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1331. Mississippi Ridge (04/25/25)
Hikers (0):
Distance: 7 miles
Rating: 3 difficulty, 8 beauty
Park info: Henry Coe State Park near Gilroy
Write-up by Steve -- Pictures by Jarda, Kendra and Steve
The three permit-holders for Coe Backcountry Weekend met on Thursday to agree on the camping spot in the Mississippi Lake area. Camp Awesome won over many other enticing options including Camp Crowded, Camp 2 Small, and Camp Toilet. The primary benefit of Camp Awesome was that it was unlikely to have anyone else there regardless of how late we trickled in. The primary drawback was a one-mile round-trip water haul. A secondary benefit, which worked out great, is that it has an "overhead" path that avoids ever going to Mississippi Lake.
We started at Woodpecker Pond, as we often do. This area is over a mile from Oristimba so only gets people parking there later in the day unless they are using that location as a trailhead (as we were). Those of us who like to start early almost always get first dibs on parking, as Mihail did this year.
From here, it's a quick high-route hike on what used to be called Woodpecker Loop to County Line Road which we took down, then up, then finally back down to Mississippi Creek. Unlike last year, we took Mississippi Ridge Trail instead of Mississippi Creek Trail. While underutilized, it's a veritable highway compared to Mississippi Creek Trail. This eventually ends on Willow Ridge, which we then took a short distance down and picked up the unsigned Bear Mountain Peak Trail, which went directly to Camp Awesome.
Mihail did a quick detour up to Peak 2547. Later Jarda, Kendra, and Bill M would do a detour down to Caviata Springs in the same general area.
As I walked along the ridge, I could see people already had tents up near the dam (Camp Crowded) and (later) the picnic/bathroom spot (Camp Toilet). Camp Awesome was empty when I arrived. I picked out a spot between a rock and a tree, mostly because I like some rocks to pound in stakes and set burners upon. Mihail set up on a nice flat spot a respectable distance away. We set up our camps, had a beer, and went down to fetch water. We sat around again and eventually started exploring.
I checked out the nearby ridge which looked great for camping (it was even better up close). There was a second, smaller area just off the trail we came in on, which would also work, but eventually another group came up and set up near there, much to my dismay, particularly since the rest of the group still hadn't arrived.
Hours later everyone appeared and filled in the better ridge area, expanding Camp Awesome's populated borders. Even better, we all had cellphone reception--a rare treat when camping deep within Coe. Mihail even received a few birthday calls. Jarda and Bill each had 10L (?) water bags, making their water hauls heavy but easily covering the whole weekend.
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