a Taj MuttHall Dog Diary: Boot Camp Hiking in Los Gatos

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Boot Camp Hiking in Los Gatos

SUMMARY: As promised, some photos from the Los Gatos Creek Trail

Showing off my new muscles (and camp shirt) before this morning's 3-mile hike. But I'm no dummy--note, if you will, that you can't actually see whether the muscles are real or simply bunched-up fleece sweater.
Drill Instructor Brett guides our small class in gentle stretching before the hike. (Note: Me not in photo. Me snap picture. Give finger good work-out.)
At our beginning point on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, the class sets out ahead of me, while I (for some reason) fall behind...
...and further behind... Note that CA Route 17 whips by just inches from us here. But along most of the trail's length, you can't see it, and although the noise is there, you can still talk comfortably (if you're not gasping for breath going uphill).
...and yet further behind... (When I was done snapping photos here, I jogged to catch up.) Trails run along both sides of Los Gatos Creek, which flows in its natural habitat--a concrete channel. (Further downstream, parts are in a more natural state with wide flood control.)
Mileage marker; we think that's how many miles from Forbes Mill in Los Gatos, which is just a little ways before where we actually started.
Small waterfall in the mossy creek bed.
Much of the trail runs through woodland. Although the concrete creek bed is to the left, it's mossy enough not to look awful, and although the freeway is to your right, you can't see it; along this stretch, it's just the pipeline you see (probably water from the dam flowing to percolation ponds...hmm, probably what Wikipedia has identified as government-speak depression focused recharge , the local water district technically calls groundwater recharge systems-- or see this glossary).
The beginning of the only real hill before the dam.
Hill doesn't look bad in the photo--hard to capture that extreme rise in elevation.
James J. Lenihan Dam turning Los Gatos creek into Lexington Reservoir. This viewpoint is where I turned around today (last week I got partway up the dam) because I kept pace with the last walker in our group because I need to be able to run in class tonight with Tika.

3 comments:

  1. Ahhh, walking the modern jungle....at least it's better than the wall view from a treadmill! Good for you for keeping it up.

    Leslie

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  2. So as someone with a foot problem after doing a long hike ("Ganglion Cyst"), did you get new shoes (both running and hiking)? My doctor says that you need to replace them every 6 months.

    Ellen

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  3. I've heard this sort of recommendation before. I never know how to calculate this. I have my cleats, which I wear for agility classes and weekends only. I have my "tennis" shoes--of which I buy 3 pairs at a time when I find some that fit me--which I usually wear for longer hikes, unless I'm wearing my hiking boots. Around the yard and town, for daily walks, and so on, I've taken to wearing slip-on hiking shoes, of which I have 5 pairs. So how do I figure out when my 6 months are up on what? Let's see, that's at least 9 pairs of shoes, so I can wait probably 5 years before getting another pair...

    -ellen (Taj MuttHall)

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