A Short Hike in Calero County Park

Calero County Park is a quick fifteen-minute drive from my house. Being so close, you would think I would be a Calero expert -- somebody with intimate knowledge of its landmarks, features, and trails -- and you would be wrong. Apparently, proximity does not equal familiarity. Before yesterday, I had never set foot in the park.

While I had hoped to hike the 6.2-mile trek described in the Healthy Trails brochure, M and I settled on an abbreviated 3.6-mile hike so we would get back to the car before sundown and get back to town before the The Golden Compass started. (The Plan was to see the 5:15 showing and one must follow The Plan.)

From the trail head, we took a short access trail to the Figueroa Trail. Because Calero is primarily an equestrian park, the trails are wide and strewn with horse droppings. On the downside, one has to be continually vigilant of where one steps. On the upside, it's difficult to get lost on trails so clearly and regularly marked.

The first quarter-mile was my least favorite part of the hike. Signs of civilization were still present. For a distance, the trail paralleled McKean Road, which is a choice route for motorcycle enthusiasts.

From the trail, we could also see a golf course across the road. The unnatural greenness of the course clashed with the natural browns and tans of the landscape. Obviously, golf knows no seasons.

As we passed a private residence adjacent to the park, we were overwhelmed with the sounds of two noisy dirt bikes gunning their way through a homemade stunt course (admittedly, both riders handled the jumps well).

Once we rounded the bend, the roar of the engines faded behind the hills and I started to enjoy the hike. The Figueroa Trail took us through a small wooded area before leading us up and around one of the many open hills that dominate Calero's landscape.

Two miles in, we came to the junction where the Figueroa, Javelina, and Pena Trails meet. If we had been taking the longer route, we would have taken the Javelina Loop, but we were good, stayed true to The Plan, and took the Pena Trail.

Where Figueroa used a roundabout approach to tell us we would be climbing, Pena used the brutal honesty approach. There was nothing subtle about the slopes over the final mile of the hike.

As we met up with the Los Cerritos Trail and returned to the trail head, we were rewarded with a nice view of Coyote Valley, a mostly undeveloped buffer zone that separates San Jose from Morgan Hill.

The Plan for this weekend is to head back out to Calero and make up for some lost time. Perhaps a long hike will help balance that pesky proximity/familiarity equation.