Got a bit braver today, and tried a trail that I haven't been on in years, and that what I did remember about it was steep trails.

Yea, funny thing about memory - mine is pretty damned good, dammit.


Saint Joseph's Hill Open Space Preserve is great, because it is right in the middle of Los Gatos, but is still very wilderness-ish. It goes from Los Gatos, over the eponymous hill, and down again to Lexington Reservoir.

I planned this one, so did a bit of research on the best way to access the trails for an after-work hike, and found that the Novitiate Park would be the easiest for both parking and access. It's at the very end of Jones street (which is also the name of the trail) and there seemed to be plenty of on street parking, and I didn't see any signs for permits, so I felt OK leaving the car there.

The trail was muddy in places after yesterday's storm, but it wasn't impassable, and the dogs seemed to enjoy sniffing around through it. Also, the trail starts up right away on a slope - no easy flats to get you started. The first half mile alternated between decently steep grades, followed by easy slopes - it was timed just enough to get you panting, then give you a rest, then back to panting. At the one-mile mark, there is a nice place to rest and take in the view before the last bit of upward slope. Then comes the downhill trail to the reservoir - we debated about going, because we knew we'd have to come back up... Roya decided to let me decide, so we went for it.

At the bottom is the reservoir parking, with a few porta potties, but a lovely view of the reservoir:


After we totally passed out from "teh Qte",. we turned to face the hill from the bottom. I suggested to Roya that we "climb that bitch like a ladder", but she wasn't buying it. So, up we trudged, thankfully encountering two older (and I gotta say, in awesome shape) ladies coming down the hill, who stopped to adore our dogs.

Yes, we totally used the cuteness of our dogs to put off a very steep hill. You'd totally do it too, don't lie.

Once we made it to the top of that hill, there was only a few rises before the trail turned completely downhill. Great for Roya, who has a well-trained, leash-led dog. Not so great for the tiny strong-man at the end of my leash. I finally had to hold the leash in one hand, and lead it behind my waist to keep Elliott from pulling me down into the mud with him. We made it to the bottom with only one small injury (I accidentally stepped on Ell's foot, but he was totally faking that squeal) and Roya pointed out that we managed about 3 miles of fairly challenging terrain in only an hour. WHOO, we are actually making progress!

Let's see how this next few days of rain go... maybe a weekend hike? :)

Since this was a normal workday Monday (wah) we went to Fremont Older again. We were a bit worried that it might be muddy after the rain, but the paths we took were mostly dry, so no major damage. Our pace is improving, although we still make stops here and there for the dogs (seriously. it's the dogs. we're not resting for ourselves. nope. not at all.). We made it up to Hunter's Point again, and Elliott was overcome with the romantic-ness of it all, and worked it out by humping Koda.

On our way down, we heard the shooting gallery again but I also heard a noise that sounded like a cross between a baby and a cat. I'm pretty sure it was a mountain lion, but I could be wrong. We also actually saw all kinds of animals this trip - a few bunnies jumping through the grasses, and about 6-10 deer grazing in a group on a hill. Luckily, it didn't seem like the dogs saw those animals.... However, they did manage to find the only other dogs in the park at the end of our hike, and Koda got so excited that he pulled away from Roya and ran straight to kill a Pomeranian puppy that was obviously thinking about killing us all. Thanks for saving us, Koda!!

Roya's last day off, and I manage to leave early again, due to another (!) 6:00 AM meeting with my East Coast peeps, yo.

Yea, I really can't pull that off, can I?

Anyway, since we got an earlier start, we decided to go further out, to Uvas Canyon County Park

(By the way, Uvas is Spanish for grape. However, I saw no grapes there. Way to go, namers.)

I had been here once before, when Elliott was much younger, but since I was by myself and it happened to be another rainy day, I didn't go far enough to really appreciate it.

The park is directly south of San Jose, and there are a few ways to get there. The first time I went, I took the 101 south, got off at the Bailey road exit, and turned left at McKean. This time,we went to the end of Almaden Expressway, and turned right on Harry, then left on McKean. Either way you get to McKeen, you'll be heading south for about 6 miles from Bailey road before you turn right on Croy. (Also, you won't notice, but McKean turns into Uvas road about halfway there). Once you are on Croy, you just drive. It's a pretty, curvy road, with horses and various yards to look at, and it slowly climbs until you're driving among trees. You'll know you're almost to the park when you get to Sveadal.



Sveadal is a private resort owned by the Swedish American Patriotic League, with adorable Swedish looking houses and decorations... Roya swears that it's where serial killers take kids to keep for a while before they kill them.

I say Tomatoe, You say grisly site for holding children. Moving on.

So, drive nice and slow through Sveadal, and just at the end of the resort, the road will curve to the left, and Voila!

The parking lot was mostly empty, since rain was predicted for the day, but at the time we got there, it was actually blue skies with a few clouds. The dogs were pumped, so we got them out of the back seat (more humping) and Koda decided to celebrate right away by laying a fresh one on the pavement. Koda never stands on circumstance :)

We scooped up (of course!) and got the dogs moving generally in the direction of the trail, stopping to see if there was a "You are here" thingy on the map. There wasn't, but we managed to find ourselves after all. We waved, and started for the Waterfall Loop.

Yes, you heard it - WATERFALL. This place has a bunch of really lovely waterfalls. They're not Niagara in scale, but the setting they're in is so beautiful, and they're all so accessible, that their smaller size is not even an issue. For example:

On Roya's week off, I was able to get out of work early, since I was forced to come in early for a meeting on east coast time (GRRR). It worked out well, though, since we got plenty of time to get to the Fremont Older Open Space Preserve

The drive to the preserve is a pretty one - once you get off the 85 at De Anza, you head south towards Saratoga, but then make a right at Prospect. After a left at the stop sign to stay on Prospect, the road wanders past a few country clubs, and a bunch of big houses. The road is curvy, so you have to drive slow, but the scenery is worth your patience. After the Saratoga Country club, turn left, and the road narrows as it passes more homes, then widens at a small parking lot. I've almost always found a spot when I needed to, but supposedly during peak times, it fills up quick.

So, we gathered the dogs (Elliott was busy humping Koda in the back seat) and got them on their leashes. We walked over to the head of the trail, then back, because I forgot the poo bags. The trail started on an incline up the side of the first hill, and we got started slowly, the dogs sniffing everything in site. Once we get going, the pattern that repeats through the hike begins - Elliott rushes ahead, sniffing madly on either side of the trail, and Koda pants and tries to catch up to Elliott. They're really pretty ridiculous.

We get to the top of the first hill, and stop to catch our breath and give the dogs some water - Elliott crowds Koda out of the way, takes a few slurps, then wanders off, and Koda finishes most of the water. Roya dumps the rest of the water on Koda's head, which does not amuse him AT ALL.

I wanted to go on the hike that goes down into a canyon, then back up the hill, but it seems to be closed (I read later that there were some reconfiguring of the trail, and they closed it for "settling"). We go left instead, up towards Hunter's Point.

I point out our goal to Roya and she says "It doesn't look that bad". Heh.

We make it up to Hunter's Point, and sit down on the bench to catch our breath. On the way up, I kept hearing popping noises, and a man that was already at the top told us that there is a shooting club nearby. I'm just hoping no one aims in our direction...



We head back down, me with both dogs pulling me like I'm on the tundra, and Roya trying to keep from sliding, and we make it back to the car with no major mishaps. All told, this fairly easy hike lasted about an hour and a half.