SIR HIKE TO RANCHO CANADA DEL ORO OPEN SPACE PRESERVE – JANUARY 22, 2025

I would say that this hike had the most beautiful vistas and views of all the hikes we have done in Santa Clara County.  Located in Morgan Hill just next to Calero State Park, the trails we took started on the Longwall Canyon trail out of the parking lot after crossing the street for 0.7 miles, then on to the Catamount Trail for 1.7 miles which is where the climbing was as we went in a counter-clockwise direction.  After reaching the top, we continued on Bald Peaks Trail for 1.0 miles and met up with the Longwall Canyon trail for 3.2 miles back to the parking lot.  The mix of hillsides, valleys, terrain ascents and peaks of rolling grasslands and heavily forested scenery was breathtaking.  Once at the top, we were presented an additional climb on a 0.2 mile trail to a higher lookout where we took in the scenes of Mt Umunhum and Loma Prieta. There were wide open views of all of San Jose and the distant rolling peaks and valleys of the west, southwest. What was advertised as a 3 hour hike took us 3 ½ hours as the climb up necessitated some water breaks.  The way down was just the opposite as it was easy going.

There were 11 of us in total which showed the spirit of these adventurous SIRs and that included 2 wives as the temperatures were a little on the cool side at the start. But it warmed up quickly and before you knew it, we were shedding layers as the day was perfect with full sunshine.  The trails were mostly unshaded, wide and dry as there hadn’t been any rain for over a week. Overall we trekked 6.5 miles in

3 ½ miles with an overall 1,167’ elevation gain.

We hopped back into our cars and drove 15 minutes to Chili’s in Morgan Hill where the fun continued with friendly conversation and good food.

Thanks go out to hikers: Jerry and his wife Isabelle Angelo, John Caldwell, Bernie Coullahan, Kelvin Thomas, Bob Thompson and his wife Tami Thompson, Mike Turay, Floyd Wolfe and your’s truly, Doug Krause.

I invite more of you to come for a 1 ½ hour walk around Vasona Reservoir every Monday from 9am to 10:30am. We leave from the dam.