It’s from Whole Foods (again) and cost $5.19. BOOM, cheaper than going to most of the other places I like. This mix has lots of salmon, a wild rice thing, quinoa, currants, edamame, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, almonds, corn, and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette.

Monday night= small group with Joe’s family!

We went over 1 Peter 2:13-25. What stood out to me was the second part of verse 23: “When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.”

I like that it doesn’t end with the fact that he didn’t do anything back when they abused him. It ends with how he also entrusted himself to God, knowing that He is the ultimate judge.

Now let’s get this clear… in our day, we don’t really face that much abuse or suffering. I wake up everyday in a clean and comfortable bed, I eat hearty meals everyday, and people are generally kind and courteous.

Even still, when I feel like someone has wronged me or disrespected me, I start to brew some judgmental feelings (natural reflex?). It takes a conscious effort to turn that off. It also takes a lot of effort not to run to a friend and vent about it. At the end of the day, I know I am in no place to judge someone. Why? I am selfish/self-centered (by nature) and I will only see myself as the victim and the other person as being wrong.

That’s why I must entrust myself in My Father, who sees all and knows all. He will judge fairly.

Whoa. I hope it wasn’t just rambling! Did it all make sense?

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I woke up this morning and had a regular check up with the doctor. Everything is good! Woo hoo! Now I’ll wait another 5 years before I go in for my next physical (haha, jk).

After that, I went to church to meet up with Addie and Jane. We had a little run planned for this gorgeous afternoon.

Thank You, Lord, for such wonderful weather!

We simply alternated walking and jogging, and talking for almost all of it.

I love the Los Gatos Creek Trail. So lovely!

After our 3.2 mile run, we went to a local Vietnamese beef noodle soup restaurant, and I got the BBQ chicken vermicelli (of course). It was good and there was sooo much chicken!

Jane gave me some of her noodle soup (that block is BLOOD, yo! It was interesting in texture and I had about half this bowl). The soup was really yummy.

For something sweet, we went to the Willow Glen Ice Creamery shop that I kept talking about. This place as the Wow Cow frozen yogurt (9 calories per ounce). I got the chocolate Wow Cow in a waffle cone:

^I can’t rotate this picture. Whatevs. It’s like 90% face and yellow teeth.

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MY NEW COMPUTER CAME IN THIS MORNING!!! No more having to use my little netbook as my main computer

I’m using it right now… and might I say: it is awesome.

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How was your Tuesday?

Do you like running with friends?

Do you enjoy Vietnamese food?

As you can see, there is not a cloud in the sky and it was in the 50′s. Praise the Lord!

^ This is at the end of our run. The boys aren’t mad, they’re just so happy to have finished a long run and were excited to have a picture taken.

Our run was 9 miles at the Los Gatos Creek Trail, and we took it super duper easy. There was conversation for much of the run, plenty of stops (water fountain, stretch, tie shoelaces), and we were back after about 84 minutes. So my guess is that we ran around 80 minutes (taking out the breaks), which is just under 9:00 minute miles. Perfection!

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I was running late for class, and super tempted to ditch… but I ended up showering at the 24 Hour Fitness across from campus and going to class like 30 minutes late.

Hey, at least I went.

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After class, I had about an hour to kill before work, so I went to Joe’s and he made me an Americano while I ate my snack. Brownie points to Joe for being a nice boyfriend.

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My work gave me a special task to do as an extra office hour… I got to create a visual of some sort that could help a certain student see his progress in our program.

I looked to see what his interests are…. “he loves trains and cars…”

Dangit. Definitely not my forte. In fact, not anywhere near my cute-animals-stars-hearts-cartoon field at all.

I gave it my best shot:

Oooh, I guess it will look nicer with some color:

I can’t really explain to you how they’ll do the progress “chart”… because I don’t really know either, haha. Let’s just hope he really likes his name, since it takes up like 25% of the page.

I also hope he doesn’t shoot down my “train” as some weird thing with four houses on wheels connected to each other… even though that’s exactly what it is.

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After work, Joe and I dropped by Target to pick up new snacks for Vanna (somehow, she knows just by the wrapper that it’s a new treat that she’s never had before. I just fed her one and she was flippin’ out with excitement while I was opening the package. What a freak). Afterwards, we used a Carl’s Jr. coupon to purchase dinner:

Joe got two Santa Fe turkey burgers for $5!

