Summit rock loop trail, Sanborn county park, Saratoga CA. 09/27/2015

Summary

Location: Sanborn county park, Saratoga California
Trail: A short part of the skyline trail and then the Summit rock loop trail
Date & Time: 09/27/2015 11:00 AM
Distance: 3.5 miles
Duration: 1 hours 20 minutes
Difficulty (1-5): 1, Short easy hike on an excellent trail almost fully in shade
Official web page: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/pages/sanborn.aspx

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Story

Last Sunday we were heading up in the Saratoga mountains to do some hiking in the Castle Rock Park. But when arriving there the parking was completely full and so many cars already waiting for a free spot so we gave up that idea quickly.

We decided to head somewhere else and only after driving about a mile north on Highway 9 i noticed an almost empty parking lot on the right side of the road and we decided to stop and see what we could find there. Looking at the map i could see that we were at the skyline trail but had a very short hike on that before reaching the summit rock loop trail. Even though it seemed a bit short we decided to go for this trail and headed out.

The entrance from the parking

Like mentioned we started by hiking only about a quarter mile on the summit trail before we turned left into the summit rock trail. Trail condition is excellent and there is basically no other trails so its very easy to follow the loop.

After about another half mile we exited the loop trail to head up to the summit rock itself. The summit rock is a wonderful rock foundation that is very popular for climbing. You can do some easy minor climbing without ropes to get a wonderful view over the bay area. I believe this part is closed during periods for preservation's but at this time it was opened.

Summit rock

Summit rock

Summit rock

View from the summit rock

Me climbing up on the top

After hanging out at the rock for a while we headed back to the loop trail and continued our hike. The rest of the loop trail is easy, quite and very beautiful. The first 1.5 mile goes slightly downhill until it turns and takes you slowly back up to the crest again.

The entire trail is in shade so it never gets so hot even if its hot outside. Also there is not many people here so the hike is very peaceful.

This is what almost the entire trail looks like

Slowly going down the hill

And then slowly up again

Hiking shoes :)

So to summarize this short hike, easy, nice but a bit to short...

Our hike

Henry Cowell redwoods state park, Felton CA. 08/30/2015

Summary

Location: Henry Cowell redwoods state park, Felton California
Trail: Redwood grove loop trail / River trail / Big rock hole trail / Buckeye trail and then the pipeline fire road back.
Date & Time: 08/30/2015 01:00 PM
Distance: 9 miles
Duration: 3 hours 45 minutes
Difficulty (1-5): 2, Easy hike in shade under the amazing redwood trees
Official web page: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=546

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Story

We have been hiking in this nice park many times but this time we took a new trail (Big rock hole trail and the Buckeye trail) that we have not tried before. Those were amazing and fun, let me get back to that later.

This park is great to hike in when its warm summer days because almost the entire park with some minor differences goes though thick redwood forests that provides excellent shade and quietness. We started the hike by the park office. Here you can find a lot of parking and the entrance fee is 10 dollar per car.

Park entrance

We started our hike at the Redwood grove loop trail that is a very easy accessible loop trail through redwoods, they have a lot of information here that will learn you about this amazing forest. Some cool things here are the "Giant tree" that measure 270 feet high, almost as high as a 25 story high building. Another cool tree is the "Fremont tree" that is named that because of John Fremont spent a night inside this tree in 1846. This tree is so big inside! The record today is that 81 people fit inside this tree at the same time. You can see it here on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODbUqIrDnTA

Redwood grove loop trail

"The giant" 270 feet high!

The fremont tree, were John Fremont spent a night 1846

After half of the loop trail we exited out from this easy well maintained trail out to the river trail. This part is flat and easy and takes you in parallel with the San lorenzo rivers for a while before the trail turns into the forest and slowly starts to climb upwards on a very nice and beautiful trail. The river is shallow and calm that makes it excellent for young kids that wants to play in the sand or in the water. 

The San Larenzo river

A small waterfall

My daughter at the waterfall

When getting into the forest it becomes so silent and quiet. The big trees are so beautiful and really shut off all the outside world for a while.

The trail turns into the forest and slowly starts to head up

This forest is magical

After the river trail is finished we decided to try the big rock hole trail that we haven't tried before. Here you notice that not so many people hikes because the trail gets much more narrow and the vegetation gets very close and on some parts covers the trail.

I was a bit scared of poison oak but i couldn't see any so either there was not any close to the trail or we were just very lucky. This part of the trail is about a mile and takes you through nice forest and in the end the trail descends a lot to take you back down to the river again.

This is where the fun begins! Now you have to cross the river and there is no bridge. However there is some rocks so if the water level is low and you have some trekking poles you can cross easy without getting wet.

I love when they put up signs like this

The river after ending the Big rock hole trail.

