Ed Levin County Park 2015-11-23

It was good to hit the trails in bay area sporting ideal fall conditions after my travels and incessant monsoon rains in Chennai and cold/wintry conditions in London. Apollo and I headed off to Ed Levin County Park in Milpitas. I parked near the dog park, best accessed from Sandy Wool entrance (fee) located on Downing Rd, off Calaveras Rd / Hwy 680 in Milpitas. 

The second entrance to the park is on Calaveras Rd. that serves the Spring Valley area. Dogs are not allowed in the trails in this section. I drove by this entrance and chanced upon a group of wild turkeys. One bird allowed me to get close enough to take a good photograph. Wishing the flock happy thanksgiving, we moved on!

Ed Levin Park serves as the ideal trail head for Monument Peak. However, I had decided not to take on that hike today and instead do a loop around the northern section of the park. We started our hike from Tularcitos trail, right by the dog park. The dirt trail quickly connects to Agua Caliente trail, which makes a sharp left and starts climbing up hill.

Agua Caliente trail intersects the Launch Site Rd as it makes its way through the mountains. Launch Site Rd is predominantly used by hang gliding enthusiasts with two launch spots on either side of  where the trail and the road intersects. 

The sun was out when we started the hike, but as we gained some elevation, we entered a stretch of heavy fog that progressively thickened. At one point, the visibility was reduced to about 40 feet. The fog was heaviest when Agua Caliente trail crossed Monument Peak Rd & trail. 

We continued on Agua Caliente trail making a left after the water trough. There is no trail marker here for Agua Caliente trail, but it is hard to miss the trail going left at the water trough. You know you are on the right path if you cross Calera creek and come upon Calera Creek trail in quick succession.

We turned around here, taking Calera Creek trail heading south. The recent rains had resulted in the trail and the mountain side sporting a lush green grass cover by the creek. The fog had also burned off by now as the Calera Creek trail gradually descended, crossing the creek couple of times.

As the trail comes close to the Sandy Wool area, you will see the large open space ear marked for hang gliding on the left. We wrapped up our hike by connecting back to Tularcitos trail and making our way back to the dog park where I had parked the car.  

More pictures from our four mile hike today.
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