And you know those people who go to fast food places and orders a salad? WHO DOES THAT???

I DOES THAT:

Dollar off this salad, yo.

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Joe, Michael and I are headed out to LA tomorrow! We’ll only be there one day… after that, we are headed to another awesome place.

Here’s are some clues: lights, indulgence, buffets.

Any guesses?

Hellyer Park & Coyote Creek Trail

Coyote Creek trail is located in Hellyer Park and depending where you get on the trail is about 13.7 miles long. It’s located just south of Metcalf road and for most of the trail there is an equestrian trail running along side it. Besides horses you might run into the occasional duck or goose straying from nearby ponds. The park switched between shady and sunny and is relatively flat. If you are someone who doesn’t like to carry water don’t worry there are drinking fountains along the route as well as bathrooms.

Map  Review

Penitencia Creek Trail

This running trail is located in a 78 acre park and incorporates parklands and lots of open space. Paved trails average about 1.9 miles and if you are willing to venture off into the gravel and dirt paths trails extend more in the 4-5 mile range. This park is known for its duck parks and plentiful shade making it an ideal run for hotter days. Penitencia Creek Trail links up to the Coyote Trail making for a much longer run if you are up for it. Upsides for this park is the ability to get a quick run in, but downsides are its easy accessibility makes it crowded on the weekends.

Map  Review

Los Gatos Creek Trail

The Los Gatos Creek Trail is a lengthy trail running from Meridian Ave all the way to the Lexington Reservoir. It runs through San Jose, Campbell and Los Gatos and parallels the Los Gatos Creek which gives it a nature feel even though you are running through major cities. Los Gatos Creek is one of the few urban streams in Santa Clara and is home to lots of plants and wildlife in the area. The running path has a few small hills but remains relatively flat until you hit the Lexington Reservoir where it is a steep climb up the damn. This trail is great for people looking to get a longer run in, but be careful on the weekends this trail attracts lots of families heading out for a bike ride.

Map   Review

Rancho San Antonio

This place is one of my favorite trails to run since it is so nearby and it really is a hidden gem of the bay area. With over 23 miles of trails winding all through the park they have something for everyone. Whether you are looking for a hill filled challenge or just a quick flat run to the farm-house Rancho is sure to full fill your running needs. Lower trails offer lots of shade and the feel of running through a forest and the higher up you go the more open fields and sunshine you will find. One of the best sites is if you can make it up the steep PG&E trail you can see all the way from San Jose to San Francisco. This place is PACKED on the weekends from about 9am-1pm so if you are expecting to park in one of the lower lots get an early start. Once you get up on the trails though it is usually not too crowded.

Map  Review

Running early certainly has its perks. It was nice to enjoy the cool breeze for a change. The temps at 8AM is certainly different from the temps at 11AM. We were also able to avoid the crowd from Team In Training and other running clubs who seemed to converge at the same time at Los Gatos Creek Trail today. It was around the last 1/2 mile when we started meeting throngs of oncoming runners just starting there way into the trail.

Jane and I had a couple steep climbs during this run as you can see from the elevation profile below. The most ridiculous climb was at St. Joseph’s hill at 858ft elevation around 2.45 mile which Jane and I basically walked. Definitely a butt kicker! I’ve done this route a few times but still couldn’t manage a slow run up that hill. Someday, I’ll be tough enough to hammer this hill down. =)

The good thing about a steep uphill is a really nice downhill but I held myself back from running downhill at my maximum pace to keep up with Jane. Not sure if she was also holding back to keep up with me. I do know she can run faster than the pace we did on this run. While I like having the hubby as my running buddy, it was a pleasant change to have a girl like Jane to run with. We chit chatted almost the whole time! Looking forward to more runs together with her.

Today’s 4.41 mile route

Today’s hilly elevation profile

Here’s our mile splits:
Mile 1 – 11:14
Mile 2 – 10:36
Mile 3 – 10:44
Mile 4 – 10:12
Mile 5 – 9:41
extra .27 mile @ 9:20

Today’s route

Today’s elevation

It was kinda humid out there today but not too bad. We arrived to the trail at 9AM. If we had gotten about an hour earlier, we could have enjoyed a cooler, nicer run but that’s what I know I have to deal since it was my fault I don’t wake up early enough.

