Heritage Grove Trail 8-26-18

Mike in Heritage Grove

Back in 2012, I wrote a post about camping with horses at Jack Brook Horse Camp in Sam McDonald County Park near La Honda where Maureen and I rode our horses, Zach and Rio, on the Brook Trail Loop. Every year since then (except for one) we have kept up the tradition and spent 8 days camping and riding there with our friends.

The last time we rode Zach and Rio on the Brook Trail was in 2015. They had a rough time with the steep trails, especially Rio, and I got off and walked up some of the steepest parts to make it a bit easier for him. In 2016, we bought a younger horse, Zim, and since our trailer only holds 2 horses, decided to leave Zach and Rio behind. Then a friend let us borrow her horse, Belle, for the trip, so we were able to ride together. We were able to borrow Belle again last year, 2017. After that, Belle's owner got bucked off one too many times, and sold her.

This year Zach and Rio both turned 30. Over a couple of months, Rio had several bouts of colic, from which he recovered, but then just after his birthday, he got it again, and this time he wasn't recovering. He was in extreme pain for many hours, and we agreed with our vet that he should be put down. Zach had been having symptoms of nerve damage and we think he may have had a stroke. He had difficulty walking straight. And then he was grieving the loss of his best friend, Rio. He is now doing much better, but he is not in good enough shape to take camping.

We were offered the use of our friend Jodie's horse, Tea, which would have worked out well, but then Tea was found to have some neurological problems. He was treated and mostly recovered, but we decided against borrowing him and being responsible if something bad happened. So we just brought Zim to camp with us, and I let Maureen do all the riding while I relaxed in camp. Our friends Mike and Norma who we camp with also only have one horse, so on a couple of days Mike and I went hiking while Maureen and Norma went riding.

On our last day of camping, Mike and I decided to check out Heritage Grove. From the campground, we walked the Towne Fire Road to near the Sierra Club Hiker's Hut, and turned left on the Heritage Grove Trail. It wound steeply down the forested mountainside into the canyon of Alpine Creek. At the bottom, there was a nice little grove of large old-growth redwoods. From there we debated how to get back to camp. We didn't want to go back up the steep mountainside that we had come down even though it was probably the shortest distance. We considered walking down Alpine Road, but that would be too far. So we continued west across the mountainside on the Heritage Grove Trail. Luckily it was relatively level and the forest was beautiful. We turned left on the Big Tree Trail and climbed steeply up to the fire road. We were both tired and this was the hardest part of the hike. Another quarter mile or so up the road and we were back at camp, quite exhausted.

This was really a beautiful hike and I suppose it would not be very hard at all for hikers who are younger or in better shape. I would recommend it. You wouldn't need to start at the horse camp as we did, it would work just as well starting at the park headquarters or at the Heritage Grove Trailhead.

4.5 miles, 900 ft. climb