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Hiking in Almaden Quicksilver Park, Randol and Mine Hill Trail, started, as such things do, at the trailhead. It was a pleasantly cool day when I started.
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Looking back at the parking lot very shortly into the park. My car is the black sedan towards the middle.
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The Road Ahead.
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Don't worry, I'm just making sure that I still can't take decent pictures of flowers.
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There were some clouds early in the morning that largely cleared an hour or so into the hike.
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A random shot of some foliage.
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I don't know why this photo turned out so dark.
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Looking out into the Santa Clara valley. You should be able to see the San Jose skyline on the horizon, but it's focused too close.
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The Almaden Valley. This community used to be a mining village that supported the mercury mines up in these hills.
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A wider view of Almaden. San Jose has acquired a reputation for sprawl, and it might deserve it, but while the city limits are huge it's still pretty heterogeneous... it's a city filled with other cities and neighborhoods that keep their own character and architecture despite being incorporated in the whole.
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I just thought this looked kind of interesting. Sort of a series of dirt ridges.
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Into the Woods!
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Um, here's some trees.
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I like the way there's just that one tree all by itself on top of the hill. Sort of a poetic image. It probably thinks it's all alone, when there are thousands of trees close by.
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The Almaden Valley again, from much higher up. You can make out the Diablo range faintly rising in the background beyond the hills.
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More of the valley. Of course, a lot of these houses wouldn't have been here in the early 1900s when the mine was still operating.
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There's a picnic table and hitching post up ahead. This is where the Randol Trail meets Prospect #3 Trail and is a good spot for a break.
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Trying again to get the San Jose skyline. It's a little more visible here, but I'm tilting the camera. Gah!
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Once again it didn't turn out, but what I liked about this shot was the crest of a mountain rising above the cloud line. I'm not sure what mountain it is... Mount Hamilton would be most logical, but I think it's too far south for that.
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I've got a lot of cranium accessories! You were supposed to see more of the valley behind me, but my enormous hat covers much of it up.
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Mysterious building up on top of a crest of the Santa Cruz mountains. This might be part of the Air Force base but I'm really not sure.
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It's when I get to this bench that I realize I definitely have done this hike before - I was pretty sure I'd done the park before, but when I got here I knew I did this same route (though maybe in reverse).
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View from sitting on the bench. I first did this hike the first or second weekend after I moved to California, and remember vividly how much I fell in love with the views. I'd brought a lunch with me the first time and sat here while eating a sandwich, apple, and cookies; this time around I finished off a granola bar and then pressed on.
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There's a collection of houses on the far side of the reservoir.
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Bunny rabbits! They didn't seem to have any fear.
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I got up super-close and they were still totally cool.
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Another tilted view of the valley. Why do I keep doing this?
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Looking back down on the reservoir and houses after ascending a bit more.
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I like the look of the winding road. People on the trail can't see the city because they're slightly below the ridge. So close, yet so far...
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This is as good a point as any to mention that, for the first time in ten months of hiking, I forgot to bring my book with the trail description and map. Fortunately I'd gone over it ahead of time and could remember it.
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I've forgotten everything else before - hat, sunglasses, compass, food - so it was just a matter of time, I guess.
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I have GOT to learn how to hold the camera straight.
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Near the end of the hike! There are nearly twice as many cars in the lot now as there were before. Total distance: 10.5 miles. Elevation gain: 1300'. Time: Rated at 6 hours, as always I didn't time my start but it was around 4 hours. Excellent hike, a bit crowded towards the end, good mix of hikers, dog-walkers and cyclists. Next time I want to take some more time and do some of the loops and dead-ends that I skipped over.