The hubs and I did our regular weekend trail run this morning. As usual, I didn’t get up ’til mid-morning so I was gearing myself up for a run in blazing heat. Well, the heat was actually tolerable. It’s the humidity that was a real challenge. We ran at the Los Gatos Creek Trail starting from Miles Ave. all the way to Lexington Reservoir and back. It’s about 4.5 miles total but with the heat and humidity, the effort seemed longer than the actual mileage. I took it easy going uphill for the most part, careful not to over do it and exhaust myself too soon. I was hoping to do a longer than 4.5 mile run but was more relieved than disappointed when the hubs told me that we are turning back around instead of climbing up St. Joseph’s hill.

Nathan Quickdraw Plus hydration. Love it!

Downhill is sweet! I love this part of the run. I picked up the pace on the way back and was almost surprised that I felt strong despite the heat and humidity. The heat can take its toll on you sometimes so I made sure I stay hydrated on runs like this. Whoever invented the Nathan Quickdraw Plus hand-held hydration deserves a big pat on the back. I love this thing. This is more or less $20 but worth every penny.

This run was short but I definitely felt accomplished having to contend with warm muggy weather and a steep uphill climb but never for one second thought about bailing out.

MONDAY: 1.5 hour master’s swim practice, long course (about 3,600 total) Long course means the Olympic length of the pool, at 50 meters, rather than swimming the width at 25 meters

1.75 hours of spinning on Talula

200 crunches

300 warm up

100 swim, 50 drill x 6 (900)

200 IM?

10 x 50 kicking(500)

400 swim

200 pull

400 swim (broken down by 100)

200 pull (broken down by 50)

100 swim

400 for time

TUESDAY: 6-mile bike ride in about 30-35 minutes, 81 average RPMs, 11.8 miles per hour average. Burned a couple hundred calories at lunch.

6 x 800 @ vo2max pace (2:00 rest)  6 miles or so in total, including the warm up on the Los Gatos Creek Trail with TRIbe, following by Taco Tuesday night! Yum! Tostadas!

WEDNESDAY: 1.5-hour master’s swim practice (3,800 total)

1.100 warm up

600 kicking (300 with fins streamline)

4×200 (2 free, 2 breast)

4×100 (2 free, 2 breast)

4×50 (2 free, 2 breast)

600 pulling

100 cool down

1-hour quick spin on Talula

THURSDAY: Nada?

FRIDAY: 8.1-mile ride to work with Vicki, Eli and Jason (3 miles added on my own) 15 mph cadence

SATURDAY: 31-mile ride from Danville to Pleasanton/Dublin, San Ramon — entrance to Mount Diablo State Park, Blackhawk/Danville again, light rain. Kept 12.5 mph cadence.

20-mile ride, including 1,000 ft of climbing Mt. Diablo

SUNDAY: Quick 1-hour run around Osage

MONDAY: 2-mile run at elevation around White Pines Lake

There’s something liberating about not pretending. Dare to embarrass yourself. Risk. — Drew Barrymore

SUNDAY: 2-hour ride on Talula, indoors

MONDAY: 45-min. swim, 30-min. spin

TUESDAY: 6-mile run, flat – Los Gatos Creek Trail

WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY: Nasty cold got the best of me. Do not try this at home, but I’m still on track to race at Wildflower – not going to let this bug stop me. Advice from Jill: Make friends with pain and you will never be alone.

My own prescription for health is less paperwork and more running barefoot through the grass. – Leslie Grimutter

The solution: I’m going to have to start coating my neck with Bodyglide or Vaseline, aka anti-chafe cream, before every swim practice.

Dan introduced me to a sample of Skin Strong, and I’m already hooked. I am learning I have extremely sensitive skin, and hours of riding and running with my skin rubbing against wetsuits, running and bike shorts, not to mention sports bras, ain’t going to be pretty if I don’t change what I’m doing, especially in the bikini line area. But I think I’ll save this topic for another blog.

