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I tried to get some friends to go on this hike, but
they all chickened out. Good thing too, 'cause I got bored and I had nothing
better to do than hike the day away....but I'm getting ahead of myself.
I hopped out of my car into 85 degree heat and 0% humidity: perfect hiking
weather...if you're a lizard. I was at the low parking lot in the Rancho
San Antonio Open Space Preserve, eastern entrance, located at approximately
380 ft. of elevation. My goal was to take the steepest route to the "Power
Pole" and get a quick, intensive hike in for the day. (The "Power
Pole" is a support structure for some high tension power lines that
run up one side of the park.) The steepest route was the "PG&E
Trail"; 4 miles up and then 4 miles back on the "Upper High Meadows
Trail". There's a bench at the top (el. 1600 ft.) and it's a great
place to break for lunch. (There's nothing quite like eating lunch with
six 110kv power lines dangling over one's head...)
I mentioned many firsts...Well the first first was that I was wearing my NEW
SHOES and felt like I had to do them the
honor of a proper break-in. I've been trying to find hiking boots that fit,
but it's hard to find extremely wide hiking boots that are comfortable.
So, I wear running shoes and try to travel light (don't need any "fallen
arches"). I tossed on my small back pack and away I went. (Contents
of pack: 3L of Gatorade, some bagels, a couple grain-type bars [the kind
that make you VERY regular and chocked full of carbs], windbreaker...and
other assorted, hiking-related junk)
There were lots of people out on the trails. I like to say, "Hi!"
to everyone I pass and I was getting hoarse after just one mile out. About
this time, I encountered my second "first"...I was staring off
at the view of the Bay, passing people, and saying "Hi!". Some
guy actually PASSED *ME* on the trail (this doesn't happen very often).
As he wandered around the next bend and passed out of sight, I started staring
off at the view again.
I looked down and saw a pile of horse puckies... only, horse puckies don't
usually curl around in a coiled heap. I stopped and looked down again. Three
feet away from my ankles was a snake...a little snake (only 3 ft. long)
and it looked harmless enough. This snake must have been as startled as
I was because it just sat there, curled up at my ankles. Considering the
fact that the other guy had just walked past this same spot, I figured that
the snake must have JUST crawled up on the trail to catch some rays.
Anyway, I s-l-o-w-l-y stepped around the little snake and kept on walking.
When I turned around to look at the snake again, it was slithering off the
trail, into the shrubs. That's when I noticed the seven sections of rattle
attachment on the end of the snake. It had been a damn RATTLESNAKE! I always thought that rattlesnakes shake their rattles
to warn people to stay away. Not this one: it just sat there, three feet
from my ankles, and flicked it's tongue at me! |
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I ran down the next hill and asked the guy who passed
me if he had seen the snake. "There's a lot of them around here. I've
seen them here before, but I didn't see it when I went past there,"
he said. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you walk too fast and
don't enjoy the view along the way.
After another hour of hiking, I reached the bench at the top of the "PG&E
Trail". There were a few people enjoying the view and I sat down next
to them to enjoy my lunch.
One guy had hiked up on his own and left shortly after I got there. He was
wearing headphones (not my idea of a great way to get away from it all...but
to each his own) and I don't even think he noticed me (which is amazing,
considering how much I talk). The only other people up there were two ladies
who enjoyed looking at the map that I had gotten out while I was eating.
They were planning their descent and thought the "PG&E Trail"
looked nice. I suggested that they might want to go back the way they came
(the "Upper High Meadows Trail") since the "PG&E Trail"
is so steep (hard on the knees). They said, "Thanks!" and left
for the trail head.
I finished my lunch and decided to make my hike a little longer. I had pointed
out to the ladies that there was a trail behind us that wasn't on the map.
I told them that they could add eight miles to their trip if they went that
way. Hmmmmmmmm...I had nothing better to do! So, another first: I cut out
cross country on a trail that wasn't even on any of the maps.
Well, to make a long story short, I went through shrubs, poison oak,
more shrubs, poison oak, more shrubs, poison oak and then I wound up on
the trail to Black Mountain. Along the way, I had passed the ugly gravel
quarry and I managed (unbeknownst to me) to pick up a host of ticks. (April
to October is not the time of year to be cutting through the underbrush
in the Bay Area!) I looked up the trail, down the trail and decided to go
all the way to the top (2800+ ft. elev.). I reached the top, looked around,
ate my last bit of food, and headed back down....but I stayed on the MAIN
trail (adding 4 more miles to the trip).
The end result was a 16 mile trip that took about 6 hours. EEEEEK!!!
P.S. I waited almost three months to finish this tale... so, I've lost some
of the melodrama for the details... SORRY! |
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