Henry Coe State Park
Hike Review
I hiked a similar trail with Steve last year. Similar to last year, the reason for hiking this was to swim at China Hole.
Last year, Steve and I went up the middle ridge and down to China Hole to go through the Narrows Trail to get to China Hole. This year, We went on Manzanita Point Road, China Hole Trail, Cougar Trail, Creekside Trail, Mile Trail, Madrone Soda Springs Trail, and then back on Manzanita Point Road. The trek back from China Hole was the same, but the hike to China Hole was definitely easier (but less interesting).
What I Learned
Cougar Trail and Mile Trail were so full of poison oak that I was surprised that neither Cassie nor I got rashes or reactions from them. We had to step carefully every few steps as there was poison oak hanging all over the trail. I had never seen them so abundant!
Cassie and I bouldered a bit on the bit of the rock that goes straight up from the water—a really short deep water solo. It was so, so fun!
Cassie painted for about an hour at China Hole while I read a book on my phone. It was so idyllic—a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
What Happened?
10.2 miles, 7 hrs 53 mins, 2267 ft of ascent
Cassie and I still wanted to spend another day in nature (the previous day, we had hiked 19 miles up Mount Tamalpais), but our shoulders were still not good enough for climbing—we decided to hike some more and maybe swim a little at China Hole.
We started a bit late as we got to the visitor center at 11 AM. We conversed with the ranger there, who confirmed that there were no trail closures to China Hole. He then spent 10 minutes trying to sell us on the idea of volunteering with Henry Coe, but we were non-commital as we currently have too many places we want to explore.
We started the hike and less than a mile in, hiked through waist-deep, wheat-like grass that swayed gently in the wind. The golden fields were gorgeous. We then hiked the dusty road to Cougar Trail, where we hiked/skidded down the steep trail while avoiding poison oak. When we eventually got down to China Hole, we changed into our swimming clothes and dove in.
We swam a bit, then started bouldering. When we started feeling up the rock, a lady who had been sun tanning came in and told us that there was an easy way up the rock. We were intrigued as we thought she’d show us a fun bouldering route. Instead, she showed us the standard way of getting up the rock—she thought that we were just struggling to just get up on the rock! When we told her that we were trying to find more difficult routes, she apologized and swam back to her rock. It was kind of funny and something we hope she laughs about in the future (we believe she was just trying to help and meant well).
When we finished, we dried off and got busy painting or reading while snacking on some Fishnacks and spicy peanuts. After an hour or so, we packed up and headed back.
The Mile Trail was filled with even more poison oak than the Cougar Trail. We tried our best to not touch any of the leaves, which meant we hiked very slowly and carefully.
The rest of the hike was hot, but pretty. When we walked back into the headquarters, the visitor center was closed and we didn’t see a soul at the park. We got in the car and drove back home as the sun started to set We would soon be resting.