SATURDAY: 60.8-mile bike ride (the farthest I’ve ever ridden Talula), starting in Los Gatos with TRIbe (Mt. Eden/Pierce Road – hills, although they don’t seem so bad compared to the first time), Saratoga/Cupertino (Steven’s Canyon to Foothill and Los Altos Hills), Hello Stanford! – Palo Alto … and I rode through Portola Valley at some point too (Alpine/Sand Hill Road), and home again. I consumed water, a granola bar, and three Hammer Gels, one espresso flavored with 50 mg of caffeine, which gave me the kick I needed for the last 20 miles. This does not include breakfast or lunch. It took what seemed like a very, very long 5:20, and is only further motivation that I need to get my cadence faster. TRIbe left me in the dust, but I couldn’t have asked for better scenery or weather. Simply beautiful (Al Green live acoustic. Shout out to Jennifer). It was gorgeous out, and it seemed that every cyclist around took advantage of it. The time included two short breaks to give my crotch some relief, and getting a little disorientated when I came down Pierce Road in a different place than planned.

The best part (with a slight note of sarcasm): I just got a Valentine from Coach Muddy Waters – our training schedule for this week. I get to ride another 60 miles on 2/19 and then run for 15 minutes. Oh boy!

SUNDAY: More than a 14-mile run. 3 miles on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, walking/running and soaking up the sunshine to stretch out my legs from the 60-mile ride. 12 miles on the treadmill (under 9:40 min/mile pace) with two TRIbe members. Burned somewhere over 1,500 calories just on the treadmill portion.

MONDAY: Santa Clara Swim Club master’s practice with Coach Sue. Shared a lane with Mike from TRIbe. This is the set to the best of my memory:

400 + warm up

3 x 200 kick (600)

10 x (75 free, 25 choice) (I did 9 total) (900)

100, 200

100, 2x 100

100, 4 x 50

100, 8 x 25 (1,200 total)

2 x 250 pulling, I did an extra 250

100 warm down (~3950 total)

100 situps/crunches

TUESDAY: Is it really only Tuesday?

Quick spin at lunch — 6 miles, between 60-90 rpms. 50 situps

TRIbe track workout with Coach Becky:

~3 miles warm up

2 x 1.5 miles – #1: 400 in/outs (odd laps speed pace + :05, even laps :15 slower than odd laps) (Mile #1: 8:30 ish)

400 easy jog between

#2: 200 in/outs (200 fast, 200 moderate). (Mile #2: 8:40 ish)

800 easy

~ 6.75 miles total. Consumed a lot of water after because I forgot to drink throughout practice.

Nick: “At some point, we all ride alone.”

WEDNESDAY: Master’s swimming. I’m actually warming up a little bit to Rob. The set was hard as hell, but he was friendly tonight. Split a lane with Mike from TRIbe and Ruby, part of the time.

1000 warm up

200 kick

75, 100 x 4 (475) ?

300 x 2

150 x 4

100 x 4

25, 25, 50, 50 (drills, pulling) x 4

Something else?

150 cool down

More than 4025 total!

100 situps

THURSDAY: 6-mile quick spin (180 calories burned)

110 situps/crunches

FRIDAY: Run/elliptical with Kelley.

SATURDAY: 3-hour indoor ride on Talula. The weather gods washed out TRIbe’s usual Saturday morning ride.

SUNDAY: Quick walk/run before it got dark, after 8 hours on my feet at J. Crew. Shout out to Matthew for keeping me company on the phone and passing the miles.

MONDAY: Nada. Lazy/lack of motivation?

“I believe that happiness is something we create.” – Sugarland

Make sure you remember the rules of the dog park when you visit this fun park. If you can’t remember all the rules, Los Gatos Creek County Dog Park has a few of the rules posted for your convenience.

Beautiful scenery to boot.

Paraphrasing some of the highlights:

Me: My legs are going to feel the burn tomorrow.

Nick: It’s a reminder you’re alive.

Me: What’s your favorite thing about doing an Ironman?

Nick: Commiserating with other triathletes in as much pain as you.

The morning wrapped with rekindling my love for the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co. latte afterward with Nick and his “girlfriends.” A perfect morning.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many races one after another. — Walter Elliot

Add to that 2 back-to-back days of retail selling on my feet running around J. Crew like a chicken with its head cut off, squatting as catcher during a softball game and getting balls thrown at me at 35 mph, a 5-6 mile loop on Shell Ridge with Dirt Dogs (a tarantula sighting like the one below scared the bejeebers out of me), and my buns are a’ burnin’.

