Melissa West

I promised in my last post that I would return to hike more of the DeAnza trail, which is turning out to be one of my favorites. It reminds me a lot of Briones in the East Bay, with its cloud-brushing climbs and views of surrounding rolling hills.

For anyone planning on checking it out, here is what the trailhead looks like. It’s just outside of San Juan Bautista, and pretty easy to find.

A welcome sign, and there were brochures in a box just behind this. The DeAnza trail, as you can see, travels all the way from Mexico through Arizona and California, ending at San Francisco. Not all of it is hikeable, but there is a lot of interest in trying to make it so.

It’s just a little over a month since my last visit, but there have been changes. Signs of spring abound!

A view up the valley. The dirt in the foreground is a corral, and a group of four cowboys was practicing calf roping. Later, a class was practicing turning their horses in tight circles. I should mention that at this point I’d only been hiking around 10 minutes, and had started out at about the same level as the ranch – yet it didn’t feel all that steep.

It does get steeper here and there.

This is cattle country, and there are barbed wire fences on either side of the trail. I love the road in the background of this photo – it winds its way up and over the hills, and looks like it would be a blast to drive, and makes me wish I still had my motorcycle.

The way the road curved, and the green and roll of the hills, and the farm nestled in the valley, reminded me of paintings by Grant Wood. This one is titled Rural Scene.

More barbed wire.

A gate, with distant cattle.

Downhill fence.

This fence made me think of Maynard Dixon’s painting, No Place to Go.

The shapes of the hills and trees against the sky! The lines created by the wire fence! The blue! The green!

The trail is mostly open, but occasionally goes through stands of oak and pine.

A tenacious tree.

This is the point at which the trail finally begins its downward course, and the point at which I turned around. In the distance, Watsonville and eventually the Pacific. Lessons learned: either don’t stop at home and pause to check email etc. before going on an afternoon hike, because you will suddenly lose an hour or two; or, don’t go for a hike on a day when you have dinner plans with friends. And especially don’t do both.

On the way back to the car, I saw that the moon had been caught in a fence.

Sarah-Hope is up in Napa helping her folks prepare for Christmas, so I decided to take a bit of a road trip on my solo Sunday. Which also happens to be the shortest day of the year – so it needs to be spent outdoors. Next stop: San Juan Bautista!

We were thrilled when we realized San Juan is closer to us than is Santa Cruz. I love love love the rolling California hills, with their textures and shapes and lonely oaks silhouetted against the sky. And San Juan is set in the middle of some of the prettiest rolling hills you’ll see.

First stop, a short hike on a bit of the De Anza trail. I only walked up to the first fence, having forgotten my water bottle and wanting to get back home to do some art. But it was a lovely climb, steep enough to feel it, not so steep that you think you’re going to die.

First, a field with cows. Well, on the other side of the trail there was a field. These two cows thought the trees offered better snacking.

This tree practically glowed, and the spiral cow paths surrounding it gave it a cosmic feel.

Looking behind me at the path I’ve climbed, with a view out over San Juan Bautista and the surrounding hills. As someone who grew up on the East Coast, it’s still odd to have bright green hills in the midst of winter, and dry brown hills in the summer.

I reached a point where I could look out over the other side of the ridge, towards Hollister. At first I could only hear the breeze and the birds, but I soon realized there must be a rifle range on this side, and the rest of my walk was accompanied by the sounds of multiple shots ringing out. (Way too many for hunters, and including what must have been a semi-automatic gun. Ick.)

Some laurel berries along the way.

Some scenic views.

As I mentioned, I only hiked a portion of the trail; I will definitely be back to complete it! I hear there’s some interesting geological features, and even better views.

I followed my walk with brunch in San Juan Bautista, where I found a small Basque restaurant that serves Spanish-style tortillas with potatoes, followed by the lightest, tastiest flan ever. So good!

It was a gorgeous early afternoon, and, while I wanted to get some work done in the garden, I also wanted to take some time for a walk. The solution: a quick urban hike at the Watsonville sloughs.

First, let me say that I love that we have sloughs in California. A slough is defined as marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, backwater, or the like. Back east, we called these things a marsh. Calling a marsh a slough always makes me think of Pilgrim’s Progress, and trudging through the Slough of Despond, and therefore entertains me greatly.

And Watsonville is cut through with sloughs. We have Watsonville Slough, Struve Slough, Harkins Slough, and Gallighan Slough, while just down the road a ways is the larger Elkhorn Slough. Today’s walk took me around Struve Slough.

I started my walk at the small nature center that’s hidden behind the giant complex of stores that includes Ross and Target, on Harkins Slough Road. A quick duck through a walkway under the road took me directly to the path that borders the slough. Even though most of the slough and its pathways are bordered by large complexes of new houses or light industry, the sounds of city life immediately disappeared, and (except for the occasional small plane heading for Watsonville airport) all I could hear was the wind in the reeds and the birds rustling in the undergrowth.

As I approached Ohlone Parkway, I saw two large tubes which I assumed were for drainage. No! They were built to assist small animals in crossing the road.

Closer to the pipes. You can see the houses along the path. Also, speaking of pilgrims, note that one could interpret the pattern on the trash can as scallop shells, the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. (You know I just had to go there…)

The paths are well-maintained and well marked, with maps posted at each junction.

Some late berries along the way.

To cross the slough, I had to climb up to the street. Another lovely Watsonville bridge! The sign indicates which slough, and the end post is decorated with a bas-relief of a frog.

Plus each upright along the bridge had either a heron or a cat-tail relief.

Reeds and open water. There were some birds congregating there, mostly Canada geese and coots.

I had hoped to circumnavigate the slough. The maps posted along the path indicated that this was possible, but no. The maps indicate a bridge or some crossing where I’m pointing, but there’s nothing there. I later found that the printed maps available at the nature center say that this is a proposed pathway. Ah well. I prefer a loop track, but backtracking is fine, too.

On the way back, I saw these seeds about to take off.

And Faust was here! I kept an eye out for him, and for Mephistopheles as well.

Perhaps this large spider is Mephistopheles in disguise???

And back again to the nature center, which is just around the corner from this last bit of slough. All told, this was about an hour’s walk. It’s a lovely getaway right in the middle of commercial Watsonville, well worth exploring. For the less adventuresome, the nature center gives guided walks at 1:30 each Saturday and Sunday.