Hidden Villa Farm

Saturday, January 25, 2003

Hostel trail climbs quickly (with a million switchbacks) up the canyon wall. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Norvina (who was none too thrilled, I might add).

Norvina climbing up Hostel Trail.

Norvina posing in front of a nice view (which you can't see because I messed up the exposure) on Hostel Trail.

The view you would've seen in the previous picture if I'd done it right. You can just see parts of the farm at the very bottom of the valley.

After about 0.5 miles of climbing through the trees, the trail mellowed out for a second as it joined up with Toyon trail, heading uphill to the left and flat to the right. We took a break, then continued uphill (to the left) on Toyon trail as we climbed up Elephant Mountain. The trail was pretty steep as it emerged from the trees into more of a scrub brush area...

Toyon trail climbing in front of us.

But it provided some nice views North of Los Altos Hills and the South Bay.

View of the South Bay from Toyon trail.

A more closeup view of some expensive Los Altos Hills houses from Toyon trail.

After a bit more climbing, the trail finally topped out at an old wood gate. I assumed this to be 1200 foot Elephant Mountain, but I couldn't tell if it was here or the next small hill in front of me. It didn't matter, from here we had great views in all directions. To the South, we could see the Black Mountain Trail climbing from Rancho San Antonio up to the summit of Black Mountain, and the beautiful valley that makes up the South end of Hidden Villa.

I tried (several times) to take a picture of Norvina here, but my camera's battery had given up on me and I didn't have a spare. So, now quite warm from the sun shining on us, we continued on as the trail began to descend again.

The trail dropped for a while, all the time providing nice views of the surrounding area. There was one odd corner where the trail switchbacked to the left, but it looked like it kept going straight ahead. I can only presume it was an old trail that had been closed, but it was strange. We eventually reached an intersection with Grapevine trail, and turned right onto it as it descended steeply into the valley. All the way down, I found myself commenting (too many times, as Norvina informed me) that the light green leaves of many of the trees in the valley reminded me of Aspen trees. I wish I knew something about trees so I'd know what they were.

After a nice descent, we began hearing the sounds of water (Adobe Creek) and soon bottomed out as we emerged onto Adobe Creek trail. I would guess that this is the most popular trail in the Farm, because it's pretty much flat, pretty (in the trees and by the creek) and we also saw a ton of people on this section after barely seeing anybody the whole morning. We turned right (North) on Adobe Creek trail as it descended slowly back toward the main farm.

Just before reaching the farm proper, the trail crosses the creek and there is a nice picnic area with a couple tables in the trees, at a "Y" between Adobe creek and another creek. We continued on and soon found ourselves among farm buildings as the trail turned from singletrack to dirt road. We paused a few times to check out the goats, rams, and other farm animals, and to listen to a guide tell a large group of people about mushrooms, and then continued on.

We passed by the hostel and garden, and then, just past the dirt parking area, took the East Loop trail around the opposite side of the meadow we'd started in (then on West Loop trail). The trail was nice and easy, and we soon found ourselves back at the parking area, having walked about 2.3 miles (though I told Norvin we'd done 3)...