I was working on a self-inflicted ab and booty boot camp (hence today’s blog title), but after reading a recommended article on aging: Look Young: Your Fanny Or Your Face?… my thought is I can’t pick between the two. I want both, which based on this article seems to mean: Less stress, more yoga, a healthier diet, and slathering on the Bull Frog (Natalie, this one’s for you).

Random side note: Did I mention J. Crew’s fall collection is glittering and gorgeous? My sales rocked this weekend; and I’m feeling inspired after watching Vogue’s Fashion Week 2010 in New York that the economy is slowly but surely starting to recover.

Quote o’ the Week: “You have ‘smart eyes.’” (a flattering compliment from a Italian Roman Catholic man and his wife who I met at dinner with some friends at the Naglee Park Garage (one of my “happy places” in life), which consequently somehow led to learning their entire life story over the course of the meal. Mr. Piscatelli (really his last name) used to play for the Buffalo Bills, worked for Bob’s Big Boy restaurant chain, and did some plumbing for the Mafia. But he turned down the chance to work for the Sicilian brotherhood, claiming: “I could have killed people, but I chose not to.”

Maybe I should ghost write his autobiography? Maybe not.

Speaking of writing, I have 12 readers and actual comments, plus people getting my RSS feeds. So freakin’ exciting! Thank you for reading, and let me know if you have a site that I should add to my Blogroll.

In addition to a brutal 8-mile training run with Erin and Brianna on Sunday on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, at the last minute I decided to do a 1-mile rough water swim at Cowell’s Beach in Santa Cruz – the 2010 Big Kahuna Ocean Challenge on Saturday that kicked my butt (given that I haven’t hit the pool in weeks). However, I’m happy to report at 37 minutes (pathetically slow) I was not the last swimmer out of the water.

My friend and former co-worker Stephen did the 2-mile paddle, and came in first in his division!

I also now have a huge appreciation for the difference between Prone paddling prowess vs. Stand Up Paddle (SUP) and the skill behind the sport. See the difference in the photo below (that’s Stephen in the middle at the in-water race start, prone style).

During the open water swim, I got stuck in kelp, swallowed some sea water, and probably exerted way more energy than necessary zig-zagging all over the place, but I did it!

Here’s what the course was supposed to look like (see map below). However, as the swimmers rounded the first buoy we were told to head immediately back to the beach, as a sailboat regatta caused a change of course mid-race. I’m not even sure whether I swam a full mile, but given the gorgeous weather and great company, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.

Here’s one more of me crossing the finish line:

And because someone might ask and I was just curious, how many laps equals one mile in a 25-meter pool? Here’s the answer:

32 Laps (down and back) = 1 mile
64 Lengths ( 64 lengths X 25 meters/length = 1,600 = 1 mile)

Technically a mile is 1,609 meters so you’d need to swim about 64.36 lengths to reach one mile exactly.

The Dirt Dogs (yes, there really were doberman pinschers and their owners too) started at 8:30 AM sharp on Labor Day, a 6-mile course on Shell Ridge that started from Rudgear Park in Walnut Creek. As we began a woman said to me, “To each their own,” which I took to mean I was on my own from there on out, and I pretty much was, running solo, silhouette against the dirt the whole way, following the chalk markers and listening to my own breath. The trail through the Mt. Diablo foothills offered gorgeous views, and the early start allowed us to beat the heat.

I have learned there comes a point in hill running where I can actually walk up a hill faster than I can run up it, though I’m sure I’ll get better at this. And at some point, the flies turned their attention from the cow pies on the ground to me (hence the title for today’s post).

The scariest part, well, it’s a toss up: Flying downhill and trying not to step in a crack and roll my ankle or jumping at every noise in the bushes thinking it was a rattlesnake.

The best part: “Bring a treat to share” at the end. Whoever brought the homemade lemon bars, mmm… mmm… good!

MVP: Calvin, for doing the Woodside 50K, and then rallying with another run today!

