Day 2: Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things to do is go hiking. We are fortunate that there are many great areas that are only a short drive away. On this day, we went to the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve in San Jose.

There is a new entrance to the area that we decided to check out. It has only a few parking spaces, but there were only a few people there. From the parking lot, you can see a large portion of Silicon Valley. To the north you can see the San Francisco Bay; we could clearly see both Route 84 and 92 from where we stood. West of us we looked over San Jose and Santa Clara, toward the hills farther out than Saratoga. South of us, we could see farther than we could identify, perhaps into Morgan Hill or Gilroy? Our most restricted view was to the east, where we saw more hills that were part of the range we were on.

As we started our hike, we were not sure what to expect; none of us had been on the trails here before. It was fairly level, but there was a large drop-off to the side if we weren't careful. I wanted to pose with one of the wild cows (see picture above) so we stopped for a bit. She decided to get a bit closer than we had anticipated.

All along the tail we enjoyed views of the Valley and the (currently) green hills. There were conversations that I could have participated in, but, being the simple bear that I am, I decided to just absorb everything around me. There were a few bikers that passed us, but except for them, and a few cows, it was just us. I really liked the solitude.

It was starting to get late, so we decided to go back to the car. The sun started to set as we were on the way back, so we snapped a few pictures, but had to hurry because the park was closing. We made it back just as the park ranger was closing the first gate. 

It was a great time for all. If you're ever in the area, I'd strongly suggest checking it out! Are there other places I should hike? Let me know or bring me along!

~Blu