Four Open Spaces Hike

Friday: (08/30) Ham, eggs and home fried potatoes for breakfast enjoyed in the backyard. I headed up the hill to lead a hike. This hike was a loop starting at Russian Ridge OSP, proceeding into the Coal Creek OSP, then up Alpine Road to the Monte Bello OSP, and finally back up to the Skyline OSP and returning to our start. 10 members of the San Jose Mid-Week Hikers Group enjoyed a nice clear day with good views of the bay and a clouded over Pacific Ocean. We could see the San Francisco skyline and some nice views of the canyons below on the bay side.  The trail nicely provided a good amount of shade and we had a consistent breeze, both of which helped make the hike pleasant with the high 80's temps. The trail this time of year was quite dusty. On our last hike of these trails, last November, we had just the opposite with some muddy trails. We'll have to return in the spring to see the wild flowers. Everytrail reported 8.1 miles and a 2406 foot climb with an altitude range of 1722-2428 feet. Maverick reported 7.98 miles with a 2346 foot climb over an altitude range of 1722-2421 feet. Here are a couple of links for tracks of this hike: GPSies Track and Everytrail Track

Here is the Everytrail Track for this hike:

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in California

Here is the track at GPSies.com:


Ham and cheese with cottage cheese and fresh peaches for lunch. An afternoon delight of avocado smoothies. Gluten and dairy free spinach lasagna for dinner. It was pretty good.