Quick Guide

Destination: Vasona Lake County Park

Recreation: Hiking, Los Gatos Creek Trail

Degustation: High-Tech Burrito, Los Gatos

Map

Paw-proval: 4 of 5

Destination

A combo trip to Vasona Lake County Park and Los Gatos Creek Trail is the perfect dog day afternoon. You can make a nice picnic on the acres of grass in the County Park (just watch out for geese droppings!), and then jaunt down the trail that spans the park to get some exercise for you and your pup.

Recreation

We entered Vasona Lake County Park off Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos. (Note: If you’re not interested in visiting the park, but just want to hike the Los Gatos Creek Trail, pick-up the trail at a different entrance point to avoid the $6 park fee.) There was plenty of parking in the park, even on a Saturday afternoon. We parked near the children’s play area and started our wandering from there.

Clark on the dock at Vasona Lake

Dogs are allowed everywhere in the park except for the children’s play area, provided they are leashed. There are enough rangers around to enforce this rule, and everyone seemed to be abiding by it when we were there, so I would recommend not trying to shirk this particular law.

From this parking area, the portion of Los Gatos Creek Trail that runs to the left takes you under Roberts Road towards Lexington Reservoir, and the trail to the right takes you around Vasona Lake and beyond. This second portion is the one we opted for. We were rewarded with beautiful views of the lake, a quaint dock, and a fun wooden bridge.

Bridge over Vasona Lake

The trail is mostly paved and wide enough to accommodate people going both directions. There were tons of dogs on the trail, but all were leashed and generally well-mannered. We saw a pair of nice collies who wanted very badly to “herd” my pointers. We also made sure to avoid the handful of small dogs on the trail so their owners wouldn’t find them turned into an afternoon snack.

I was slightly disappointed that the trail along the edge of Vasona Lake didn’t connect to a trail that looped over the dam at the end of the lake and back into the park. Instead, we ended up retracing our steps to the park and our car. The dogs didn’t care, though!

Degustation

After leaving the park, we made a quick stop at High-Tech Burrito in Los Gatos. Located off Blossom Hill Road in the King’s Court shopping center, it had a lot of outdoor seating right across from the restaurant. I opted for a Fresh Veggie burrito and Chris had a Pesto burrito with shrimp. Both were good, but I think next time I’ll get something a little more cheesy and traditional.

To wrap up, you can never go wrong with Los Gatos Creek Trail for a jaunt with your canine companion. Vasona Lake County Park provided a convenient place for parking, but there are plenty of other places to pick up the trail if that’s not a concern.

For a different take on Los Gatos Creek Trail, see this post.

Lois and Clark on the trail

Recreation

Although I’ve heard of the Los Gatos Creek Trail before, I’d never taken the time to drive down and check it out. But, living in Mountain View, it’s relatively close to home. We parked in a small parking area off Fiesta Way right next to the library (note: parking is only with permit here during the week). From there, the start of the trail was just a short walk down East Main Street.

Clark enjoying the creek

Just a few steps after joining the trail, it forks. Take the left fork for a shady walk along the creek. The dogs loved being able to wade in at the two areas where the trail drops down to the level of the creek. They were especially grateful for the cool water on the hike back out. Clark’s favorite water trick is to open his mouth wide and shovel water in as he swims around. Such a goofball! Check out the video of him performing in the community section here.

The trail continues to wind up, leaving the creek behind. There are some pretty steep areas, but they don’t last for too long. It’s times like those when I’m especially glad for the dog pulling me up the hill!

View from the trail

At the top of the hill, the trail forks again, the left going to a parking/developed area and the right going up into St. Joseph’s Hill Open Space Preserve. We didn’t expect to end up here, so it was a pleasant surprise. The preserve also thankfully allows dogs, so we followed the trail up for a nice view of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Degustation

Luckily for us, Icing on the Cake, an awesome local bakery, is just up the street from the trailhead. We headed there for some snacks for the humans and dogs, and then also stopped in at Blendz for a panini lunch. Taking it all back to the park right out in front or the library where we had parked, we enjoyed a great lunch in the shade. The dogs definitely weren’t too tired to beg for some lunch, so it was a good thing we had picked them up treats from Icing on the Cake. I had the lemon bar, which was good and Chris had a scooter sandwich, which blew my dessert out of the water. I recommend that one!

Los Gatos is a new favorite in our house. Next time, maybe we’ll check out another portion of the trail, and even head into Lexington Reservoir County Park.

