Joseph D. Grant County Park
Hike Review:
I hiked the McCreery Lake Trail, Los Huecos Trail, Cañada de Pala Trail, Pala Seca Trail, Antler Point Trail, and Hotel Trail.
McCreery Lake Trail was the only single track trail that I hiked today.
The rest of the trails were double track fire roads with varying degrees of steepness.
The views of the surrounding mountains, hills, and San Jose were spectacular.
There was absolutely no shade and I was glad to have done this trail not in the summer.
I didn’t see any trash and the trails were pristine.
There weren’t many people on the trail at all, even though it was such a nice and warm day. It’s probably the windy roads that stop the less confident drivers from coming here.
There were lots of parking spots at the main park, there is no road-side parking (though I doubt it is enforced often).
The bathrooms at the park were clean and well stocked.
What I Learned:
I brought postcards and wrote to five very important people in my life when I reached the midpoint of the hike (Antler Point). I enjoyed this activity very much and will continue this in the future.
On the way down, I saw a couple walking a bit slow—the woman seemed to be favoring her right ankle. I had brought my ultra-light first aid kit with me, which didn’t have surgical tape for me to tape her ankles up with. Still, I stopped and asked them if they wanted help, in case I could jerry-rig something, but they refused with a smile, so I kept on hiking. After this event though, I’m definitely adding in surgical tape to this first aid kit.
Media Consumed
Remarkably Bright Creatures
What Happened?
12.2 miles, 4 hr 46 mins, 2287 ft of ascent
(left to right) Black Mountain and Mount Day.
A few weeks ago, when there was snow on top of Mount Hamilton, Mount Day, and Black Mountain, I had planned a hike to Antler Point—unfortunately, the plans were dashed when a storm hit on the day I plan to hike it, causing me to scrap my plans. With the winter storms leaving us and the spring flowers beginning to bloom, I thought I should check out Antler Point.
The hike was pretty uneventful, to be honest. I mean, like many hikes in the Santa Clara County Park system, the trails could have used many more switchbacks, but after the first two miles, the hike wasn’t bad at all. I did sweat a lot, but I had brought enough water (1.25L) for the occasion and wore appropriate clothes (thank goodness).
On the way down, I checked out the Pala Seca Cabin, which was a former hunting lodge. There is nothing left except for the concrete pad and old bolts, but it was still interesting to read about. I then hiked back through Deer Valley, which had plenty of deer tracks, but also turkey scat. Actually, there were tons of animals out today—I saw vultures, squirrels, rabbits, and various birds. Further on, I had wanted to hike down Halls Valley Trail, but it was closed due to trail conditions, so I just back tracked on Los Huecos.
Even though the day was uneventful, it was nice to hike over 10 miles. I mean, the last time I had done so was about 6 months ago, so it was good to prove to myself that it wasn’t a skill that I had lost.
