Villages Hiking Club

New Hiking Trail

A new trail on our hill has been created ending with a beautiful panoramic view of Silicon Valley. The trail can be accessed by first headingup Rawhide to Tower Trail. At Tower turn right and go up that road. Before you get to our property line you will see the trail on the left, starting at the dirt steps, to a series of switchbacks that go to the top of the knoll. There is still a little work to do to level off the trail in spots so be careful. There are also some fairly large “fox holes” on the hill that one can step in so it is best to stay on the trail and not venture into the grass and weeds. We plan to do a little more work on the trail, probably during our maintenance day in April, to make it more level. Also, there is a picnic table on order that will be placed at the top.

Thanks go to those who supplied the sweat equity including Katy Obringer, Alan Waltho, Chuck Wyatt, Deb and Marc Siedband and Dan Kato. Also, thanks to Phil Grote who came up with the idea.

2013 Soup & White Elephant Event

The soup & white elephant party was attended by around fifty members and their guests. The event started with heavy hors d’oeuvres followed by the main course, soup. There were several types ranging from split pea soup and French onion to many other delicious types. Dan Kato’s Mother celebrated her eight-eighth birthday with a surprise birthday cake and song. The evening ended with the white elephant gift exchange. There were many gifts and some were actually very nice for the event.

2013 New Years Day Hike

Our New Years Day Hike to the top was successful as we had about thirty-five members attend. The long hikers met at Foothill Center at 10:00 a.m. Leisurely hikers met at the upper garden parking lot at 9:15 a.m. We all met at the top of hill by the mail box at about 11:30. Members brought cookies, candy, various nuts, and other snacks to share with friends and fellow hikers. It was a beautiful morning for hiking and enjoying each others company.

2012 Holiday Party

What a holiday party it was. Barbara Orlando, a new Hiking Club member and the new Co-Vice-President of Socials for 2013 out did herself in every way. She made ALL the food for around 85 people and it was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented on most festive tables. The details of the garnishes alone brought rave reviews. She is an incredibly creative person and loves entertaining in this way. We can’t thank her enough for all she did to make this a most special party. Hats off to your Barbara with many thanks for a job superbly done!

Along with great, great food, lovely decorations, and visiting with old friends and new friends, we had a six piece band, The Black Mountain Radio Band, that provided upbeat music throughout the evening for toe tapping and more. And that visit from Santa was a nice surprise. All together a fun holiday party.

Thanks to Barbara Orlando and Bonnie Preston for being on the planning end of it all with me. Thanks to Tony Orlando, Betty Ruboyianes, Johanna Bakker and Joyce Slocum for their help in taking food from the Cribari refrigerators to Foothill and assisting in the kitchen as needed. And additional thanks to all those that stayed late to help clean up.

Happy holidays and happy hiking to all of you,

Katy

Dawn Hill Hike

Fourteen hearty members made the dawn hill hike to the top of the ridge led by Phil Grote. Leaving from the Old Gardens parking lot at around 5 AM, they traveled in the dark with only headlamps and flashlights. After returning, they gathered at the Clubhouse for breakfast.

Patriotic Potluck

The Hiking Club had their Patriotic Potluck on Thursday, November 13^th at 5:30 PM at Foothill Center.

Members and non-members were invited to dress up wearing red, white and blue.

Two prizes that were given to the “most looking patriotic people” were Marion Hawkins and Betty Stednitz.

The other games were guessing “Who’s Who” when clues will were be given about presidents and the first ladies; white cyclamen plants were given to the winners.

The other game; a Presidential Trivia game was done by tables and the winners were given a small prize.

Veterans were asked to stand up, honoring them for serving our country.

We appreciated everyone who dress up for this red, white and blue occasion which seemed fitting for a November event.

REI Trail Maintenance at Sierra Vista

We had 4 Hiking Club members that participated in Saturday,October 13th REI Ridge Trail Maintenance Day at Sierra Vista.
Katy Obringer
Debbie and Marc Siedband
Dan Kato
Fun day with beautiful views. We were fed breakfast and lunch and met many people like us.

Annual Hiking Club Outing

ANNUAL HIKING CLUB OUTING

Twenty nine members of the hiking club departed for Morro Bay for a 3 day hiking adventure in Morro Bay, a scenic fishing village near San Luis Obispo.,We drove along the scenic,coastal highway 1 and stopped at the Julia Pfeiffer Burns state Park,with its waterfall dropping right on the beach. As we arrived it started to rain, which made the view of the waterfall especially romantic.

The rain continued the following day. Thus most of us spend part of the day visiting San Luis Obispo and its mission, one of the best preserved in California. In the afternoon we ventured out in the Montana del Oro State Park for a walk along the shore and a visit to the Elfin forest, where Pygmee oaks grow very wide but stay small due to salt water intrusion from the nearby wetlands. In the evening we all enjoyed a seafood dinner at the Great American fish company. The following morning most people scattered to visit nearby tourist attractions such as the Hearst castle, but about 8 people decided to walk the Buchon trail along the coast near PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. We all admired the spectacular rock formations.

Fall Creek State Park

The Fall Creek State Park group had a great time hiking among the redwood trees. We celebrated Nancy Rumple’s birthday by presenting her with a large card.

Hawaiian Social

The Hawaiian Hiking Social Potluck was on Thursday, September 13^th at 5:30pm at Gazebo Park.

As people arrived they were given a lei, a raffle ticket and their name badge. The food everyone bought was delicious and plentiful. Everyone had a great time visiting with each other. Vic Kairis played Hawaiian music during the social. There was a Hawaiian trivia game and the winners chose raffle prizes. Other prizes awarded were to Nancy Moser and Marion Hawkins who did the hula, Gabby sang a Hawaiian song, and Marion Hawkins won a raffle prize for telling a Hawaiian joke. There were about 45-50 people who attended this event. The weather was nice, almost tropical, to go along with the event.