Hiking With San Jose “MidWeekers”

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This is a meetup group of pretty serious hikers I used to go with. This was my first time back with them since the pandemic. We did an 8 mile plus hike with close to 1500 feet of elevation gain in Santa Teresa park. The hike started at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch entrance to the park. We hiked from there up and over to the main parking lot, then continued on the rocky ridge trail to Coyote peak, then looped back to the start. It was a great hike on a beautiful fall day. The only problem for me is that there were a lot of steep downhill sections which I’ve become unaccustomed to. This led to a lot of soreness in my legs over the next couple of days. I’ll either have to avoid these or do them more often so my muscles get used to them.

Just Starting out at my house. The fog was just burning off which looked cool in front of El Toro.
At the historic rance entrance to Santa Teresa park, which has some interesting buildings
We started out by walking a short way by the buildings, then turning right on the trail with the yellow sign. This hike slaps hikers right in the face with a steep uphill section. You can see that the fog has not yet burned off here in South San Jose.
After that first rise was conquered, we were treated to a view of South San Jose appearing out of the mist
The trail appriaches Bernal Road, which we crossed to get to the southern half of the park. Coyote Peak is to the left on the ridge visible in the distance.
This was a big group, 19 hikers.
Now we were going up the aptly named Rocky Ridge trail. It keeps you paying attention is some spots so you don’t roll an ankle with a mistep
At the top of Rocky Ridge trail, looking over towards Coyote peak, which has an antenna on the top.
Taking a break at the top. The Santa Cruz mountains are off to the left.
South San Jose is below us, and further north in the distance is downtown San Jose. On a clearer day you can see San Francisco further to the north.
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Published by BionicOldGuy

I am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been active in the mechanical CAE field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replacement due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road.

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