Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Landing, California

 Waxing Gibbous Moon

The ancestral tribal lands of the Ohlone Kalentaruk people.

The Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is a Central Coast jewel located near Moss Landing, CA. As the name implies, the reserve protects and studies the tidal wetlands adjacent to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Considering that 90% of California's wetlands have been destroyed by development in the past 250 years, the reserve's importance cannot be overstated. To learn about its history and its modern mission, click the link above and explore their ever-improving website.

For my purposes, the Slough is home to a network of trails, most of which I have hiked multiple times. Yesterday I visited with the notion of walking the ones that were still new to me. It was sunny but the sea breeze was chilly, so I layered up and adjusted accordingly. The last time I was there I surprised a napping bobcat concealed by some tall grass - I had the pleasure of seeing it up close as it sprang up and fled into the trees. Sorry, Bob, but thanks! 

Would I have the chance to see something that cool again? There was only one way to find out, one foot in front of the other. I checked in with the staff at the nicely landscaped Visitor Center and headed down to the trailhead. My modest goal was to walk the Long Valley Loop, the Murphy Trail, the Parson Slough Trail, and the Five Fingers Loop before returning on the main trail from the barns to the Visitor Center. This is an easy walk for most able, healthy individuals with just a little bit of up and down.

There were wildflowers and grasses and tree tunnels everywhere lining the trails plus several sitting benches along the way at strategic viewing places. One bench was dedicated to Sam Farr, a former Congressman for our area and from everything that I can tell, a great human being. Sam stood up for the beauty and environmental importance of the Central Coast and its inhabitants at every opportunity. A bench with a view is the least we can do to show him the respect he has earned.

I didn't see a bobcat this trip, but I did see a curious little vole (meadow mouse). It scurried out from beneath some newly mown grass on the trail and headed straight for my Vasque Breeze low cut trail runner. I stopped to see what it would do and it burrowed back into the grass a few inches short of my foot. Was I walking on top of its den? Was it protecting its babies? Did its buddy vole dare him/her to do it? I'll never know, but it seemed a little reckless to me. Not every Vasque Breeze trail runner is attached to a gentle soul-sole like me-mine.

The tide was about in the middle between low and high from what I could tell. The views of the slough were interesting and colorful, although the trails stayed well away from the water most of the time. I didn't see any sea otters or pelicans (my two favorite local animals), but I did catch a few fleeting glimpses of what I think was a soaring golden eagle. I wondered if it would bother to swoop down after something as little as a vole.

On the way back I passed a couple of old barns that add some charm to the scene. The staff person in the Visitor Center had asked me to stay out of the barns for safety reasons - otherwise I would have poked around in there for a bit. I love old barns.

Peace, Love, and Meadow Mice,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022

Calero Park, Santa Clara County, California

 Waxing Gibbous Moon

Holy Hospitality, I heard that Calero Park has something called the Calero Bat Inn, so I had to go! Would I see the Batcave? The Batmobile? The BATMAN??? I was excited for this hike!

Calero Park is about 30 miles from my camp, near the southern edge of the San Jose city limits. It includes the Calero Reservoir and about 25 miles of hiking trails. Catch-and-release fishing is allowed in the reservoir, as are boats, but swimming and wading are prohibited. The park rules mention hikers, dogs, and equestrians on the trails, but they do not mention bicyclists, so I'm not sure about them. Instructions include a section called "Be Considerate" which warns people to "use particular caution when passing children, senior citizens, and people with dogs." Haha, senior citizens are dangerous! Watch out for me!

Yesterday was cool, breezy, and mostly overcast with occasional sprinkles, but I didn't mind and I still managed to squeeze in a two and a half hour stroll on easy-to-moderate, very clean, and well-marked  trails. I walked through grasslands and wooded areas along Calero Creek on the Figueroa Trail up to the intersection with the Serpentine Loop, which eventually led me to the much anticipated Calero Bat Inn. Major cumulonimbus cloud formations provided great backdrops for the rolling scenery. The visible wildlife consisted mostly of Steller Jays, turkey vultures, and bushy-tailed tree squirrels, although I saw signs of deer and coyote along the way. Plant life was represented mainly by live oaks, bay trees, and manzanitas lining the creek, with fiddlenecks, blue dicks, California poppies, and what I think were yellow hayfield tarweeds, judging from the wildflower poster at the trailhead. I don't know how to identify different grasses, but there was definitely a lot of grass and it didn't all look the same.

On the edge of a dry segment of the creek bed was a small, alluring, cave-like feature inset into a cut bank. It was the perfect size for a bobcat. I wanted to get closer, but I decided that if, by chance, it really was a bobcat den, Mr. and/or Ms. Bobcat probably wouldn't want me poking around in there. I snapped a quick picture and moved on.

