Villages Hiking Club, San Jose, CA
Our mission is to promote an active and healthy lifestyle through hiking.
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| Amy Meier,Sandra Walker,John Walker, Debbie Siedband,Peter Nicholls,Dan Kato, Frances Wilson,Wate Bakker,Faye Swanson,Gigi Clarke,Jackie Jones Photographer:Jim Beyer |
Wate Bakker led the long hikers and Johanna Bakker led the ramblers hike to the Saratoga Gap and into Long Ridge Open Space on Saturday, November 8th. The long hikers traveled approximately 9 miles with some going a couple miles longer. There was moderate elevation gains. Ramblers started at a different location. We saw views of the coastal range and Pacific ocean as it was another beautiful day on the trails.
Johanna Bakker led a rambler hike along the Devil’s slide trail near Pacifica. It was a fully paved hiking and biking trail along the old highway one, now superseded by a tunnel. The trail is completely new with many look out points and rest stops but has some gradual ups and downs and was a hiking distance of about 3 miles . Wate Bakker led the long hikers to near the top of Montara Mountain, starting at the San Pedro Country park parking lot. The hike turned out to be approximately 6.25 miles long with an altitude difference of 1700 ft. Afterwards we late a late lunch at the Moonraker restaurant on Rockaway Beach in Pacifica. It was another beautiful day for hiking with cool temperatures and light breezes.
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| Rich Bainbridge,Bonnie Preston,Robyn Siebenthall, Marie Buck,Johanna Bakker,Katy Peretti,Laura Gelman |
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| Wedding at Moonracker restaurant |
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| Bonnie Preston,Katy Peretti,Faye Swanson, Stan Pegram,Suzanne Pham,Nancy Mosher-Williams,Brad Hinckley,Marie Buck, Debbie Siedband,Amy Meier,Susan Brown |
On 5/7/14 Eleven Ramblers joined the journey to the Far East tour of the Overfelt Gardens on Mckee Rd in San Jose with a guided tour by Ranger Valeri Heyberger. The 33 acres of land was donated by Mildred Overfelt in memory of her parents, William and Mary to create a peaceful and tranquil park surrounded by natural plants, wildlife and ponds. The park is also known as the Chinese Cultural Garden due to Frank and Pauline Lowe who worked to acquire several historical objects from Taiwan including: a 30 ft bronze and marble statue of Confucious, an ornamental front gate, Sun Yat Sun Memorial Hall, Chung Kai Shek Plum Pavillion, a sundial and the Black Stone which was mined from the Mt. ranges of Taiwan.We also toured the Overfelt family house located in the park. Afterwards, we visited Pao Hua Buddhist Temple on our own which is located also on McKee Rd. Everyone enjoyed a Dim Sum lunch at Creekside Chinese Restaurant on Piedmont Rd before going home.
