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.
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.
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