And more photos, just for fun:

Clark in motion

Lois on the trail

Who the Hell is this guy?

At approximately 12:40, some minutes after the final bell, we board a southbound line 62 bus with the hopes that it would take us to Los Gatos. Luckily, it did just that. We took it to the end of the line, and got off at The Good Samaritan Hospital. We follow this guy, who we thought would go in the right direction (towards Bascom). After walking for a while and hitting Los Gatos Boulevard (and stopping at a starbucks where they mistakingly gave me four shots of expresso instead of the three I ordered), we consulted a [highly innacurate bus route] map and decided that Bascom must be the other way, mainly because Samaritan Dr. ended. So we walk a mile and a half back to highway 85, and realize theres no bascom there, so we walk back, and forth, until we spot a bus, and we take it back to the Good Samaritan Hospital. Before getting off, I ask the bus driver if he knew the way to Lark and Bascom, and he told us to take the 27, and make a left, but we walked it. Little did we know that Bascom Ave. became Los Gatos Boulevard some time back, so technically, Bascom Ave. and Lark Rd. never cross, and that we were just there. At the Lark and Los Gatos Boulevard intersection, we ask a gas station attendant for directions to the park, he told us to make a right, and to go under the bridge. We did just that, and found ourselves on the Los Gatos Creek Trail.

Vasona Reservoir

Once on the trail, we walk for about a mile before hitting Vasona Park. We walk around the lake, over bridges and such, and we took photos of the ducks (I’ll just post a ton of pictures under this post), we actually had a REAL camera this time, I brought my 6-megapixel Sony DSC-s600 with its shiny Carl Zeiss Lens. It took much better photos. So after wandering around the lake, we get back onto the trail, and continue our hiking. We walk for another mile or two until we run into Robert’s Road, where we head West. We walk for about a half mile, and then head south on Santa Cruz Avenue until we arrive at T-Bird’s Pizza, a place that my friend Michael Ito recommended. What Michael forgot to mention was that they stopped serving pizza by the slice at 3:00, and we got there around 3:30 P.M. so we had to eat (and pay for) an entire pizza =.=, haha, it was really overpriced, i mean the 3 dollar slice was almost half the size of the 14 dollar small pizza. Also, i prefer 4th Street Pizza, but thats just me. After stuffing our faces, and refreshing our thirst, we walk back down Robert’s Road and back onto the Los Gatos Creek Trail. Once on the trail, we walk for about two miles before reaching the highway 17 overpass.

CA-17 and Los Gatos Creek Trail

It was a tad scary, you could honestly feel the overpass (it was a pedestrian overpass) sway whenever a big car, nevertheless a semi, passed underneath. We ran across the overpass, and you could honestly feel the thing move beneath us, and hear the thing rattle. After we got off the overpass, we then had to cross a “amazon jungle type wooden-plank foot bridge” across mini-canyons, the creek, and whatever was under the bridge. Seriously, this wooden thing was more stable than the concrete freeway overpass. Anyway, after that, we come across a fork in the trail, one paved bike friendly trail, and a rugged, dirt path. Naturally, we chose the dirt path, and found that it ran parallel on the other side of the creek, we took that, and then followed these two old guys who led the way to St. Joseph’s Trail, the trail I was looking for, but wasnt smart enough to bring a map for. We trailblazed, and finally came across another trail, or possibably the same trail, which took us to the St. Joseph’s Clearing. By then we were out of breath, because the “not trail” was possibably 10x steeper than the actual trail, there were some instances where we were climbing slopes at least 60º, holding onto tree roots for dear life. Anyway, at the clearing we come across this sign.

Mountain Lions?

It may be hard to read but we learn that rattlesnakes, ticks carying lyme disease, and posion oak were native to this area. Also we learn that if we encounter a mountain lion, we must back away slowly, be large, wave arms and shout, and fight back if attacked.

pretty flowers

Anyway, so we take this windy, somewhat steep trail for what seemed like forever, but more likely was about three or four miles across senic outlooks, shaded trails, and a scenic hilltop vista. The views from the trail were just amazing, but of course, Mr. Prone to Nosebleeds, began bleeding massively from his nose halfway up the trail. It is around this time when the mosquitoes begin to pester. I got stung once, and began keeping an eye out for them, and killed most of the ones that landed on my arm. By this time, we were dying of thirst, and the syrup that had become of my blood began moving slower and slower. We continued forward, and I began to curse my choice of wearing skinny jeans for this massively exhausting trek. Of all the jeans I owned, i just had to wear my skinny jeans for a hiking trek through nature. Gah, well we continue forward, after many thoughts of turning back, since the sun was already low in the sky. We did no such thing, and reached the summit, where we were greeted with, not water fountains, but an amazing view.

