Day 10 - Monte Bello Open Space Preserve

Today's hike: Monte Bello OSP - Black Mountain & Stevens Creek Loop
Length: 6.0 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,300'
Thoughts: Good length with a great place for a picnic with a view at the top, plus some varied terrain to keep it interesting.

For those of you who are really paying attention and hanging on my every word...I'll bet you are wondering "Wait.  Day 10 already?  What happened to Day 9?  Did I miss Day 9??  What did you do on Day 9???"  OK, ok, don't freak out.  The answer is, not much.  Mostly shopping for my trip, plus a little strength training at the gym.  But I do have one little nugget for you from Day 9.  Here it is: Costco has those massive Costco-sized (1.75L) bottles of Grey Goose vodka on sale this week for only $39.99.  That little surprise had me dancing in the aisle when I saw it.  I bought two bottles, but stopped myself from buying more.  With my love of Cosmopolitans and Vodka Martinis, hopefully two bottles will be enough to get me through the four month sabbatical.  :-)

Day 9 shopping meant that I was back on the hiking trail for Day 10.  Today I drove up to Monte Bello OSP in the hills above Palo Alto.  There are lots of great parks and hiking trails in this immediate vicinity, but I've somehow managed to miss this park in the years I've lived here.  My mistake!  I liked this one - it has a great spot near the top to spread out a blanket and have a picnic, so I will probably come back on a mild day for a leisurely out-and-back hike to enjoy that.  Here are a few pics (reminder: click on the pic for a larger view):

View from the start of the hike towards Mt. Umunhum in the distance on the left and Loma Prieta (epicenter of the 1989 earthquake) in the distance in the middle:

Pretty view:

Spot near the top ideal for a picnic lunch, with views of SF in the distance:

Herd of of about 11 deer were grazing at the top.  They get dinner with a view every day.  So lucky!

The second half of the hike meandered down to and through the heavily-forested canyon along Stevens Creek, which has its source in this park then runs through Mountain View where it empties into the Bay.  Here's a little tributary into it:

This was a nice hike which included a sporty little creek crossing.  Thankfully I picked a day when the creek wasn't running too high, so I was able to hop across on some large rocks without having to test whether my hiking boots are waterproof.  There are also some pretty cool places on the trail where you can see the tracks of wildlife that come down out of the meadows to drink at the creek and head back out.  Unfortunately, by the end of the hike I could tell I was coming down with a cold, and was struggling to get up and out of the canyon and back to the car.  Heading to Walgreens for some Zicam and Emergen-C, stat!