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Milkweed, wildflower for monarchs
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Map used today: http://www.ridgetrail.org/joseph-d-grant-county-park
On a hot day, Donna, Richard, Larry, and I converted an 11-mile out-and-back walk into a 10-mile one-way walk with approximately 2300 feet of total elevation gain. The great advantage of our modified route was that we were able to set up a car shuttle for a through-walk that gave us a great variety of terrain and views. So, rather than turning around at Panochita Hill, we continued to the east on the Cañada de Pala Trail.
Here is a screen shot of our modified route from the Gaia app.
Joseph Grant was the son of Adam Grant, who co-owned a wholesale dry-goods company in San Francisco. Murphy and Grant's overalls were a popular alternative to Levi Strauss's jeans during the Gold Rush. Grant, and later, his son James, bought parcels of the former Mexican land grant Rancho Cañada de Pala starting in 1880; and in the 1970's, Santa Clara County bought 9500 acres of the Grants' ranch to create a park. The remainder of the ranch was bequeathed to the Save the Redwoods League by James Grant's daughter.
Looking to the northwest, we can see our western ridge route and the faint profile of Mt. Tamalpais.
Part of our walk included a culvert leading to a cool (and cow-free) pond.
We ended our walk just below Mt. Hamilton and Lick Observatory.
On a very hot day, this might be a tough hike. Here's what you'll need:
- 3 liters of water
- a hat that you can fill repeatedly with some of those 3 L of water
- hiking poles from your kind hiking mates for extra locomotion ability
- margarita-flavored gel blocks from your kind hiking mates
- spicy beef jerky from those great mates
- wet neckerchiefs (2), also from your buddies
https://photoenthusiast.smugmug.com/Other-1/Joseph-D-Grant-Park-62016/
Want to see the whole trip so far? https://photoenthusiast.smugmug.com/Other-1
