INCH Hike: Mt. Sizer

560. Mt. Sizer (04/14/07)

Hikers (28): Bharati, Blinky, Clive, David, Diane, George, Jane, Janice, Jeff, Ken, Kristen, Lily, Linda L, Nani, Nik, Padraig, Paul, Peter, Peter M, Ramesh, Ross, Sabine, Scott, Scott L, Silviu, Steve, Walter, Wennie
Distance: 11 miles
Rating: 5 difficulty, 9 beauty
Park info: Henry Coe State Park east of Morgan Hill

Write-up by Peter -- Pictures by Silviu and Janice

I have an excuse for doing hard hikes in bad weather -- I'm getting senile. What was the excuse for the 27 other nut cases who showed up on a cold rainy day at Coe? Without further ado ...

1, 2, 3, ... INCH!

We started off at a fast pace and kept it up for the whole hike. The creek crossing was easy, so even that didn't slow us down. The skies opened up and it began to pour just as we started to head up Sizer, but even that didn't slow us down. Ross literally ran up the hill in 23 minutes. My official goal was 46 minutes, with a stretch of goal of 36. I'm proud to say I turned in a personal best of 34 minutes to the bench.

It was cold, windy, and raining hard at the bench, so we didn't stick around, not even to eat. Most of the studly hikers headed out to the actual peak of Sizer, and the weaklings amongst us, including yours truly, headed back down. George had hauled some pole-like contraption all the way up the hill to give me some sort of enema-like treat for my birthday, but we had to save it for another day. Darn the luck.

We continued to haul ass all the way back. A handful of us made the full round trip in 4 hours. Aaaaaaaaaahhh!!! It felt good to finally sit down after all that nonstop walking. After changing into some warm dry clothes and finally eating lunch, everything felt much better. The rest of the intrepid hikers drifted in one by one. Good job by all! My thanks to the Chief for the maitais. I wish it was always my birthday hike.

Check out Silviu and Janice's pix.

Milestones:
Clive's 30^th leaf
Nani's 20^th leaf
Peter M's 1^st leaf
Sabine's 60^th leaf