Almaden Quicksilver—Webb Canyon, New Almaden, Randol Trail Loop

Hike Review:

• I hiked the Webb Canyon Trail, New Almaden Trail, Prospect 3 Trail, Randol Trail, then a steep unnamed side trail back to Webb Canyon Trail (this is the southern half of a hike that I did with the girls two weeks ago).

• The trails were very similar to the previous hike, and listing their conditions here would be duplicative.

What I Learned:

• I hiked this trail looking for a quiet place to practice skills that I was learning in my Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course. So, about five times during the hike, I stopped and talked to a phantom patient to run through various scenarios. This meant that to another person who happened to come across my way, they saw a crazy person talking to bushes and trees (or just mumbling while jotting down info on my notebook). One person actually stopped and said, “Can I ask what you’re doing?” in a very sweet way. When I explained what I was doing, he said he was glad that I was taking the course.

What Happened?

3.2 miles, 2 hrs, 755 ft of ascent

I needed to practice the Patient Assessment System that I was learning in my WFR course, and so, I hiked up my local park looking for solitude. I found it for the most part.

I was really glad I got the practice in, as I’m sure it was one of the reasons why I did so well in the course after this day. I was also very glad that I left the teddy bear at home, which I was thinking about bringing as a stand-in for my patient—I’m sure if I were talking to a teddy bear, it would not have made me look any saner to the folks passing by.

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