Santa Teresa County Park - Bernal Hill Loop
MVP
New Trail Running Shoes—I had not realized how stiff the bottom of my old trail runners had gotten. I broke in my new shoes today and oh man, it’s just so comfortable and bouncy. I felt like I could walk 30 miles.
Hike Review:
The foliage was dry, but because it was sunset, also gold and beautiful. Looking at the golden grass, I really felt like California was the golden state.
Although starting temperature was in the high 70s, I wore appropriate clothing, so I didn’t overheat.
I was surprised that the trails weren’t very dusty. It was hard, compacted soil and was nice enough to walk on.
There was no shade to speak of for most of the trail, but it was around sunset, so it didn’t matter.
Many of the ascents/descents were very steep.
The views of San Jose were very pretty.
What I Learned:
I really ought to check my trail shoes every few months to see how much give there is in the sole.
My backpack is really heavy for what it is and I think I’ll look into getting a better hiking backpack.
What Happened?
4.1 miles, 1 hr 30 min, 679 ft of ascent
Santa Teresa County Park is one of those parks I want to walk on 100% of all available trails, and so I walked with the intention of completing all trails north west of Bernal Road that I had not walked yet (in the above map, the parts I walked today are in red).
I started to walk around an hour and a half before sunset, which was nice given that the lack of shade did not matter, and the temperatures were bearable. There weren’t very many people on the trail, which was nice.
I had a great time walking this trail and I’m already planning on how to walk all the trails on the other side of Bernal Road.