Garin 10-28-14

High Ridge Loop Trail

It's a beautiful cool, clear fall day, perfect for a hike. I don't feel like driving very far, so Darby and I go to Garin. I chose to start from the staging area near Mission Blvd. and Whipple Road in Union City, but we could just as well have started from the park's main entrance at the end of Garin Ave.

We started off up the little valley of Dry Creek's north fork. I've always especially liked this stretch of trail along the meandering creek with lots of big old sycamores. After a mile and a half, we came to Jordan Pond, where a couple of people were fishing. In the picnic area near the main entrance, we turned right and headed up the hill. After climbing about 500 ft., the trail bends to the southeast and continues gently climbing along the ridge. All along this ridge there are great views out across the bay. A side trail takes you a quarter mile to the Gossip Rock, some oak-shaded sandstone with depressions where native americans ground acorns. It's an interesting place, but we skipped it this time. The trail then descends steeply into a little canyon and back to the starting point.

This loop is one of my favorite hikes because it gives you a taste of several types of terrain -- a lovely creek, a high open ridge, and a shady little canyon. Until I got back home and looked it up, I couldn't remember whether I had covered it in this blog. I found that three years ago I had covered a shorter loop via the Pioneer Trail, but not this one. Then I remembered that hiking that shorter loop was not at all easy for me. I was not feeling very good and had to stop to rest several times. On today's hike, I went slow on the hills, but didn't stop, and I felt pretty good all the way. It made me realize that my bypass surgery really did make a difference, and that I am able to do a lot more now than I could before.

6.0 miles, 1200 ft. climb