Hiking Coyote Hills Regional Park
Nov. 13th, 2021 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerToday we headed out to Coyote Hills Regional Park for some hiking. The park is less than 20 miles away, west of Fremont and hard by the edge of the San Francisco Bay. We visited for the first time this past summer and enjoyed it a lot. We figured that in going today, a week after rain in the Bay Area, we'd be able to enjoy green on the grassy hillsides rather than summer brown.
![Marshes at Coyote Hills Regional Park [Nov 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/802653/802653_original.jpg "Marshes at Coyote Hills Regional Park [Nov 2021]")
One thing we noted on our previous visit was that there was more to the park than we were able to see in one trip. While we enjoyed the park's hills and bay shore, we didn't visit the marshes. So, today we started with the marshes. The park has thoughtfully provided some boardwalks through the wetlands to augment the trails atop levees. These help with the feeling of immersion in the marsh. Alas there wasn't much wildlife down here today. Sure, there were ducks and geese and a heron or two, but not as many birds as we see on many other bayside hikes, like hiking the Sunnyvale Baylands.
![Unusual hills rise up at the edge of the bay at Coyote Hills Regional Park [Nov 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/802900/802900_original.jpg "Unusual hills rise up at the edge of the bay at Coyote Hills Regional Park [Nov 2021]")
As we curved around the marshes east of the trailhead I took this picture (above) showing Red Hill to the west. Yup, it's blanketed in green thanks to even the modest rain we've had in the past week to 10 days.
Another reason we started with the marsh trail is that I wasn't sure how sharply my back injury would limit my hiking today. My intention was to push it; but what if my back had other plans and gave out quickly? The marsh trail was an easy one to test it out with. I felt fine after the first 20 minutes or so of walking, so we started up the far hills.
![Atop Red Hill on the edge of the SF Bay at Coyote Hills Regional Park [Nov 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/803285/803285_original.jpg "Atop Red Hill on the edge of the SF Bay at Coyote Hills Regional Park [Nov 2021]")
It took some huffing and puffing to get up to Red Hill, the highest point in the park. Though it's not quite 300' elevation the trails we took go basically straight up, no switchbacks. But the exertion is all worth it for the views from above. Looking north we could see as far as the downtown skyscrapers of San Francisco and Oakland. (You can't make them out in the pic above because of the resolution and the haze in the distance.) Closer in, we were surprised to see a flock of wild turkeys crossing the trail just below us. We didn't see or hear them coming when we crossed through there less than 2 minutes earlier.
To be continued....
One thing we noted on our previous visit was that there was more to the park than we were able to see in one trip. While we enjoyed the park's hills and bay shore, we didn't visit the marshes. So, today we started with the marshes. The park has thoughtfully provided some boardwalks through the wetlands to augment the trails atop levees. These help with the feeling of immersion in the marsh. Alas there wasn't much wildlife down here today. Sure, there were ducks and geese and a heron or two, but not as many birds as we see on many other bayside hikes, like hiking the Sunnyvale Baylands.
As we curved around the marshes east of the trailhead I took this picture (above) showing Red Hill to the west. Yup, it's blanketed in green thanks to even the modest rain we've had in the past week to 10 days.
Another reason we started with the marsh trail is that I wasn't sure how sharply my back injury would limit my hiking today. My intention was to push it; but what if my back had other plans and gave out quickly? The marsh trail was an easy one to test it out with. I felt fine after the first 20 minutes or so of walking, so we started up the far hills.
It took some huffing and puffing to get up to Red Hill, the highest point in the park. Though it's not quite 300' elevation the trails we took go basically straight up, no switchbacks. But the exertion is all worth it for the views from above. Looking north we could see as far as the downtown skyscrapers of San Francisco and Oakland. (You can't make them out in the pic above because of the resolution and the haze in the distance.) Closer in, we were surprised to see a flock of wild turkeys crossing the trail just below us. We didn't see or hear them coming when we crossed through there less than 2 minutes earlier.
To be continued....
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Date: 2021-11-14 02:44 pm (UTC)