Henry Coe State Park
Directions: Going through Gilroy, CA on 101, take the Leavesley exit going east. Go 1.8 miles and turn left on New Avenue. After about half a mile, turn right onto Roop Road and follow for about 6.6 miles to the park entrance.
Parking fee: $4.00
Early morning frost on the grass
Frosty early morning scene by the old corral
Early morning by the old corral
The old windmill
Walking along the Hunting Hollow Road
Creek crossing on Hunting Hollow Road
Moss hanging from a tree
Hunting Hollow Road heading into the morning sun
Looks like an old damn or something
Can you spot the wild turkeys in there?
The end of the Hunting Hollow Road
Heading up Wagon Road
Nearing the top of Wagon Road
There goes that trail runner!
Scene up on top along Wagon Road
Turning onto the Phegley Trail
Redfern Pond
Mountian bikers over on the next ridge
A couple of deer along the Phegley Trail
Grove of trees coming down the Phegley Trail
Thank you to the people who work on the trails!
Almost down the Phegley Trail
Mossy water at a creek crossing
Back at the windmill
And back at the old corral
Reflections in a pool of water at a creek crossing
Animal tracks in the ground
On Saturday January 20, 2007, I hiked the Hunting Hollow Road, up Wagon Road, and back down the Phegley Trail
GPS Stats
Distance hiked: 9.9 miles
Total ascent: 1376 ft
Trailhead Elevation: ~ 860 ft
Max Elevation: 2139 ft
Moving time: 4 hrs 45 min
Moving Average: 2.0 mph
Overall average: 1.5 mph
Time stopped: 1 hr 45 min
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
20-January-2007
Start time: 7:00 AM
Weather: About 29 F when I arrived (freezing cold!), warmed up to about 60 F. Clear, sunny, slight winds.
Water consumed: 2.5 liters
Finish time: 1:30 PM
Total time: 6 hrs 30 min
Beauty: Standard Henry Coe stuff. The hills are starting to green up a little but I am still hoping for winter rains to finish the job and bring out the spring flowers!
Wildlife seen: 1 coyote, a flock of wild turkeys, 2 deer, 1 bobcat, and ?
Difficulty: While the Hunting Hollow Road is flat, the hike up Wagon Road felt typical of the steep roads and trails in Henry Coe. Henry Coe is always good for a workout!
You might as well know that I am not a morning person. I like my sleep thank you very much. But I got it into my head that I wanted to try and do some early morning photography at the Hunting Hollow entrance to Henry Coe State Park.
So I set the alarm for 4:00 AM and by golly, when it went off, I got up. It wasn’t easy mind you but I did it. Don’t worry though, I’ll make up for it tomorrow morning.
Anyway, I was slow but I got myself ready and out of the house at about 6:30 AM while it was still dark and drove on over to Henry Coe. I was rather surprised by the amount of traffic on the road at that time though, you would have thought it was rush hour, but I still made good time and got to Henry Coe at about 7AM.
As I went through the motions of gearing up, though, I couldn’t help but notice how cold it was. My fingers stung from the cold and it was hard to make them work. To stay warmer I put on my new balaclava and a pair of gloves and that helped, especially after putting my hat on. Oh man it was cold! And for this hike, rather than taking my trekking poles, I was carrying my film camera and tripod and even with gloves on, my fingers were stinging from the cold.
But I intended to finish up a roll of film and I was hoping to find some dramatic early morning lighting. Unfortunately I could not get into position on foot fast enough to be in the best spots, which I judged would probably be on Steer Ridge Road up around Willson Peak. I really didn’t want to hike up there in the early morning darkness and it would have been horrendously cold if I had. I probably would have needed better gear for that.
So I just strolled on down Hunting Hollow Road and took what photos I could that I thought might prove interesting. I stopped by the windmill and the old corral for some photos and then wandered on down to the end of Hunting Hollow Road. With the morning sun in my eyes though, I just didn’t see much ahead worth shooting though I did turn around and take a few pictures behind me. So I wandered back and caught Wagon Road to climb on up the hill. Before I did though, I took off my gloves and balaclava as it was starting to warm up and I didn’t want to overheat climbing that hill.
And after climbing (or descending) most of the super steep trails connecting to Hunting Hollow Road, I’ve decided that the steepest trail is the steep one I am currently climbing. Though some are worse than others, they are all steep and Wagon Road was no exception.
Anyway, I made it up to the top and saw a scene that I wanted to photograph and as I was setting up, a trail runner came running up Wagon Road and stopped to talk. He was amazed that I carried my camera and tripod up the hill but frankly, I was more amazed with the ease that he ran up the hill. He was in fantastic physical condition! I could only marvel at him while my plantar fasciitis was acting up on me and I was feeling old.
We had a nice conversation though about photography and trail running and websites and then he took off. He had another 6 hours of trail running he wanted to get in. Meanwhile I finished my shot and took off up Wagon Road myself. It wasn’t long before I made the junction with the Phegley Trail and I took it for my loop back down to Hunting Hollow Road.
One of the things I like about the Phegley Trail is that there is an outhouse up on top of the hill not far from Redfern Pond and I decided to make a pit stop there (I needed it). I left the outhouse just after 12 noon and headed on down the hill, stopping briefly to eat my sandwich for lunch.
In spite of my comments about steep hills though, I think the Phegley Trail is probably one of the steepest trails in Henry Coe (note the profile for my hike above) and I was walking down it without my trekking poles. To make up for that, I used my tripod to occasionally provide the braking and stability I usually get from my poles. And I took my time and I made it down the Phegley Trail without incident and back to the Hunting Hollow parking lot.
Before I could get to the bottom of the Phegley Trail though, I saw a flash of an animal I could not positively identify. Maybe it was a deer, I don’t know, but I saw movement out of the corner of my eye that looked for all the world like some animal just jumped out of a tree. Deer don’t do that. The thing made a crash on the ground and bounded away in a flash and disappeared down the slope and out of sight so fast that I could not be sure what I actually saw. My impression was mountain lion, but who knows. Maybe it was a large bobcat, perhaps the one I saw a little further down Phegley Trail. Or maybe the impression of an animal coming out of the tree was a false one filled in by my brain in response to the noise and other motion I did see. I don’t know. Either way, I enjoy the wildlife!
National Geographic TOPO! software website:
