Santa Teresa County Park – Coyote Peak via Mine, Ridge & Hidden Valley Loop
On Wednesday, October 29th 18 SIR hikers consisting of 15 members plus 3 wives set out on a trek in seeking beautiful scenic views of Santa Clara County and Coyote Valley in a local county park in Santa Teresa. Located just past the Santa Teresa Golf Course we started our trek at the third parking lot inside the park at 9:15am. In 3 hours we completed the 5 mile roundtrip hike that took us 5.0 miles and up an elevation gain of 903’. The paths were wide open with quite a lot of strewn loose rock on a packed dirt trail. The environment was wide open hills and valleys through a few continuous up and downs until we reached the top where we entered a small loop around the actual Coyote Peak. We stopped there to soak up all the gorgeous views of the Coyote and Santa Clara Valleys. A spectacular vantage point to see the South Bay from both sides as well as the green grasses of the Santa Teresa Golf Course’s fairways and putting greens. After a few pictures we started our trek back on the reverse side of the loop. We experienced a lot of serpentine soils that attracts butterflies. The weather was absolutely perfect with temps in the low 60’s to low 70’s when we finished. With all the elevation gain, it was not a day to break a sweat. Just another great day in the outdoors with our friends: Doug Krause, Tony Mazzucco, Dan Tam, Bruce Fenton, Jim Claitor, Cheryl Erickson, Floyd Wolfe, John Cognetta, Gabe Plasencia, Ken Tarquinio, Bob & Tami Thompson, Jerry & Isabelle Angelo, Jon Wiseman, John Caldwell, Bernie Coullahan-(welcome back!) and Mike Turay.
Our lunch afterward was at Lazy Dog in San Jose where Rebeca Krause and Claire Tarquinio joined us. We all continued the fun and conversation with good food and home made craft beers.
November will be a month off for members to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends and we will have a hike on Wednesday, November 12th to be announced soon. Until then.. Happy Hiking
