Calero County Park 2015-07-24

My second visit to Calero County Park was with the intent of covering the Serpentine Loop. We were here earlier this month on July 13th. I parked in the same parking lot, located on McKean Rd, San Jose, south of the Bailey Ave intersection.

The first mile had some overlap with our previous hike. We had to use the Access Trail followed by Los Cerritos Trail and pass the Los Cerritos Pond. We then continued on Pena Trail all the way until the Serpentine Trail loop started. This 1.5 mile portion involved a steady climb of more than 500 feet by a dusty fire road with little shade. The clear summer day offered fine views of the Calero Reservoir and the mountains in Almaden Quicksilver Park and Santa Teresa Park, just like before.

Serpentine Trail

We hiked Serpentine Trail in a counter-clockwise direction. This is also a fire road, but it goes through the woods offering some shade cover. We were able to see a pair of deer in close quarters. One of them was definitely the curious kind. It stood on the trail looking at us and as long as we were still, it was just observing us. 

Fish Camp Pond

A little more than a mile later, Serpentine Trail loops around. The forward loop is a nice descent, which we had to start gaining on the way back. I suspect the trail is undergoing some maintenance - I noticed lot of fresh mud that was not yet compacted. 

More than three-fourths of a mile into the return, you'll come to the Fish Camp. There is a pond and a picnic bench in the shade of a large tree here. As we continued on the loop, the curious deer greeted us again, having cut through the forests and avoiding the long loop that we had to. As long as Apollo and I were still, the deer behaved exactly the same way, observing us with interest. 

We returned to the parking lot by taking the slightly longer route after completing the Serpentine Loop. We took the Figueroa Trail first and Vallecito Trail next before turning onto Pena Trail and the now familiar Los Cerritos Trail. I'd taken this route primarily to include Vallecito Trail and I am glad I did it. 

Vallecito Trail is a half-mile, single-track, dirt trail that gently climbs through the hilly meadows. It was dry and the grass and weeds were brown, but being able to walk right through the meadows provided some awesome views of the hillside.

We clocked 6.5 miles in 2:15 minutes today. And climbed about 1300 feet overall.

More pictures from our hike today.
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