Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve - Woods Road

 Waxing Crescent Moon

Brrrr! Yesterday's segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, an out and back from the Woods Road trailhead in the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve was cold and windy, but pleasant nonetheless. The wide, graded dirt and gravel road was a fast track, curving in and out and up and down in shady oak forest, with sunny views of Mt. Umunhum, the San Jose valley,  and Mt. Hamilton. I know that cold and windy is a description that may generate a smirk or two if you happen to be reading this in Siberia, but let's just say my California birthright of 70 degrees F and sunny was rudely violated. I could have used another layer, maybe even a puffy jacket, to be comfortable. It's okay, though, the biting wind acted like invisible spurs for Palomino. Giddiup!

I have been so impressed by how clean the Santa Clara County trails are. 

Sorta kinda azul up there on the ridge.

A Cold War radar structure on Mt. Umunhum.

Mt. Hamilton and the Look Observatory on the horizon beyond the wide San Jose valley.

The most interesting parts of this walk to me were the brief glimpses of Guadalupe Creek and the frequent opportunities to examine roadcut geology. I took a shivering look at a small anticlinal fold and an even smaller rock slide, clear evidence, in case you needed a reminder, that Earth is not a static old stone adrift in space.

El Sombroso (2,999 feet), one of the Nifty Nineties, is another three miles beyond Barlow Road, my turnaround point for this hike. I decided to save that one for another day and probably access it from the opposite direction, from the Lexington Reservoir. Either way, it's a 12 mile hike plus the summit and I need a little more conditioning to tackle that right now. Getting closer, though.

Peace, Love, and Shiver Me Timbers,

Jim