Henry Coe State Park - Hunting Hollow to Gibson Pond and Bill's Hill

 Waxing Gibbous Moon

The Hunting Hollow entrance to Henry Coe State Park is 25 miles north of my camp on the edge of San Juan Bautista. It's a popular launching spot into the backcountry for hikers, backpackers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders. At 87,000 acres, Henry Coe is the largest state park in northern California with over 250 miles of trails and dirt roads. Most of it is pretty challenging, as in steep canyons and ridges with few water sources. I like it, but I am getting to the point of avoiding the more difficult parts. I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself.

One less difficult hike is to follow the creek along Hunting Hollow Road to its intersection with the old Wagon Road and return to the start. To add some climbing, though, side trips to Gibson Pond (easy) and Bill's Hill (not so easy and one of the Nifty Ninety from my last post) make this hike borderline strenuous. The scenery along the creek is nice, but relatively monotonous - mostly old oaks draped with hanging moss and steepening hillsides covered with grass. Several trails lead up (up is the key word here) to the ridges towering over Hunting Hollow. There are three more peaks in this park that I will eventually have to tackle. To reach them, I will have to get my poor old bones in much better shape. 

The creek was running continuously after all of our recent rains. The dozen or so crossings were all very easy though, stepping on rocks and logs, avoiding the ankle deep ripples. I have loved following creeks my entire life. 

Cows roam free in this part of the park, so drinking from this stream (or any other water source) is a big no-no without a good filter. I was only gone a few hours, so a full 1.5-liter water bottle and a juicy tangerine from home on this cool day were all I needed. 

Gibson Pond was located in a nice, secluded area, but it was a dull, baby-poo brown color like most of the cattle ponds scattered around the park. I have filtered water from places like this many times on trails in southern California and Arizona and New Mexico, but it's not really my favorite thing to do.  

One reason I do not like cows.

The trail up Bill's Hill (1,988 ft) is unmarked, feint, and steep. I'm not sure this one was really worth the effort. I did manage to find a pretty nice mushroom, however. 

Mossy oaks, mossy oaks, mossy oaks. Mossy oaks were everywhere. Overall, this was a good conditioning hike on a pleasant winter Saturday, but less than sensational visually.

If I can get my trail legs back, I will return to climb Willson Peak in a month or so. I'll probably make an overnighter out of that one so I can freeze my heiny off and watch the sunrise under the blue oaks at the top.

Peace, Love, and 2,022 in 2022,

Jim