|
It was another hot summer afternoon as we pulled into the Wunderlich County
Park parking lot. The lot was nearly full, but a handful of spaces
remained. There's a stable here, some outhouses, picnic areas, and an
equestrian area at the far southern end of the lot. We started our hike
on the Alambique Trail, which parallels the equestrian area for a bit
at the start.
The trail starts off flat, but quickly starts a mostly gradual climb
through the forest. The sound of cars on Highway 84 is never far away
on this beginning section. We passed lots of hikers coming in the
opposite direction, some pushing baby strollers, many without water
even on this hot day.
Redwoods next to Alambique Trail
After 0.7 miles, we reached an intersection. To the right is Meadow
Trail; we stayed to the left on the Alambique Trail. After about a
mile more we came to a nice little grove of trees and stopped
for a break. A large group of hikers passed us here and were just
exiting the Alambique Flat area when we got there shortly.
Grove at our lunch stop
Alambique Flat, about 2.1 miles from the trailhead,
has a wonderful grove of tall redwoods with a bench in the
middle. We had the place to ourselves for a few minutes and were
able to sit and look up and enjoy the sense of peacefulness. Alambique
Creek flows just below the grove, though it was just a trickle at this
time. You're far enough from the highway here that traffic noise isn't
a bother. It's a beautiful spot I'd be happy to return to sometime.
Looking up from Alambique Flat
Looking up from Alambique Flat
Looking up from Alambique Flat
Looking up from Alambique Flat
Redwoods at Alambique Creek
Redwoods at Alambique Flat
After enjoying the grove, we returned to the Alambique Trail. The trail
levels out and we shortly turned left at the next intersection (the right
fork heads down the Oak Trail back toward the parking area).
Another 0.2 miles later we came to another intersection and turned left
toward The Crossroads and Skyline Boulevard (the right fork
is the Bear Gulch Trail leading to The Meadows). This was the "stick" section
of our upside-down lollipop loop. We could have skipped this and saved about 1.2
miles, but I am glad we did it. The trail crosses back over
Alambique Creek and includes some really nice sections of redwood forest.
On the way to the Crossroads
Looking back along the trail
The trail continues a gentle climb, and after 0.6 miles from the Bear Gulch intersection, we came to the Crossroads.
As you might expect, this is a confluence of 4 separate trails - one leading
to the edge of the park, two of them leading up to Skyline Boulevard
(at El Corte de Madera Creek OSP), and the one we just took. There are two
inviting benches here and what looks to be a very old road sign pointing the
way to Skyline and La Honda.
After a short break here, we returned along the trail we had just come.
Back at the intersection, we now turned left onto the Bear Gulch Trail.
The trail climbs very briefly here before reaching the edge of The Meadows.
This is a large grassy expanse on the east side of the trail, with
views leading down toward Santa Clara Valley and across to Mount Hamilton.
Of course at this time of year the grasses were all brown, but it would be
a nice green in winter and spring.
The Meadows
The Meadows
Looking southeast across The Meadows
Bench at The Meadows
Eschewing the Meadow Trail, which heads down through the meadow, we continued
along the Bear Gulch Trail, which now descends. About 5 miles from the trailhead
we reached Redwood Flat, another grove though not nearly as nice as the one
at Alambique Flat. From here you can return to the parking area via the
Redwood Trail or the slightly shorter Bear Gulch Trail. We chose the Redwood Trail
to the right.
Redwoods
Redwood Flat
By this time it was past 6pm and while the Redwood Trail was nice, it was
also getting quite dark inside the canopy. After a half mile on the
Redwood Trail we reached Salamander Flat, which is a fenced-off reservoir
covered with light green algae (more aptly called pond scum here). Not exactly
an inviting spot, though there is a bench here if you want to take a break.
We now turned left onto the even darker Madrone Trail. After another easy downhill
of a little more than a half mile, we turned right to rejoin the Bear Gulch
Trail (now out of the darkest portions of forest). The trail
switchbacks down behind the stable and to the parking lot, which was now nearly empty.
| 
Facebook Fan Page
Twitter
RSS Feed