Wife and daughter crossing the river

After this there is about another half mile of flat trail with heavy vegetation that cover parts of the trail. Then it is time to cross the river again... This time there is no rocks to climb on and the river is a bit wider so be prepared to get wet. Unfortunately we had so much fun so i forgot to take photos here. But if the water is warm this is really funny and nice.

When you have crossed the river the second time it is very difficult to find the trail again, but just follow the river to the right for maybe a hundred feet and you will find a trail sign.

Now it is time to climb up again from the creek and the trail gets very steep taking yuo through some switchbacks for about a half mile.

Once up it was pretty late so we decided to just take the pipeline fire road back to the park office and parking. This section was 2,5 miles and all is on a nice paved road without any traffic.

In the middle of the road they have a nice Vista point were you can see Santa Cruz and the pacific.

Steep switchbacks up from the river

More switchbacks

Vista point with a view over Santa cruz and the pacific

Pipeline fire road

We had a wonderful day and will definitely spend many more days in this park, even though my wife and daughter doesn't like to find creatures like this on the trails... :)

Small snake on the trail

Our hike

Almaden quicksilver county park, San Jose CA. 08/23/2015

Summary

Location: Almaden quicksilver county park, San Jose California
Date & Time: 08/23/2015 12:30 PM
Distance: 8 miles (Planned for a 5 mile hike but a bad trail choice made it 8)
Duration: 3 hours 45 minutes
Difficulty (1-5): 3, Medium, there is some elevation changes but nothing steep, parts of the trail is in shade and the trails are mostly well maintained fire roads.
Official web page: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/AlmadenPark.aspx

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Story

Yesterday it was time to get back out on the trails again. For the last two weeks i haven't hardly moved at all after the accident i had on mount Shasta (http://hikinginbayarea.blogspot.se/2015/08/mount-shasta-avalanche-gulch-mt-shasta.html).

We decided to go the entire family and we thought that Almaden could be an awesome hike also for Hilda. She is only 12 years old but are a real fighter out on the trails and she likes it even though she would never admit that to us :)
She also just got new hiking shoes that we bought only a few days ago at REI. I really dont want to know how much money i have spent in those stores the last year... :)

My daughters new shoes from REI

The plan was to do the historic trail that should be about 5 miles. And we did that with a slight twist when i made a wrong turn and we ended up at the park exit instead of the planned trail.

We started the hike from the Hacienda parking lot, parking is easy and free. They have a great information board and some free maps you can use.
Here you can pick up a map of the "historic trail" that shows not only where to go but also has a lot of great information about all the historic mining sites you will pass on the hike. 

Almaden information board

Seems like they have had some mountain lion sightings last few weeks, there was warnings everywhere

We started to slowly walk uphill on the Deep gulch trail for almost a mile, here it is really nice to walk because almost the entire trail from the start up to the English camp in shade.
The English camp is where all the English speaking miners used to live, they could rent a house here for themselves or with their family for about 5-10 USD / month!
But there is basically nothing left except an old barn or similar.

Wife and daughter on Deep gulch trail

Great shade on this part of the trail

The english camp, where all the "english" speaking miners used to live

After the English camp you are almost at the top of the hill and there is no more shade. The trail is still great and you will have some really nice views of both the surrounding mountains and of the south bay area.

Here you can see the rotary furnace building that was used to separate the mercury from the mined ore. It was in use until 1976 before they closed down the mining here.
Just after this we selected incorrect trail and hiked out from the park until we realized we were wrong, that added an additional 3 mile twist to our hike, but it was ok since it gave us some more nice views.

The rotary furnace building that was used to separate mercury from the mined ore

A nice rock foundation

My daughter is starting to get warm :)

The "wrong" trail

The hike then continues with more interesting places to see like for example the hanging tree and the San Cristobal mine that is the only tunnel in the park that you can actually enter for a few hundred feet.

The San Cristobal tunnel

This is cool, you can actually enter the tunnel for a few hundred feet

Daughter outside the tunnel

After this it is time to start to walk down again, back into the shade again for about two more miles before being back at the parking lot.
Happy and a little bit tired we were back at the car about four hours after we started.

We had a great Sunday afternoon in a great park that offers both nice trails as well as interesting historic sites to see and learn about.

I highly recommend this park! 

Mount Shasta Avalanche gulch, Mt Shasta CA 08/08/2015

Summary

Location: Mount Shasta, Mt Shasta California
Date & Time: 08/08/2015 02:00 AM
Distance: 12.5 miles
Duration: 12 hours 45 minutes
Difficulty (1-5): 5, This cannot be considered a hike, serious climbing skills in ice and snow are required.
Official web page: http://www.fs.usda.gov/stnf/ 

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Story

I wanted to do another big challenge before the summer ends and even though i have read that climbing Mt Shasta Avalanche gulch trail in August is unsafe i ignored that advise. Later you will find out why i regretted that decision.

