On Saturday September 17th, 2016 six hardy hikers did a 12 mile hike at Butano State Park. This time we took the clockwise direction around the valley, opposite of our usual direction, starting at the Jackson Flats trail and continuing on the, Canyon, Indian, Doe Ridge and Goat trails. Driving home along the coast we were greeted by a plethora of kite surfers.
Al Girolami led a rambler hike of 3 to 4 miles in Martial Cottle Park on Wednesday, September 14th. It was all on paved paths with no elevation gain. There were at least a half dozen Geocaches in this park and all hikers learned about this hobby. Some of the geocaches direct the seekers to learn the history of this fairly new park which is one of Santa Clara County’s oldest farms. A GPS or a smartphone with Google maps or the geocaching app. was helpful, but not necessary.
Debby Siedband led the ramblers on a tour of the 2016 Downtown Doors in San José again this year on Wednesday,September 7th . This is part of a competition recognizing talented high school artists, whose winning entries are reproduced on large vinyl sheets & placed on doors & windows throughout the area. This year’s pieces were spread out a bit more, so we did a bit more walking than in the past. Lunch was at at San Pedro Square Market before riding the Light Rail home. The day was great and the group managed to beat the heat before coming home.
Sy Gelman led the ramblers on an outing to Pigeon Point Lighthouse on Wednesday, August 31st where docent Richard Homboe conducted a tour of the light station and told of its fascinating history.
Wate and Johanna Bakker led long and rambler hikes in the lesser known parts of San Francisco’s Presidio on Saturday, August 27th. The hikes were mostly flat, but the long hikers descended on to Baker Beach and back up again using a series of steps. The ramblers did 3-4 miles and the long hikers 5-7. Afterwards everyone met for a late lunch in the Golden Gate park Chalet.
Nancy Rumple led a hike in Alum Rock Park. Both the long hikers and ramblers did a 5 mile hike together on the South Rim Trail under the shade trees with a 900 ft elevation gain.
A small group of members did a special hike on our own hill trails on Saturday, August 6th . This hike was special because they didn’t go all the way to the top but took Bay trail (shady) to Tower, then over to Oak (also shady) and back down. What also made this a special hike special was that they did a little TRAIL MAINTENANCE along the way. Specifically, where Bay meets Meadow/Tower (the area we cleared at last Spring’s trail maintenance day) we will simply cut a few weeds. The top end of the Bay Trail and the area we cleared last Spring has, or will soon become, overgrown with what looks like some nasty yellow star thistle weeds. Everyone pitched in until the entire job was complete — many thanks to everyone who helped! We even carried down a bag full of yellow star thistles that we cut so they wouldn’t stay there and possibly germinate.
