Los Gatos Creek Trail (South) 2015-02-09

We were back at the Los Gatos Creek Trail today to start from where we left off two days ago. We began our hike at Lark Ave. You should be able to find parking in the lot by Charter Oaks Dr. or by the roadside on Arroyo Grande Way. As with the previous section, this segment of the trail is also paved with a black top.

My first impression was that the greenery in this section was much more vibrant. Within a short distance, you’ll come upon Vasona Reservoir. 

Vasona Lake Reservoir

Standing on top of the dam, you'll have a great view of the lake and the greenery around it. The trail meanders around, closely following the lake. In the Vasona Lake County Park, there are several offshoots of the trail. Take care to stay on the Los Gatos Creek Trail as it continues south. To your right, you will see Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad – a children’s railroad and carousel that operates on weekends and special occasions.

Leaving the park behind, continue south, crossing the Blossom Hill Rd underpass. If you were missing the background road noise of Hwy 17, don’t worry; you’ll start hearing it from this point on. The Saratoga Road underpass will be next. After you cross Miles Ave, you’ll walk across a long wooden bridge, at the end of which you'll have an opportunity to bail out of the trail and enter downtown Los Gatos. We chose to follow the trail, crossing Hwy 17 by a colorfully painted bridge and coming to Los Gatos High School's backyard.  

Main St underpass mural

The paved section of the trail ends once you cross Hwy 17. To continue onto Los Gatos Creek Trail, make a right at the History Museum of Los Gatos at Forbes Mill. Soon, you’ll come upon the Main St. underpass. There is a beautiful mural painting there. Stop for a moment to enjoy the realistic depiction of the Ohlone village scenery.

At the next fork, keep right to stay on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. The left will lead you to Flume Trail, which is part of the St. Joseph's Hill Open Preserve. With Hwy 17 to your right and the Los Gatos Creek to your left, you’ll travel nearly 2 miles on the unpaved trail and reach the Lexington Reservoir.

I had the option of continuing onto Lexington Reservoir County Park and checking out the reservoir or turning back. We had already hiked just shy of 5 miles from where we started, so this would become the longest hike Apollo and I have done together so far. The last mile was also a gentle climb, probably some 200 ft. of ascent. We decided to turn back, knowing that we would be back at the Lexington Reservoir area real soon, especially as this is an excellent point to start out on couple of interesting trails in the Sierra Azul mountain range.

As with the last few times, a gentle jog helped us shave some 15 minutes on the return. Technically, we should be tired and the return should take longer. But it didn’t and some 150 minutes into the hike, we were back at Lark Ave.

Essentially flat, except for the last couple of miles leading to the very beginning (end?) of the LG Creek trail, this is an excellent option for folks wanting a nice hike by the Vasona Lake County Park. As an added incentive, there are several places one can rest and restroom facilities and water fountains in the park. While we hiked nearly 10 miles today, one can easily customize this hike to their personal preference. Personally, I preferred this section over the first section we did a couple of days ago.

Update 2015-04-09
Exactly 2 months to the date, I did a 5.5 mile out and back hike with Jaya and Apollo. This segment on Los Gatos Creek Trail is indeed an enjoyable hike. I added a couple of pictures from the hike today to the album.

Update 2015-05-31

Jaya, Apollo and I were back on this trail for the 2015 ILP (India Literacy Project) run. Jaya & I have participated in this run several times. The 10K run was an out and back course, starting at Vasona Lake Park going north until Camden Ave (where the dog park is). The course included portions from this blog post as well as some from the LGCT (middle) section.

Apollo and I have also run this 10K race once a couple of years ago - with much better timing than the 81 minutes it took today.

More pictures from the hike.

 #Hiking #HikingWithDogs #LosGatosCreekTrail #VasonaLake