Wilder Ranch State Park Hike

Hello All,

We will be exploring the lovely Wilder Ranch State Park on a moderately strenuous hike of about 10 miles. This lovely park on Highway 1 just north of Santa Cruz offers lovely close-up views of the ocean from towering cliffs and lovely secluded beaches and, further east, a good workout and lovely scenery on Wilder Ridge. In addition, the park preserves a historic dairy ranch built in... [read more]

Hello All,

We will be exploring the lovely Wilder Ranch State Park on a moderately strenuous hike of about 10 miles. This lovely park on Highway 1 just north of Santa Cruz offers lovely close-up views of the ocean from towering cliffs and lovely secluded beaches and, further east, a good workout and lovely scenery on Wilder Ridge. In addition, the park preserves a historic dairy ranch built in the 1800’s.

With a hike length of 10 miles and 850 feet of elevation gain, our hike will be  at our usual intermediate level. Please consider your physical condition and make sure you are able to handle an intermediate-level hike. *More details are listed below.*

Afterward, we will have an optional dinner in Santa Cruz.

NOTES ABOUT CARPOOLING:

1. PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO CARPOOL to minimize the impact of our large group on the parking lot at our destination.

2. As usual, CARPOOLS DEPARTING FROM THE DESIGNATED CARPOOL POINTS ARE NOT GENERALLY PREARRANGED and are formed at the carpool location on the morning of the hike. So you can just show up and take it from there! This has worked fine every time. See the official carpool point meeting location(s) and time(s) below.

3. If you prefer to pre-arrange a carpool from areas not near the designated carpool point(s), PLEASE *DO NOT POST COMMENTS* TO THE WHOLE MEETUP GROUP TO PRE-ARRANGE CARPOOLS. Such postings lead to too much e-mail traffic on the list, and we have had lots of complaints.  INSTEAD, PLEASE INCLUDE A NOTE IN YOUR RSVP INDICATING IF YOU NEED A RIDE, CAN OFFER A RIDE, OR BOTH AND FROM WHAT CITY (FOR EXAMPLE: “CAN RIDE OR DRIVE, MENLO PARK”). Then contact drivers or riders directly through the person’s profile or otherwise. Thanks!

4. CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS WILLING TO MANAGE CARPOOL POINTS IN THE EAST BAY, SAN FRANCISCO OR SAN JOSE: If you are willing to take responsbility for setting-up and managing a carpool point covering a *region* not covered by the official carpool points (for example Marin, East Bay, San Francisco), please send me an e-mail me with a proposed meeting location (including address and Google Map link) and time. If we decide the carpool point would provide a good addition to the official carpool points, I will send out a notice to the group announcing the carpool point. Please only volunteer if you are truly committed to following through on the management of a designated carpool point (not just a single carpool for your car) and are sure you will be able to follow through (and of course that you will attend the hike).

SUMMARY OF OFFICIAL CARPOOL POINTS and meeting times (details below):

9:30 AM at the California Avenue Caltrain Station, PALO ALTO

10:15 AM: Los Gatos Northside Municipal Parking Lot, LOS GATOS

11:15 AM at Wilder Ranch State Park Parking Lot, WILDER RANCH

6:00 PM: Back at Wilder Ranch State Park Parking Lot,  END OF HIKE

NOTE: The meeting time at the California Avenue Caltrain Station in Palo Alto allows people to conveniently take Caltrain from SF and stations on the Peninsula if they are so inclined.

Details are posted below.

The secluded lovely beaches and the stunning coastal views on this hike provide a lovely way to mark the changing of the seasons from Summer to Fall.

I hope  you can join us....

Your Organizer,

Julio M.

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Wilder Ranch State Park, Sept. 22 (Saturday)

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DESTINATION: Wilder Ranch State Park

DATE: September 22, 2012 (Saturday)

TOTAL LENGTH OF HIKE: 10 miles

TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN:  850 feet

Further information on Wilder Ranch State Park at URL:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=549

DRIVING DISTANCE/ TIME FROM PALO ALTO:  50 miles  /  75 minutes each way

COST: Mileage ($34 per car round trip from Palo Alto, $20 from Los Gatos)+

Park Entrance fee ($10 per car) -- to be split by carpoolers in car.

NOTE: The hike organizer will ask for a voluntary donation of 3-4 dollars at the end of the hike to help cover expenses associated with the Meetup group.

ORGANIZER: Julio M.(contact info below)

RAIN CANCELS.... In case of doubt, call my cell phone # (listed below) after 9 PM on the night before the hike. I will leave an outgoing message with any notices about hike cancellation due to weather. 

RSVP REQUESTED

CARPOOLING:

1. PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO CARPOOL to minimize the impact of our large group on the parking lot at our destination.

2. As usual, CARPOOLS DEPARTING FROM THE DESIGNATED CARPOOL POINTS ARE NOT GENERALLY PREARRANGED and are formed at the carpool location on the morning of the hike. So you can just show up and take it from there! This has worked fine every time. See the official carpool point meeting location(s) and time(s) below.

