Joseph D. Grant Park - Canada de Pala Trail - Santa Clara County, California

 Waxing Crescent Moon

Today was sunny with a cool breeze up in Grant Park on the Canyon de Pala Trail north of the Twin Gates Trailhead. The hike started out with a steepish half-mile climb past giant transmission lines before easing up into roller coaster ups and downs. In truth, the trail was a little boring - just a dirt road through rolling, grassy fields with occasional live (and dead) oak trees. The views of Loma Prieta, Mt. Umunhum, Mt. Hamilton, and the San Jose multiplex were the main features that kept me engaged - that and what I thought were mountain lion footprints. In the end, I decided they probably were not cat tracks, but I can't be sure. 

I wondered if this tree was being affected by the nearby power lines. 

I tossed around the idea of staying on the trail all the way to Antler Point, which is one of the Nifty Nineties, but the breeze turned into a chilly wind when I stopped for lunch and I lost my appetite for a long hike. I think that outing will be best undertaken with a campsite reservation in the park so I can stay overnight after finishing it. Otherwise, I would have to drive home through rush hour traffic, which would, in the words of Cud'n Mindy, "undo my yoga."  I settled for a shorter hike and a pleasant commute afterwards. 

Hopefully, you can see the Waxing Crescent Moon hanging up there
above and to the left of Mt. Hamilton and the Lick Observatory.

The trees that make these hills their home are few and far between, but they add some much needed green stateliness to the scenery. It is obvious that they have been battered by the winds, but they persist nonetheless. They provide shelter and food for the bugs and animals and beautiful shadowy silhouettes for anyone who may notice.

I saw only three other people on this hike - a couple of gentlemen on mountain bikes (that's them in the next picture climbing a steep hill ahead of me) and a beautiful redhaired young lady I passed on the way back down to Hondo as she was starting the steep uphill. I didn't take her picture because I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. She smiled and said hello and that was good enough for me. I love being old. It's so simple. Just give and get respect.

These guys climbed this hill a lot faster than I did.

There were a couple of benches along the way. I never appreciated benches when I was younger and full of vim. (Spoiler alert: if you had to click on the link to see what vim means, you are probably old, too). Now that most of my vim cells have died or lost their way in the fog of this long journey to the Great Mystery, I smile when I spy a good bench with a view. Ain't no real good reason to be hurrying up to find out who knows what. Sit a spell, Palomino, see what you can see through the Fog of Peace.

 

That's Loma Prieta way off in the distance. It's famous in some circles for being the epicenter of that biggo earthquake in 1989 during the World Series game between the Giants and the A's. How cool would it be if you were sitting on this bench when that happened? The Rayleigh waves probably would  have lifted you up and tumped you right over. Now that would definitely undo your yoga.

Peace, Love, and a Good Solid Bench,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022