Dave's Ranch Camping and Hiking

Friday: (05/29) If all went well we are camping tonight and tomorrow at the ranch of one of my hiking group members. He was nice enough to schedule a visit this weekend for the group. It's not too far from home being just South of Livermore and over the mountains from San Jose.

Granola for breakfast. I did a temporary fix using double stick foam tape, tie wraps, and a couple of modified picture hanging brackets to secure the tire stem extensions on the RVs left rear tire. Evidently the inside dual tire lost all its air. It was likely caused by the extension banging around s loosening the sensor cap. Adding air fixed it. Then it was time for tank duty.
We were on the road before 1330. A stop for gas and we hit the highway South on 101 to 237 then 680 an then 84 into Livermore then Mines Road South to San Antonio Valley Road to Dave's ranch. Dave had invited the Meetup SJMWH group to come this weekend. Camping isn't usually part of our hikes, the hike is actually Saturday. Arrival was to be after 1500 but we were running closer to 1600. The road in was narrow and windy, interesting with the motorhome. I pulled to the side several times on the 25+ miles on Mines Road. The last time I pulled over it was Dave that was passing. He was running late. I followed him in to the Ranch. Good thing he came by because I would have passed the gate because Google said I had 1/4 mile to go. Turning around would have been fun. I had to dodge a couple of trees by driving out into the field a couple of times on the way in. We found a nice campsite on a peninsula by the lake. We were the only SJMWH's to camp. Dave, Clark, and Terry with family (Ranch Members) were also here. Smores by a campfire in the evening.
We had chicken and veggies for lunch on the road, BBQ ribs, potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner.
GPS: 37.010305, -121.570503



 



Saturday: (05/30) Lou got me up before 0600 for a walk before the sun came over the hill. Her sun a!ergy has progressed from just sneezing to painful to be in at all. We walked around the lake and looked at some of the old rusting farm implements before the threat of sun sent her back to the RV. I continued for a walk on one of the ranch roads. For breakfast I prepared sausage, eggs, and hash browned potatoes.
It turns out my hike this morning covered the same area as Dave's first hike visiting the old homestead cabin, about a 2 mile hike. After lunch we did another 4 mile hike touring the Southern and Eastern areas of the ranch. We learned the ranch has quite a history. Developed by Amelia Reid with a runway for easy flights fro the San Jose Reid Hill view airport. The ranch is where the pilot for the Bonanza TV show was filmed. Really a pretty place. We went to dinner at the Cowboy Cafe enjoying elk burgers. When we got back to the ranch after dinner I took Lou and Dawn on the roads we hiked earlier in the jeep. Another campfire with the group in the evening.

Sunday: (05/31) Oatmeal for breakfast. I prepared my PCT gear for a show and tell. I also got out our RC airplanes for Dawn to use. We are camped by an airfield, after all. We hooked up and departed just before noon. We headed out EB toward Paterson to I5 then North to Tracy. We stopped for lunch at the Golden Corral Buffet. After lunch we stopped at Winco Market for some things then headed toward home. Traffic was terrible on Highway 580 so we turned off onto Highway 84, a nice two lane road through Livermore over to join Highway 680 and on to Milpitas. We "had" to stop at the Savers Thrift store there before heading on home arriving sometime around 1930?  Then it was time to prepare for my kayak trip tomorrow morning.