March 3, 2013
As an early birthday surprise Ann took me on a secret adventure to Henry Coe State Park. We escaped the Monterey fog mid-morning only to find overcast skies at the park, but sometime around lunch the clouds decided to break up and give us some sun and big puffy white clouds. Unfortunately the wind still stuck around, but it wasn't too bad and the day was still beautiful.
The road to Henry Coe twists and turns through the hills that flank Morgan Hill and the views of the valley below are quite lovely. Especially in March when the hills and trees are green and lush. Careful driving is recommended since a good part of the road is barely wider than one lane. Coming down the hill we almost ran over a motor cycle driving in the middle of the road and there were plenty of cyclists to watch out for, but the biggest surprise was when we turned a corner and 5 or 6 turkeys were standing in the middle of the road. Well, maybe not too big of a surprise since turkeys are pretty common in the region, but no one really expects to roll up one a bunch of turkeys...
Once we arrived, we paid the fee at the visitors center and ogled the nerdy science books, then started on our hike. Ann planned a loop hike for us along the Corral Trail, to the Springs trail, and then the Forest Trail that looped back to the Corral Trail. The Springs and Forest Trails meet at one of the park's roads, and we decided we weren't ready to loop back yet, so we took a quick walk down to Bass Pond, where we sat by the side of the water and had lunch.
Our total hike ended up being about 4.3 miles and not very difficult at all. There were a couple of small hills, but for the most part the trail is pretty flat. The Canyon and Springs Trails run mostly through grassland and valley oak savannah with some nice views of - believe it or not - the canyon below and the opposite hillsides. The Forest Trail is a narrow trail through mixed oak woodland (maybe it should be called woodland trail?) with huge tree-sized big berry manzanitas, madrones, and buckeye trees. March is a little early for peak wildflower bloom, but there were a few purple shooting starts and California buttercups poking up already. I can only imagine that in a month the hillsides will be filled with color, so there will definitely be a return trip soon - I only have 245.7 more miles to explore.
Turkeys!
Ann on the trail
Acorn Woodpecker
Canyon View
HUGE Madrone on the Forest Trail
Huge Big Berry Manzanita
Mistletoe tree
View from the road
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