Autumn is a close second to spring as an ideal time to tromp our local hills. While the green grass and flowing creeks are gone, autumn possesses a special languid peacefulness as nature prepares for the arrival of winter.
I love the sleepiness that infuses the fall air. It is as though my DNA quivers with a barely remembered primal urge to search for a place to bed down for the winter. The weather has cooled and many summer hikers have hung up their boots. It all adds up to ideal hiking and peaceful fall days on the trail.
Heather Ambler is a longtime volunteer at Henry Coe State Park. She is an intrepid hiker and one of several Coe volunteers who lead hikes listed on the Henry Coe State Park Outdoor Meetup page. I had hoped to join her on a 12-mile hike to Vasquez Ridge she had listed there, but I was laid up with a bug on the scheduled date and was terribly disappointed to miss it. So, I called Heather to see if she would be willing to go one more time and lead me there.
We met mid-morning at the park’s Hunting Hollow entrance out Gilroy Hot Springs Road 3.3 miles beyond the entrance to Coyote Lake. “Flat” is a rare commodity at Coe Park and many people come to Hunting Hollow to enjoy the level 3.2-mile trail that traces the bottom of the hollow. But in exchange for a little heart-pounding effort, a hiker who climbs above the hollow is rewarded with spectacular distant views and lovely walking through classic California hills.
Just shy of a mile out Hunting Hollow Road, we turned left and started up the Lyman Willson Trail, a stern taskmaster with no sense of humor. But as always, the greater the effort, the greater the reward. With each breath-catching, water-slurping pause, the horizon receded and the view across the landscape grew more spacious. Higher up, the trail leveled out. We walked through open stands of blue oaks looking down on the densely forested channel cut by the creek in Coon Hunter’s Gulch. Phegley Ridge rose beyond. Pacheco Peak and the Hollister Hills far to the south were just coming in view.
Past the old ranch buildings at Willson Camp, we stepped onto Vasquez Road, dropped steeply to a creek bed, then climbed the final mile to Vasquez Peak. Before singing its praises, it must be said that Vasquez “Peak” should be ashamed of itself for tarnishing the term. It is no more a peak than the high point on a basketball. I hope other peaks tease it mercilessly. It deserves it.
But who cares? We were up high and the view was breathtaking. Under clearer skies, I am sure we could have seen the Sierra. Wild hills tumbled endlessly away to a distant horizon: a perfect spot for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Rested and refueled, we turned toward home. We rolled up and down Wagon Road, an old ranch road sometimes steep enough to test our good humor. But once we reached Phegley Ridge Road near Redfern Pond, gravity became our friend. We were on the home stretch. Our loop was just less than twelve miles, and it left us with the fine fatigue of a day well spent on the trail. Don’t put away you hiking shoes yet. Check the Henry Coe State Park Outdoor Meetup page at www.meetup.com for upcoming fall hikes led by Heather and other park volunteers.
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker. Visit him online at www.RonErskine.com, his blog at www.WeeklyTramp.com or email him at [email protected].