Climbing Mt Shasta summit in one day is cruel, total elevation to gain going from Bunny flats parking to the summit is about 7000 feet, and have in mind the distance is only just above 6 miles so that will give an average elevation gain per mile more than 1000 feet!

Mount Shasta 14,179 feet high active volcano

Me checking out the mountain the day before summit attempt

I started the hike at 02:00 AM from the Bunny flats parking lot, From bunny flats the trail starts easy for about two miles when you arrive at the horseshoe camp, here you can fill up with water from their wonderful well.

After the horseshoe camp it is starting to get more difficult especially for me since i was climbing in darkness for about four hours. There is tons of lose rocks and gravel everywhere. This section will go from the horseshoe camp up to Helen Lake that is a constantly frozen lake, this is where the snow / ice starts.

Climbing up towards Lake Helen with only a headlight was difficult due to all the loose rocks

Lake Helen is constantly frozen, this is also where the snow starts, time to put on some crampons!

Now it was time to put on the crampons since it was really icy and slippery, at first i had some problems with them since i just bought a new pair but after some practice it all went well. At this point i was still only using my trekking poles since they helps the legs conserving energy which was needed later.

After Lake Helen it starts to be more steep and from here there is no trail to talk about, i headed up pretty straight to try attempt the Red banks from the left side.

When i climbed here there was a lot of big rock falls that really scared me. This is the way it is in August and one of the reason you should not do this in this month.

After about an hour i entered the Red banks zone and this is where it gets crazy. The climb elevation is about 1500 feet and it is extremely steep, sometimes 45 degrees angle. Here you have to replace your trekking poles with an ice axe, maybe not you need it to climb but in case you would make a fall here you really need the axe to be able to self arrest. If not you will make a nasty fall....

The beginning of the red banks section, from here it doesn't look so steep, but believe me it is!

Looking down from the middle of the red banks

The chimneys, exiting the red banks, this section is insanely steep

The end of the red banks are really steep and here you basically have to use your ice axe to pull yourself up the last part. This part was really scary to do since the ice was so hard so it was difficult to get a good grip. But i made it and the worst part was over, for now...
After you exit the Red banks you reach a plateau where you will get a chance to recover a bit before doing the last summit attempt.
After getting some rest i started to climb the misery hill that is a big pile of small rocks, the climb up here is very annoying because the rocks are so loose and all the gravel are so soft so for every two steps you make, you slide one back.
But still its not so high and pretty simple to make even with tired legs.
After reaching the top of misery hill there is only a short final push towards the summit at 14,179 feet.
For me it was a huge satisfaction to make it up there since nobody thought i would make this in August since it is supposed to be so dangerous... which it was  

Misery hill, a big rockpile

A Glacier after exiting the Red banks

First view of the summit after climbing the Misery hill 

View from the summit

View from the summit

After spending some time on the summit just enjoying that i made it it was start to head back down again and this was were the problems started.

Reaching the red banks again it was so icy so even with crampons it was very difficult to find good steps.

Sliding down was out of the option since first of all it was only ice, seconds thing the entire Red banks was covered with holes, bumps and rocks.

Yes, this is perhaps the biggest reason to not do this climb in August, but here i was and i had to get back down.

I started to reverse slowly down using my ice axe and crampons and to start with it went pretty good even though it was difficult.
But since there was a lot of rock falls on this part i was most likely to stressed to get down quickly and lost concentration for just a second and then it happened so fast...

I slipped in a very steep section and started to quickly slide down. I had my ice axe and i know how to use it properly in cases like this. Problem here though was that it was so steep and so icy so even though i pushed as much as i could my speed didn't slowed down at all.

I guess it only lasted for three seconds but it felt like forever. Maybe i slide about 30 feet and i was so lucky because just there was a big pile of rocks that i hit really hard. Lucky you might say..., yes it was because if i hadn't ended in that rock pile i would have slide about 1000 feet more and that would have been really nasty.

Now i got away with a lot of bruises, twisted knee, scratches over entire left side of body and a swollen ankle. But i was so lucky nothing worse happened.

This scared me so much, i have never been really afraid on a mountain before but this time i was.
But luckily at this point i guess i had so much adrenaline in my body so i didn't hardly felt any pain at all and could continue like normal, the pain came when i was back at my car.

The rest of the hike i was so cautious and went really slow.

After a total of 12 hours and 45 minutes i was back at my car, happy to have made it to the summit, but felt really bad since it was so close i got in real trouble.

So my advise to you is, never do this hike in August! It is way to dangerous because of all the ice, no snow and all falling rocks.

The day after i had to visit an emergency room because of all the pain after the fall i made. Nothing dangerous but a broken tail bone can really hurt a lot....

BTW this was the equipment i carried, excluding drinks and food.

My equipment for Mt Shasta excluding drinks and food