Backpacking Coe State Park, Intro

Memorial Day Weekend, 2008<br />n<br />nTom and I had been planning a backpack trip to Henry Coe State Park for a couple of months now. I was doing a lot of the up front planning work, such as figuring out a route, the food situation and calling the rangers a few days beforehand to check on conditions. Tom’s been working on freeing himself up from work for the summer again.<br />n<br />nWe arrived at the park at about 9AM after a last minute stop at Target in Morgan Hill for some supplies. The weather was overcast and even a bit chilly if you weren’t moving. These were good conditions considering the Summit Fire in the southern tip of the Santa Cruz Mountains had been burning for the past couple of days. The weather would help clear the air of smoke, which actually hadn’t been blowing in the direction of the park yet.<br />n<br />nThe backpack campsites in the Western Zone of the park are on a first come, first serve reservation system. The spots that I had planned on, Lost Spring or Los Cruzeros, were already booked, and had no water anyway. So we decided we could go a bit further and stay the first night at Willow Ridge Spring. The plan for the second night was to be on Blue Ridge, staying near Black Oak Spring. Since this is technically outside the Western Zone, it was ok to camp anywhere we wanted. But close to water is always good!<br />n<br />nThat would be our second and last night. The third day, Monday, 26 May, the plan called for continuing on Blue Ridge Road then heading down (south) on Hobbs Road toward the headquarters and the car.<br />n<br />nOver the next several postings, I hope to provide more detail about the various segments of the trip. One thing to note, however, is that I didn’t bring a camera, so there aren’t any pictures. But the park is so close to home, and I can see myself going back there again, I’m sure I’ll have pictures next time.