Dan's Outside

A new twist on an old hike

Every so often I hike at Calero County Park south of San Jose, often taking the Peña Trail to the Javelina Loop Trail, which I tend to hike in a clockwise direction. Near the furthest point from the trailhead the Javelina Trail crosses a ridge and then drops down towards Calero Reservoir.

Last May I detoured off the trail at this high point, crossing a small rise and a meadow to climb to the top of a rocky ridge where I could watch birds. Today I climbed out of the tule fog to this same point and saw a trail running back along the open grassland on the top of the ridge. Although it is not marked on the map it is clearly a real trail, so I decided to follow it.

It more or less follows the top of the ridge between the two legs of the Javelina Trail. Today this meant that I was just barely above the fog most of the time, dipping in and out of the top of the fog back as I traversed the ridge, finally descending to the old corral at the junction with the Peña Trail.

Above the fog on the Javelina Loop Train. Calero Park. January 23, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell

This view was not typical on today’s hike. Almost the entire morning was spent hiking through very heavy fog – except for breaking out when I crossed this ridge.
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January 23, 2005 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary