ridge Trail both down and up, and then an additional 0.3 miles each way between the junction of Barlow Road with the Mount Umunhum Trail and the trailhead. Didn't see any mountain lions but did see some nice views of both Umunhum and San Jose.

I've already hiked the remaining extant South Bay sections of the Ridge Trail in this clockwise loop, so next time I'll be starting the Peninsula sections.

It was finally a nice warm sunny day today, so I spent it filling a gap in my Ridge Trail circumnavigation. I parked at the Mockingbird Hill Trailhead and headed north, along Mockingbird Hill Lane and McKean Road, to the Los Alamitos Creek Trail, then onward to the Calero Creek Trail, and then I turned around at Harry Road where I left off last time. It's all mostly flat and a lot of sidewalks. The Calero Creek Trail here is particularly tedious for a "trail" as it parallels Camden Avenue with just a bit of grass for a buffer. One oddity -- the Ridge Trail is signed for the west side of Los Alamitos Creek northbound (and on the Ridge Trail map) but for the east side southbound. I covered my bases by walking both.

After that expenditure of energy (and increase in warmth), it was time for the main event, which was hiking up and into Almaden Quicksilver County Park up to the junction with Wood Road, via the Virl O. Norton, Hacienda, Capehorn Pass, Mine Hill, and Castillero Trails. This involved actual elevation gain and honestly, I was lagging more than I was happy with. I think the last couple weeks of vegging around and hiding from the rain haven't helped my fitness level anyway. I did take one extended break to help an older couple with navigation, as they had left their paper map in their car and I had taken one with me.

On the way back I switched things up a bit by exiting the Mine Hill Trail onto the Day Tunnel Trail and then following the Randol Trail back to the Capehorn Pass Trail, and then turning left to take the Hacienda Trail to the New Almaden Trail. Less muddy then the Ridge Trail route, that's for sure.

At any rate, a good four and a quarter hours out and and about today.

The Coyote Lake - Harvey Bear Ranch County Park section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail extends north-to-south across Coyote Ridge through the entirety of the park, 4.7 miles in all. I had traversed 2.1 miles of it previously the last time I visited the park, back in April 2020. However that was a COVID peakbagging excursion to Mummy Mountain and Peak 1380 without any real Bay Area Ridge Trail goals in mind, and therefore involved a loop route that ended up leaving isolated Ridge Trail gaps left between segments I had hiked in April.

After staring at the map and figuring out if there were any clever ways I could dip in and out while minimizing duplication of routes, I determined that this wasn't feasible (to the extent I wasn't hiking Ridge Trail segments I had hiked before, I'd be using other trails that I had) and just set up a route that involved a big loop from Coyote Dam and the Harvey Bear Trail connector, south along the Coyote Ridge Trail, and then north again via the Valley Oak and Calaveras Trails. Total: 8.2 miles.

I got a late start (due to sleeping in a bit from yesterday, and catching up on fanac before I left home) and hit the trail on this unseasonably warm day just before 11 a.m. The early sections were a bit muddy due primarily to cow traffic—there was a sign warning us that it was calving season—but that was outweighed by the near emptiness of the trail. Sure there was the occasional passer-by but it felt a lot more like a relaxing outdoors experience than the previous couple hikes. Helped that the trail wasn't paved and was back on an actual ridge again. For the most part, it was just me, the trail, nature, and the cows.

South of the first cattle gate, the mud mostly went away and the number of people began to pick up, although it never got to the point of being annoyingly busy. It probably helped that bicycles and horses were barred from the trails today due to the recent rain. (Which didn't stop the one pair of equestrians and solo cyclist I saw, but still.) Most of the people I saw were competing in an orienteering event, with a decent mix of parent/children teams and solo adults.

I got back to the Baby Bronco in about three hours. But there was still one little 0.2 mile stretch to complete, between the junction of the Ridge Trail with the Mendoza Trail and the Mendoza Ranch Entrance. I drove down to that parking area, took a quick stroll to the trail junction, and was back in no time. Section complete.

And with that section being complete, I'm done with the Diablo Range until I loop back around to the East Bay part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Next stop: Santa Cruz Mountains.

Finished off another Bay Area Ridge Trail section today with the 9-odd miles of Coyote Creek Trail between Tully Road and Metcalf Park. The first segment of this is pretty unexciting (there are a lot of encampments and it feels like you're walking through somebody's yard) but once you get to Hellyer County Park the walk gets quite a bit more pleasant (even if it's still paved and flat with limited views). This was the point where I started seeing other people walking and biking the trail.

I was able to take the bus back to the Tully Branch Library (where I parked) so that saved having to make it a round trip hike, although I got to the Metcalf Park lot early enough that I could have just trekked back if necessary.

Today put me over the 100 mile mark on the Ridge Trail, so that was cool. Should finish off the other Coyote Creek section next time I have a chance for a hiking day, which unfortunately doesn't look like it'll be next weekend from the forecast.

Got sixty dollars' worth of comics in Fremont today, then headed up I-680 for a bit of hiking in Vargas Plateau Regional Park. The objective, as is usual these days, was a couple miles on the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The first 0.71 miles along the Golden Eagle Trail were kind of boring, with limited views (what there was is Bay-facing, and that's a ways off) and too many people. But once I turned off to Upper Ranch Trail the views opened up to Sunol Ridge and other Diablo Range ridges, the people thinned out, and the hike was actually pretty nice. I felt surprisingly winded after the last stretch, which I really shouldn't have been. Need to push myself harder because I'm clearly out of shape for proper mountains.

Spent most of the day in San Francisco. Hiked from Baker Beach to the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s 2.7 more Bay Area Ridge Trail miles (mostly two ways) and maybe one more California Coastal Trail mile. Most of the elevation delta, however, came from a detour via the Batteries to Bluffs Trail. Gotta work off the wedding feasting somehow.

Then I made it to SF in SF for the first time since January 2020. Meg Elison and Laura Anne Gilman read from their new novels Number One Fan and Uncanny Times (respectively). It’s good to have actual local genre events again. I’ll have a write-up in Acrophila #3 after I actually read them.