Almaden Quicksilver Park Revisited

 Waning Crescent Moon

I went back to this park yesterday to hike the eastern half of the Bay Area Ridge Trail segment from Mockingbird Hill to English Camp. This piece began right at the edge of suburbia with groomed trail, lush green grass, and photogenic mammals. It quickly became quite steep with great views of sprawling, nearby San Jose. Although a little hazy, it was a good day for a healthy workout on the way back up to Mine Hill. 

Much of the upper portion was forested and shady. There were lots of interesting trees as well as outstanding outcrops of serpentinite and cinnabar. Once again, the bicyclists were courteous and there were only a few stray pieces of litter. It might sound funny to you that I even bother to remark about those things, but I'm giving credit where credit is due. Leave No Trace is more than a slogan. It's a lifestyle and a very positive one.

My favorite place on this hike was the San Cristobal Tunnel, which was my turn around spot. This (now closed) tunnel leads to the San Cristobal Mine on Mine Hill and it dates back to 1866. Old mines and tunnels are somewhat mysterious and 100% historically important, not to mention potentially dangerous. For fans of spooky superstitions, it might be fun for you to read a little about tommyknockers!). It's probably a good thing that these places are blocked off from the over-curious, careless, and clumsy among us, but it's also good that we get to peer inside in wonder. Just imagine the work that went into this tunnel's construction.

The hike back to Hondo featured lots of downhill grunting, but I was able to get on the road and beat most of the traffic to once again be safe at home. This month of increased activity away from my own backyard has been fun and rewarding. With only three days left to hike in January, I am on pace to reach my mileage goal for the year (157 miles so far), I have pieced together 60 of the 400 miles of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, and I have topped out on 13 of the Nifty Nineties. The BART and the Nifty Nineties will get tougher and tougher to complete because pretty soon I will have hiked all the stuff that is closest to me. Hello, Bay Area traffic jams.

My great friend and geoscience mentor Rob Negrini saw my previous post on the New Almaden area and messaged me about a Wallace Stegner book called Angle of Repose for which Stegner received a Pulitzer Prize in 1972. The book, divided into five parts, covers the history of four generations of an American family as told by a retired historian confined to a wheelchair. Part II is set in New Almaden and is centered around the experiences of a mining engineer named Oliver Ward. Stegner was a master novelist and Stanford professor, whose students included Ken Kesey, Larry McMurtry, and Edward Abbey. Angle of Repose is recommended reading for certain.

Peace, Love, and 2,022 in 2022,

Jim