Skyline Trail
Directions: From 280, take CA 92 west towards Half Moon Bay. As you get up towards the top of the hill, turn left (south) onto Highway 35. Drive maybe 5-6 miles to the trailhead and park.
Parking Fee: none
Facilities at this trailhead: none
Huddart Park website:
Wunderlich Park website:
Parking along Highway 35 by the trailhead
Looking across 35 to the trailhead
Sign for the trails
And off we go
Hiking along
The trail ahead
Still hiking
This is where we turned around
The only view we had
The trail ahead, heading back
Lots of trees
OK, I saw a butterfly
Lots of leaves on the ground
A water tank
Almost at the end of the hike
On Saturday August 4, 2007, I joined in yet again with the Stanford Outing Club for an out and back hike on the Skyline Trail
Route: Follow the Skyline Trail from the Huddart Park parking lot on Highway 35 to Wunderlich Park and back the same way
GPS Stats
Distance hiked: 16 miles
Total ascent: 2269 ft
Trailhead Elevation: ft
Max Elevation: 2261 ft
Moving time: 4 hrs 15 min
Moving Average: 3.3 mph
Overall average: 1.8 mph
Time stopped: 3 hrs
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
4-Aug-2007
Start time: ~ 10:00 AM
Weather: Clear and sunny. Temperatures were in the low 80’s for the hike and slightly humid.
Water consumed: 3.0 liters
plus 600 ml Gatorade
Finish time: ~ 5:15 PM
Total time: 7 hours 15 min
Beauty: Redwood forests, carpets of leaves
Wildlife seen: not counting a freshly killed bobcat on Highway 35, zilch, nada, nothing.
Difficulty: This hike was a little harder than it seemed it would be. The trail had easy enough grades but it was a good long hike. Going out was easier than coming back and even though we retraced the same route, it sure seemed longer coming back and my feet hurt!
Well, I had planned to go on another hike today with the Stanford Outing Club at Point Reyes. It was going to be at least 18 miles of pounding the trails and would have been a beautiful hike. However, I didn’t make it to bed until 1AM and when the alarm went off at 5 AM, I just wasn’t able to roll out of bed. And then adding a further complication, I seem to have a mild groin strain inside my right thigh. Don’t ask me how it happened but I noticed it while riding my bike. So, rather than take to the trails this weekend for a long hike, I thought I would take it easy and catch up on posting this hike report instead.
So last weekend I joined in with the Stanford Outing Club again for another hike led by “V”, this time along a section of the Skyline Trail going from a Huddart Park parking area on Highway 35 to Wunderlich Park and back the same way.
The hike out was relatively easy as hikes go. The trail was relatively flat, the ups and downs were nothing to write about, and we were in the shade of trees virtually the whole time.
The weather was fine for the hike, if not a little warm and I certainly did my share of sweating. However the hike did not produce the views we hoped for and neither did we see much of any wildlife. In fact the only animal I did see was a dead bobcat in the road that had been hit by a car on the way up Highway 35. Otherwise, nothing.
Beyond that, there isn’t much to be said about this hike. In many ways it was a disappointment for all as we had hoped for good views. And while it felt great to be out on the trail, somehow the hike back felt longer than the hike on the same trail out.
So, as hikes go, this was not my favorite but it was worth doing at least once. I do imagine there are more interesting trails with Huddart and Wunderlich parks though. Maybe someday I will check them out, but for now, there are still a wealth of Bay Area parks to be hiked! Now lets see the pictures.
