{"id":1941,"date":"2008-05-26T10:51:07","date_gmt":"2008-05-26T18:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/?p=1941"},"modified":"2008-05-26T10:51:07","modified_gmt":"2008-05-26T18:51:07","slug":"huddart-county-park-made-in-the-shade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/2008\/05\/26\/huddart-county-park-made-in-the-shade\/","title":{"rendered":"Huddart County Park: Made in the shade"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’re not going to need a lot of sunscreen at Huddart County Park. Not on the trails, that is. <\/p>\n

The park has several open areas for picnics, volleyball and garden-variety goofing off. It also has sites that can be reserved for wedding receptions, 50th-anniversary parties and IPO parties for undeserving dot-commers, which makes it the sort of full-service local park you don’t associate with plush hiking. Lots of screaming kid and car motor sounds. <\/p>\n

Yesterday I even heard some guys bellowing in an unfamiliar foreign language — either they were having a pep rally for their favorite soccer team or screwing up the nerve to overthrow the government. Either way, I was motivated to walk away<\/em> from them. <\/p>\n

Just as I expected, 15 minutes of hiking was all I needed to get away from the racket of civilization and into the sound of redwood and madrone forest. There’s nothing spectacular about the hiking at Huddart — I didn’t see any waterfalls, rock formations or jaw-dropping vistas — but the trails are well-maintained and properly graded, and the trail signs make sense (mostly). And it’s all shaded. <\/p>\n

It’s easy to build a nice seven-mile loop that climbs up to Skyline Boulevard and returns. I didn’t make it over to the Phleger Estate; I saved that one for a future hike. There are ample opportunities for long treks by wandering over to Wunderlich County Park<\/a> (about five miles beyond the park) or by crossing Skyline Boulevard into Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.<\/a> <\/p>\n

There are a couple easy nature walks near the park HQ that might be worth a look, though they seemed a bit too close to all the outdoor-party hangouts. <\/p>\n

My hike started at the Zwierlein Trail Head, took a left turn at the Crystal Springs Trail, another left on the Dean Trail, another left on the Chinquapin Trail, which ran all the way to Skyline Boulevard. From there I returned on the Summit Spring and Crystal Springs trails — all I had to do was follow signs back to the trail head. <\/p>\n

Let’s check out some pictures: <\/p>\n

\"Interesting<\/a><\/p>\n

This plant was one of the first things I saw on the Crystal Springs Trail. Can anybody identify it? <\/p>\n

\"Iris\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I also saw many irises. <\/p>\n

\"Dean<\/a><\/p>\n

A jogger passes on the Dean Trail, which is mostly mixed forest. There’s more redwood happening on the Chinquapin Trail, which is the nicest stretch I hiked on. <\/p>\n

\"Broken<\/a><\/p>\n

An experiment photographing a broken tree up close.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/a><\/p>\n

And another one: I used the macro mode for the close-ups, which creates a cool blur for the background. <\/p>\n

\"Out<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s an area on the return, downhill part of the hiker where the woods abruptly switch from redwood to oak and madrone. The redwood sections are more elegant, I suppose, but I enjoy the tangled chaos of sections like this one along the Crystal Springs Trail. <\/p>\n

\"Bridge<\/a><\/p>\n

Dull picture, but perhaps interesting story: trail signs mentioned this bridge on the Crystal Springs Trail was closed to equestrians. Note the left rail is made of new wood: did a horse slip and fall through the old one? Hmm. <\/p>\n

\"Fence,<\/a><\/p>\n

Crystal Springs Trail on the way back to the trail head. <\/p>\n

\"Noisy<\/a><\/p>\n

This gray squirrel was making a squawking sound that I thought at first must be a bird. This is the second one I saw making that noise. I see tons of squirrels in the wilderness but they’re usually pretty quiet. <\/p>\n

\"Something<\/a><\/p>\n

Some fern kind of thing growing out of the side of a tree. <\/p>\n

\"More<\/a><\/p>\n

Another of those mystery blooms. <\/p>\n

So that’s a first look at Huddart. I’ll probably head back up there next weekend and see what I missed on this outing. <\/p>\n

Previously: <\/strong><\/p>\n