It didn't take long to reach the Serpentine Loop. I had to decide if I wanted to do the whole loop or just the part that led to the Calero Bat Inn. The sky got pretty dark about then, so I opted for a shorter hiking day. The segment I did was not too interesting except for some long views that included part of the reservoir. The serpentinite outcrops were not impressive - maybe the other part of the loop is where the cool rocks are, so I'll do that next time. The purpose of this trip after all was simple: to investigate the ballyhooed Calero Bat Inn!

And then, all of a sudden, there it was, behind a wooden fence, with a weathered, framed educational poster, up on stilts, made of wood, with hinged doors, painted brown, in a grassy field, the Calero Bat Inn. Ta Da! Oh Boy! I was there!

Holy Hand Grenade, was the Calero Bat Inn ever a dud. Surely the Calero bats deserve better than this! A Calero Bat Motel 6 would put his place to shame! I didn't really expect to see any bats in the middle of the day, much less any Batman accoutrements, but I DID expect a more interesting bat-house structure. This thing was little more than a rickety, tall, tower-like covering for a biggo pile of bat guano. Holy Bat Commode!

Well, anyway, life goes on. I got some good exercise and I saw yet another little patch of California in my ongoing, multi-decade quest to walk every still available goldurn inch of my beautiful, shining Golden State homeland. 

Batman, however, needs to step up his game. He should hop in his Batmobile and show up at the Calero Bat Inn muy pronto with his handy Batman tool belt. Holy Hinge Repair!

Peace, Love, and Deferred Maintenance,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022

Mount Madonna County Park, Santa Clara County, California

 Waxing Crescent Moon

The first thing I noticed when I got out of the car yesterday at Mt. Madonna County Park was the stark, absolute silence. The absence of sound actually startled me. In an instant, I knew I was home.

Mt. Madonna is not a towering, sharp peak overlooking the surrounding countryside. It is more of a massive, rounded, tree-covered hulk. The high point (1,897 feet) is literally indistinguishable from the area around it, marked only by a modest, concrete, uninscribed monument in the woods. A USGS benchmark is its only embellishment. Mt. Madonna is both humble and great. You are welcome to sit for a minute on its simple throne and soak in the holy quiet.

My plan for this very warm, still, sort of buggy Thursday was a sweaty two-hour loop down the Merry-Go-Round Trail and back through the redwoods to the Henry Miller summer home ruins. Henry Miller was a big-time cattle baron in the 1800's. He built a handful of houses on the mountain, the largest of which cost a quarter of a million dollars in 1901. Ruins of this lavish vacation home still dot the area close to the "peak."

The connector to the Merry-go-Round Trail is all downhill, as are all the trails leaving from the high point, duh. I was greeted by a particularly interesting twisted tree limb right away.

Heading down on the Merry-Go-Round (part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail), I was soon out of the redwoods and into the oak, bay, and manzanita forest. It wasn't too long before the woods opened up to afford long views reaching over to the Diablo Range and down into the closer, adjacent Santa Cruz Mountains.

Relentless downhill walking gets to me these days, pounding my neck and knees, so I was glad to hang a right on the roller coaster Tie Camp Trail for a while. I would much rather hike up and down and around on switchbacks than struggle straight down on a fire road. My mood instantly improved as soon as I made the turn. There were tiny "little apple" berries on the manzanitas and a variety of wildflowers flanking the trail before it began to climb back up into the redwoods. 

After that, I hit my stride, huffing and puffing up the trail, gaining energy from the big trees. I stopped a couple of times to catch my breath and listen to the gentle hoots of a nearby owl. I don't know if it was saying hi or warning me or alerting his amigos to my presence, but I chose to enjoy the melodic echo of its call while it lasted. I made an attempt at an answering call, but it was decidedly un-owl-like. To be honest, it sounded like an old man gurgling in the woods. I wondered for a second if owls ever laugh.

There were intermittent segments of more oak and manzanita trees, too, as the trail made its way around the mountain, providing variety and beauty in their own way.

Soon I turned up the Ridge Trail, another wide fire road which led me (up, this time, which I prefer) to the Loop Trail past the archery range toward the Henry Miller house ruins. This was a good mile and a half of leg work and perspiration regaining the elevation I lost on the Merry-Go-Round Trail. It wasn't all that scenic, but I got to grind hard on this part and really feel the workout. Before too long, I was poking around in the ruins while eating a scrumptious PB & Banana sammie.

Long before there were vacation home-building cattle barons in the Americas, the Ohlone Amah Mutsun and other local tribelets frequented this mountain. I am willing to bet that there were many men, women, boys, and girls back then who could mimic an owl call way better than I can. I gotta work on that.

Peace, Love, and Having a Hoot,

Jim

#2,022 in 2022