On Labor Day, Husband and I went out to Henry Coe State Park for a hike. Measured by miles alone, the park is close to home, a 40-mile drive. We took 101 South to Morgan Hill and then headed 13 miles east. Once out of Morgan Hill proper, the road narrows to barely two lanes and makes its twisty climb into the hills. It takes about as long to cover those miles as it does to drive from Santa Clara to Morgan Hill.
The vista is amazing. With over 87,000 acres of wild space, Coe Park is the largest state park in northern California. The terrain of the park is rugged. When I say rugged, I mean it! The trail we hiked started out with a 600-foot climb in elevation within the first mile and a half. The hike down into the canyon eased a bit (gravity was our friend again) but my quads quivered the whole way down. It took us 75 minutes to hike the first 1.8 miles. The remaining trail was flatter except toward the end (which was an unwelcome surprise at a point when all I wanted was to lie down and never ever move again). We hiked a total of 4.7 miles in 2.5 hours. I’m good for about 5 miles and then I’m done. (Once we hiked 9 miles at Point Reyes and just about died.)
The trail reminded me of Texas hill country, actually. First, it was a really warm day (83 degrees); not unbearable, but certainly less invigorating than 63 degrees would be. At this time of year, everything is crispy dry, brown, and dusty. Much of the foliage was live oak and madrone. We didn’t see any wildlife on the trail, but on the drive out we saw a hawk, several deer, a covey of quail, and a tarantula sunning itself on the road. We will not hike that trail again, partly because of the elevation and partly because it wasn’t particularly scenic or unique. We’ll return to explore other trails. There are many.
This was the hike at which I christened the hydration pack I got for Christmas (!) from Husband. It holds 2 liters (70 ounces), and it kept me well watered. It lasted the entire hike; I ran out just as we got to the trail end.
After we finished we took a scenic road home and treated ourselves to Slurpees. I was so hot I didn’t get brain freeze!
How fun! We took our children there frequently when they were small… It was always relaxing (well usually) and there were always wonderful things to see.
One of the things I do enjoy about living in the east is that our countryside is green instead of California August brown.
The outdoors nourishes body and soul. Here, our leaves are turning gold, and the Amur maple bushes are turning a deep scarlet. But they predict that snow is at least ten days away!
Bill