Villages Hiking Club, San Jose, CA
Our mission is to promote an active and healthy lifestyle through hiking.
Our weekly hill hike always occurs on Wednesday mornings starting at 8:45AM. Here is an example of the activity that happened this morning. If you can participate, the reward is a phenomenal view of our valley.
Dan Kato led a long hike of about 8 miles with a vertical climb of about 1800 feet at Mt Diablo State Park on Saturday, November 13th. They parked at Diablo Valley Overlook and started hiking on the Deer Flat Road. Hiking clockwise around the mountain, they turned right on the Bald Ridge Trail. On that trail they had lunch where the views were spectacular. They returned via the North Peak and Juniper trails.
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Gary Lohr led a hike to Evergreen College and then up Yerba Buena to Falls Creek Drive and back to the north side of the college campus. They stopped for coffee at the shopping center located at Yerba Buena and San Felipe.
Wate and Johanna Bakker led a hike in the Long Ridge open space preserve along skyline boulevard. They started at the Grizzly flat parking lot on Skyline Boulevard. The main hike was about 5 miles along the Long ridge and Peter creek trails. The trail was quite shady but also had beautiful views all the way to the Ocean. The long hikers extend their hike by continuing along Long ridge trail south to a scenic hilltop for another 2-3 miles.
On Saturday, October 16th, Gesela Pierson led a long hike of about 8 miles at Harvey Bear Park starting at the Mendoza Ranch entrance. They went up to Mummy Mountain over looking Coyote Lake where they observed fall colors on the trees.
The Annual Fall Hiking Trip for October 5th – 6th in beautiful Pismo Beach was a success. They stayed at the Oxford Suites and had 2 and a half days of hikes and enjoyment of the area. They stopped for a picture at Cave Landing trail in Shell Beach.
Cheryl Allmen and Terri Vivoli led a hike around the golf course. They met at the Clubhouse parking lot at 8:30am. The hike was about 3 miles
On Saturday, October 2nd, three long hikers, Manoli Kelley, Mary Stradner and Dan Kato, did about 7 miles at Henry Cowell Redwoods state park.  They started at the park office and followed the Big Rock Hole trail to a San Lorenzo River crossing. Wading in ankle deep water was the perfect way to cool the feet. They then crossed the peninsula and made a second river crossing, climbed out of the river valley, and returned via the Pipeline Road. A beautiful hike through redwood forest valleys.
The group met at the parking lot next to the Villages entry gate at 8:50am and left at 9:00am. They walked up to Yerba Buena and across to the community college and walked up the hill to the observatory and then along the buildings teaming with all the new students. Th e new park inside the college we’ve watched being built, has been completed and is a pleasant destination.
Rich Bainbridge and Wendy Ledamun led a hike at the Picchetti Ranch Preserve in Cupertino. The Preserve featured 3.7 miles of trail, the historic Picchetti Winery, and the surrounding homestead. They hiked along the Zinfandel Trail. The out and back hike was approximately 4-miles long through forested canyons of madrone, coast live oak and California bay. The Sierra Azul range, crowned by Mount Umunhum, was visible to the south through a break in the trees.
