Getting Out: Mother Nature has many moods. Visit your favorite
natural sanctuary in August, then in January; at high noon, then at
sunset. Though the reading on your GPS will be the same, each of
these trips will uncover a very different place.
Mother Nature has many moods. Visit your favorite natural sanctuary in August, then in January; at high noon, then at sunset. Though the reading on your GPS will be the same, each of these trips will uncover a very different place.
Nature can reveal one of her most magical moods on a rainy day. As we get older, rain means cold and wet — a reason to run for cover. My daughter is grown up now, but when she was little, a rainy day meant rubber boots, a slicker, and “see ya later.” On a recent wet weekday, I decided to cut her childhood spirit and paste it onto this graying chassis.
Wiper blades slapped back and forth as I sat in the Calero County Park parking lot scanning the map and weighing options. Fourteen miles of trails twist around and through the hills on the south side of Calero Reservoir. An ambitious hiker can even climb 1,200 feet to the Bald Peaks area on the border with Santa Clara County Open Space Authority’s Rancho Canada del Oro Preserve to the south. From there, on the right day, you’ll see Mount Tamalpais and the San Francisco skyline.
My reference book, “South County Trails,” called the Figueroa Trail a “getaway from it all” trail. Sold! Geared up and waterproof as a beach ball, I set out.
The Figueroa Trail turns its back on Calero Reservoir and most other trails as it heads south along Calero Creek. The first half mile follows McKean Road past ranch homes with views over to Cinnabar Golf Course before the trail curls right into a quiet forest. I covered nine miles before the day was over, but the first mile-and-a-half along this trail was the most enchanting. It weaves gently through mixed forest cover following a gurgling Calero Creek. Perhaps it was the rain or the dappled forest light, but it was a sweet and gentle walk that felt remote and eased casually into the hills. This would be a great walk to escape the summer heat.
Near the Valecito Trail junction (1 1/2 miles out), the trail rises above the creek and pops into open country. A right turn here would set you on your way back and a nice 2.8 loop in all, but I pushed on.
A half mile further, the Figueroa Trail ends at Javelina Loop which continues west toward Cherry Cove at the far end of the reservoir. I took the southern leg of the loop, which climbs quickly, then rolls along the base of the hill that Javelina Loop encircles. I crested a rise and the view suddenly opened wide across a large bowl below me. Alone and quiet, I had stumbled into one of those Disney moments that a solitary hiker occasionally enjoys. A doe and two very young fawns (“Kinda wobbly, isn’t he?” – Thumper), grazed and cavorted unaware of my presence while a red tailed hawk perched atop a valley oak snag beyond warned loud and long (keee-aaa-rr) of my intrusion.
I passed an interpretive panel and a viewing deck above the pond at Fish Camp, then climbed up and over the ridge toward my first view of the lake. Javelina Loop turns toward home here just before Cherry Canyon Creek relaxes into the southwest arm of Calero Reservoir. So close, I walked to the inlet and another mile along the lake edge on the Cherry Cove Trail.
All was beautiful that day, but the Figueroa Trail lingers in my mind. I don’t know what mood it might reveal on another day, but I know my walk was sweetened by remembering the lesson I learned watching a little girl play on a rainy day.
