Distance:                 4.5 miles
Elevation Gain:        500’ (Moderately Strenuous)
Estimated Time:      3 hours

** RSVP REQUESTED **
Please RSVP above or
e-mail mitcnchikers-owner ==at== yahoogroups ==dot== com

Description:  
Almaden Quicksilver County Park is spectacular in natural diversity and a landmark of California history. The park is the site of over 135 years of mining activities and former home to more than 1,800 miners and their families. The park encompasses 4,163 acres, occupying a majority of Capitancillos Ridge. During early spring, the park offers one of the most spectacular wildflower displays in the region. (Keep your fingers crossed.)  Remnants of the mining era also offer a glimpse into the mining operations of the latter part of the 19th century.  The trail map for the park is available at: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Documents/AQGuideMap.pdf.

Route:
We’ll walk from the trail head to the Mine Hill Trail where we’ll turn left.  Then we’ll divert left onto the New Almaden Trail which eventually rejoins the Mine Hill Trail after a short jog to the right up the Cinnabar Trail.  After another short stretch on the Mine Hill Trail, we’ll turn right on the Guadalupe Trail which leads eventually to picnic benches where we’ll take a lunch/snack break.  We’ll continue on the Guadalupe Trail until turning left onto the Senador Mine Trail, which will return us to our starting point.

Other notes:
All trails in the park are open to pet owners to walk their dogs on leash.  There are portable outhouses near the start of our hike at Mine Hill Trail/Senador Mine Trail.

Warning:
This is a moderately strenuous hike.  Please be sure that you are comfortable with this level of effort before joining us.

What to Bring:
Start your day with a hearty breakfast.  Bring water (at least 2 liters per person), a hat, and some snacks. Sunblock and sunglasses are advisable.

Where we will meet:
We will meet at the McAbee entrance to the park (at the far left of the trail map), about 3 miles south of the Highway 85/Almaden Expressway interchange in South San Jose.  From Highway 85, take Almaden Expressway south, past Blossom Hill Rd. and Coleman Rd., and then turn right onto McAbee Rd.  Continue on McAbee Rd. past Camden Ave. and Castillero Middle School.  The trailhead is in the angle where McAbee jogs sharply to the left and becomes Whispering Pines Dr.  Parking is available on the street, but you may have to park a block or more from the trailhead due to the popularity of the location.

Carpooling:
Carpooling is always a nice idea. If people want to get into a carpool, we've set up an unmoderated discussion group you can use to set up carpools. To join it, go to  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mitcnchikers_carpooling and then send a message to mitcnchikers_carpooling@groups.yahoo.com, or post from the web interface at the above address.  This requires you to get a free yahoo account; sorry about this, but in our experience, they've been harmless and respect your spam preferences.  Unfortunately (cynics cackle here), the old email signup interface seems to have stopped working.  In any case, in the message, be sure to include where you're coming from, contact information and how many of you there are.

Rain/Weather policy:
If there's any ambiguity about the weather on the day of the hike, check the forecast on the morning of the hike.

If it's raining significantly, the hike is cancelled.  If the weather is ambiguous, we will send out an email to the registered participants on the morning of the hike.

Disclaimers:
Joining any hike is entirely voluntary and participants assume any and all risks associated with the activities.  By registering or attending this event, participants agree to the conditions posted HERE