3. If you prefer to pre-arrange a carpool from areas not near the designated carpool point(s), PLEASE *DO NOT POST COMMENTS* TO THE WHOLE MEETUP GROUP TO PRE-ARRANGE CARPOOLS. Such postings lead to too much e-mail traffic on the list, and we have had lots of complaints.  INSTEAD, PLEASE INCLUDE A NOTE IN YOUR RSVP INDICATING IF YOU NEED A RIDE, CAN OFFER A RIDE, OR BOTH AND FROM WHAT CITY (FOR EXAMPLE: “CAN RIDE OR DRIVE, MENLO PARK”). Then contact drivers or riders directly through the person’s profile or otherwise. Thanks!

MEET:

9:30 AM at the California Avenue Caltrain Station, 101 S. California Ave.,

Palo Alto (meet at Calif. Ave. entrance to parking lot): PALO ALTO

CARPOOL POINT.

Google Map of location: http://g.co/maps/wq6yv

NOTE: Organizer will be at this carpool point

NOTE: The meeting time at the California Avenue Caltrain Station in Palo Alto allows people to conveniently take Caltrain from SF and stations on the Peninsula if they are so inclined.

10:15 AM at Los Gatos Northside Municipal Parking Lot at 150 Highway 9

/Saratoga-Los Gatos Road (between Univeristy Ave & Santa Cruz

Ave., Los Gatos, CA:  LOS GATOS CARPOOL POINT

Google Map of location: http://goo.gl/maps/Uvsx

NOTE: Organizer will be at this carpool point as well to help organize the carpools.

11:15 AM at Wilder Ranch State Park parking lot (HIKE STARTING

POINT). MEET at edge near the restrooms.

Google Map of location: http://goo.gl/maps/qKxj1

ESTIMATED FINISH TIME:  6:00 PM

* OPTIONAL DINNER at a restaurant in Santa Cruz

BRING: lunch, sunscreen, plenty of water, coat, all the usual stuff. Extra sunscreen and/or a hat is advisable since trail is very exposed to Sun

ROUTE DESCRIPTION:

We will be exploring the lovely Wilder Ranch State Park on a moderately strenuous hike of about 10 miles. This lovely park on Highway 1 just north of Santa Cruz offers lovely close-up views of the ocean from towering cliffs and lovely secluded beaches and, further east, a good workout and lovely scenery on Wilder Ridge. In addition, the park preserves a historic dairy ranch built in the 1800’s.

We will start our hike by going through the historic ranch and then under Highway 1 through a hiker tunnel. We will next join the Wilder Ridge Loop Trail and follow its upper branch to a lovely vista point. The lower branches of the Enchanted Loop Trails and Baldwin Loop trails will take us to the lovely 4-Mile Beach.

Moving on to the stunning bluffs along the ocean, we will stop at 3-Mile Beach and then join the Ohlone Bluff Trail. Our route will then take us past brussels sprouts fields which, interestingly, produce over 10% of the nation’s sprouts! As we admire the lovely views from these bluffs, our route along the bluffs will take us to the Old Cove Landing Trail, which is famed for its views, a seal rookery, spectacular pocket beaches, and a hidden fern cave. Enjoying these unique features of the trail, the trail will then take us back to our starting point at the Wilder Ranch historic buildings.

DIRECTIONS from Palo Alto to Wilder Ranch State Park:

Google Map Showing Route:  http://goo.gl/maps/G5CJ6

- Take the I-280 SOUTH ramp towards SAN JOSE

- Exit to HIGHWAY 85 heading south TOWARD GILROY

- Take Highway 85 to HIGHWAY 17 TOWARD SANTA CRUZ (SOUTH)

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LOS GATOS CARPOOL POINT:

- Take Exit 20B for Los Gatos

- Go 0.5 miles & parking lot will be on your right.

- Los Gatos Northside Municipal Parking Lot at 150 Highway 9

/Saratoga-Los Gatos Road (between Univeristy Ave & Santa Cruz

Ave., Los Gatos, CA:  LOS GATOS CARPOOL POINT

Google Map of location: http://goo.gl/maps/Uvsx

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- Go about 20 miles

- Merge onto HIGHWAY 1 NORTH (towards Half Moon Bay)

- Note: In Santa Cruz Highway 1 North is Mission Street

- Go about 3.5 miles to entrance to Wilder Ranch State Park (on left)

- TURN LEFT onto COAST ROAD

- Drive to parking area

- Park and pay for parking

- MEET at the edge of the parking lot near the restrooms

FOR THOSE WITH GPS THAT CAN ACCEEPT LATITUDE & LONGITUDE. HIKE START LOCATION IS AT:

36.96024 deg. latitude

-122.083 deg. longitude

Trip "leader":

Julio M.

jamzemail (at) gmail (dot) com 

On the day of the hike only: 650(dash)906(dash)2594

Find out about coming hikes at my meetup.com group:

http://www.meetup.com/San-Francisco-Bay-Area-Outings/

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