Next on our tour of Santa Clara County Parks is Joseph D. Grant. This park is at about the 1/2 way point on the way up to the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton.
We arrived tired late Saturday afternoon so opted for a short hike.
I found the narleyness of the trees fascinating. It is also interesting to see them without their leaves – it makes the shape of the trunk more noticeable.
One of the nice things about hiking is that you are moving at a slower pace. You notice things that you otherwise would have just passed by. In this case, it was a tree with buds that were just about to bloom.
And a slightly more open bloom.
Sunday morning, rather than hiking, we pulled out the mountain bikes. I had to stop and take the requisite picture of the barn, as we were on the barn trail.
All the old man’s beard fungus on the trees gives the trail a sense of mysticism, like we are entering into another universe.
When we got to the bottom of the hill, the map said “dry wash”. This was definitely not a dry crossing.
Although our adventure started with a nice bit of downhill (the campground is at the top of a hill), eventually it came time for us to climb back up.
Maybe we are at top? Time to consult the map.
In the end, we biked further than I anticipated (over 5 miles). It felt great to get out and ride and not have back pain sapping away at my energy.
We had to snap a couple of shots of the drive home – as we had great views of the south bay.
The blooms on this section of road are amazing!
