Photo Tour of Los Gatos Creek Trail

I almost drowned last night in my own secretions- several times. I woke up gasping and spitting, coughing and gagging. I decided to go easy for my bike ride today. But it had to happen. I couldn't just sit indoors all day today like I did yesterday (I think).

So I took a leisurely ride along the Los Gatos Creek Trail where I do most of my runs, and occasionally ride my bike. The speed limit is 15 mph on the trail and on weekends there's a lot of people, so it really limits the actual workout you can get on a bike. Since I didn't necessarily feel like getting out of my pajamas, I decided I would bring my camera along and then show you guys where all my amazing runs have been here. That got me out the door.

I rode my bike through the neighborhood and went a little farther than where I normally get on the trail, since where I usually start is really nothing but concrete near a busy street.

Here's where I started today.

The trail is paved and stretches about 9 or 10 miles before turning to a dirt path. Along most of the trail is also an unpaved trail in case someone wants to run off pavement. Notice how bright and sunny it is here. It didn't stay that way.

Meandering along a couple miles later is my favorite spot, for a fairly strange reason I think.

It's the first wooden part of the trail you come across, and when I run on it, I suddenly feel like I'm a cross country runner-which I missed out on in high school and it looks like that might've been a cool sport. As I run along, my feet sound adventurous on the wooden bridge and the chain link fence rattles like, well, chains I guess. However, on my bike, the planks cause so much vibration that it's hard to hold on to the handle bars.

On the right is the creek and you can look down to see a little waterfall.

Let me remind you, this trail is smack dab in the middle of the city and connects Campbell/San Jose to Los Gatos, a quaint little town that I'll probably never be able to afford living there.

The Los Gatos Creek Trail (LGCT) is an eclectic mix of urban and suburban. It follows the freeway for a good portion of it, goes under and over the freeway, and under city streets.

It passes through a few parks, which is good if you need to use the restroom or refill your water bottle.

A couple weeks ago the flowers were blooming on the trees like mad, but a couple weeks ago I was also in a rush, and healthy enough to be pushing myself too hard to stop for pictures. It's a shame, some of the tree blossoms were so gorgeous that they were distracting. Anyway, the poppies are in full bloom these days.

Here's one of the creek crossings. When I run across it, the bridge actually squeaks to the frequency of my footsteps, which makes me wonder about either the stability of the bridge or that whole physics thing about frequencies and bridges...was it the Tacoma Narrows Bridge? Now that's some awesome physics. Google it.

And lest you believe that this creek trail is a paradise hidden in the city, this poor guy has to share his home with trash from selfish/careless humans.

Going over the bridge, I leaned over to get a shot of the geese.

And the view from the crossing.

And as it turns out, this is not a turtle like I had hoped.

Nope. Not a turtle, but a lost soccer ball.

After crossing the bridge and going under the street, you come up on the park which is complete with a leash-free dog area,

Casting ponds for the practicing fly fishermen,

And plenty of geese.

(and bathrooms, water fountains, a gazebo, picnic tables, etc).

These guys:

do not care who you are, how much bigger you are than them, and what kind of vehicle you are on. They have absolutely no fear of humans, dogs, cats, whatever, and I get this sneaking feeling that there's a reason for that. Their boldness and utter lack of concern for the beings around them makes me pretty nervous. I give them their space. And if they're in the trail when I'm trying to come through, I hiss at them, shoo them, whatever I can to get them out of the way. They don't even look up. They really don't care. They might as well be cows.

Just on the other side of that grassy little field are a few little man made pond things. Sometimes they have water in them, sometimes they don't. I spotted this one from the plane on our way home from San Diego a couple weeks ago.

People fish in there. I think maybe they stock it.

Here's the other side, looking across the creek towards the freeway.

Notice the clouds gathering a bit. Apparently I was enjoying myself too much to notice this while it was happening.

These guys were looking mighty picturesque.

And then you pop out at the Vasona County Park (of Santa Clara County) up over the reservoir.

Yeah, got a little cloudier, didn't it?

A little tranquil spot.

Another wooden walkway spot, just before the paved portion of the trail comes to an end.

 

You come to a T with this mural, and you can either go left or right. 

 Going right through these doors will (presumably) bring you in to downtown Los Gatos.

Going left brings you down a ramp (where the only people who really walk their bikes are ones who can't make it up the steep ramp) and to the end of the paved trail.

It is also the site of the Forbes Mill Museum, which I have never been in.

Being on skinny tires, it's time for me to turn around. Not that Ruby hasn't handled rougher terrain, but I was already hungry.

A few more photos of Vasona Park (where by the way, you can also rent kayaks and stand up paddle boards) on my way home.

Within about 20 minutes of home, it got pretty windy. Windy on a bicycle is no fun. Also, as it turns out, it's not a good time to learn how to ride with no hands. I would like to learn how to ride with no hands, but it's difficult for me for some reason (and other people do it like it's second nature). Anyway, gave it a good brave try, got blasted by the wind, and almost died. So, no more of that on a windy day.

I leaned sideways into the wind until I turned and faced it head on. It was ridiculous.

But anyway, so now you got to see a little piece of my regular running route.