Me!

From the top of the mountain we saw smoke rising from near Highway 17, funny how fires seem to follow us on mountainous treks (more on that later), from the top, we could cleary make out the Norman Y. Mineta Int’l Airport of San Jose, Moffet Federal Airfield (Navy), Downtown San Jose, and a blanket of fog where San Francisco would have been. We didn’t stay there too long, as the sun was already beginning to set, and we estimated we had approximately a half hour of sunlight left. Thirty minutes until the sun would dissapear behind the mountains for eternity (or until dawn the next day), and the mountains would forever cast their shadow upon the world (or at least where we were). Not wanting to be on the trail past sunset, we begin heading down. About a half mile into the decent, we get attacked by a swarm of mosquitos, and we flail our arms and shout at them. It is here where we drink our last few drops of water. By now, the syrup that had become of my blood had almost stopped flowing to my extremities. My fingers and legs began hurting, a sure sign of dehydration. Also, sharp stabbing pains in my heart and lungs (as the water content of blood dropps, it becomes harder to move, so the heart muscles must work harder to push molasses-like blood through capilaries and through alveoli in the lungs). Another mile down the decline, I desperately call Jessica Andrade, she picks up, but once I explain to her that i needed her to do me a favor, and that our lives depended on it, she hung up, I dont know if there were network problems where she was, or where I was, (I had full signal), or if she just wanted me to die. I was gonna ask her to look at a map, and tell us how to get to a city, (hopefully Los Gatos). I now know that it wasnt Jessica, but rather Nicole who hung up on us.

Lexington Reservoir

After she hung up twice, we trust our instinct and when met with a fork in the trail, one being the way we came, and the other one temptingly labled “Alma Bridge Road 1.3 miles,” we take the “Alma Bridge Road” direction of the trail, hoping this road to be part of a city. 1.3 miles later, we find ourselves on the bank of Lexington Reservoir.Oh the irony, how ironic would it be to find the semi-concious bodies of two teenagers who passed out due to dehydration, yards from one of Santa Clara County’s largest reservoirs and just a few hundred feet from one of the many San Jose Water Company Water Treatment Facilites.

Santa Clara St. in San Jose

We follow this “road” for about a mile until we run into Highway 17. Of course matt’s phone had GPS, but we never think of these things, and we find out that we’re 27 miles from some place. I call my dad, and my house, many times in desperation, only to have my phone die. We find ourselves amidst a cloud of mosquitoes, and we now know that that little column of smoke was actually a swarm of mosquitoes. I dont care how many times you watch Planet Earth, and say “Oh that could never happen to me” when you see all those bugs creating their own cloud, well it did. We quickly cover ourselves, and i put on my hood. My dad calls Matt’s phone after waking up, and realizing my phone was dead. I talk to him, and he was on his way to pick us up. It’s a 20 minute drive from San Jose, we were pretty deep into the Santa Cruz Mountains (see map). He then picked us up. He arrives at Diradon Station two minutes after the 8:30 train left, so my dad brought us to a place where we could get water, THANK GOD, and dropped Matt off at home. Personally, I think he made pretty good time, I barely saw that needle drop below 85. This is the end of argubably one of the funnest treks ever. Have a look at our 44 mile journey, (or 80 if you count the trip to San Mateo a part of the trek, i mean, most of it was on 101, so thats not very trek-like).

44 Miles, yeah see how deep into the mountains point I is. Everything after point B was done on foot

Vasona Reservoir

Vasona Reservoir

Hot Chicks and their mom

Last of the Vasona Pictures

Matt Lau and a bear!

The Scenic Trail

More of the pretty trail, and not a mall in sight :)

DEER! haha, we thought it was a mountain lion.

Matt Lau, one handed :

Within earshot of Highway 17

End.