Santa Teresa County Park, Santa Clara County Revisited

New Moon

On a strangely cool, overcast Monday, I returned to the Santa Teresa Park near San Jose to finish up some Bay Area Ridge Trail miles. The sky was dappled with what I like to call brain clouds and the Sun was deep in thought way back behind them. On such a winter's day.

I took the Fortini Trail up along a little creek to its intersection with the BART. There was some sort of dam structure and a few cool trees, then I spied some mountain lion tracks, I believe, very clear on the dry, hard surface of the trail right next to the water. I think they were pretty fresh, made by a good-sized cat with wet feet. They were footprints more than tracks. The older, dried tracks made by horseshoes when the trail was muddy give you some idea of size by comparison. Pretty interesting, in my humble opinion.

After I climbed up to the main trail, the rocks and sky took over my attention. There were other hikers, but they were few and far between, all quite friendly and quiet. On one prominent hill, a short trail led to the top where a bench awaited anyone who bothered to notice. Great views there. I was sweating by then and didn't want to get chilled so I only stayed long enough to snap a few photos and say thanks.

Then came the switchbacks, which made a hilly adventure a little less taxing. Just beyond the park boundary fence was a long, elaborate rock wall. Somebody did a lot of work to build that thing. They reminded me of the rock walls I saw in Connecticut on my 2013 northern tier bicycle ride across the U.S. Different rock types, of course, thousands of miles and a continent apart.

After I finished my hike, there was one last odd piece of sky that called to me. It might be a dental x-ray cloud or something, I'm not sure. What I can say for certain is that this hike was fun and engaging and the weather added to its intrigue.

Peace, Love, and Wildcats,

Jim