Henry W. Coe State Park
May 2000

I went to a Cinco de Mayo party Friday night and so didn't have a chance to pack up until Saturday morning. I hit some bumper-to-bumper traffic at around 10 south of San Jose (sometimes I wish for a recession just to clear up the freeways). By the time I hit the trail it was about 11. A lot of flowers were past their peak and the grass was starting to brown. However, I did identify several flowers out of a pamphlet whose names I hadn't known before, e.g. white globe lily, miniature lupine, mule ear, popcorn flower, and there were some lush fields of regular lupine and chinese houses in many colors.

It was a warm, clear day and I had considered just bringing my 1 lb. mesh tent, but there was a slight chance of rain for the afternoon and night so I brought my Nomad lite. I didn't, however, bring a good rain jacket. I passed a number of day-hikers and a few backpackers during the first 5 miles, but after passing China Hole and heading into the Narrows I saw no one the rest of the day.

The Narrows is a steep-sided trailless creek ravine. People scramble through it using a combination of the shore, sandbars and boulders. Since I was in Tevas, however, I just walked through the water for the most part. There were some interesting rocks in the creek including a 10 ft. high one that looked like Dilbert's boss's head. That is, a slightly rounded base with two "horns" about 6 ft. high each and a person-sized slot between. It was right in the middle of a deep part of the creek. There was also a lot of fine-smelling non-native mint growing along the creek. It made for a nice mixture of scents with the bay laurel and sagebrush.

Through the narrows I arrived at Los Cruzeros (a creek confluence) and headed up the grueling Willow Ridge trail. All day I had noticed what appeared to be leafless, dead blue and black oaks and was pretty disturbed by it. However, while on the Willow Ridge trail I put 2 and 2 together and discovered why they were leafless. I had been seeing multitudes of caterpillars all day. They were all over the trail, on the bushes and in the grass. They kept hitching rides on my clothes and on my pack. Then I noticed some eating a manzanita bush bare. I kept my eyes open and saw that they were eating the oak trees bare as well. Walking on, I saw some ants pulling a struggling caterpillar into their ant hole. Well, I thought, that's one fewer.

By five o'clock I had made it to Hoover Lake and the adjacent abandoned air-strip. It was a little disappointing in that the lake is sort of a muddy pond at this time of year and the air-strip apparently isn't that long abandoned since the ground is still rocky and packed down hard. I had thought its flatness would be ideal for sleeping, but it wasn't exactly soft or smooth. Oh well, I made the best of it and I was on a ridge top so I found a spot with some nice views.

After dinner I was sitting outside around 7 fooling around with my flute when it started to rain. It continued to do so for most of the night. Good thing I ended up bringing the Nomad. I've had the tent for about a year now, but have never been lucky enough to see how it would hold up on a trip in the rain. Now I know. It kept me perfectly dry.

I was up and out by 8:30 the next day. It was cloudy, but wasn't raining. I was feeling like a cold might be coming on and wasn't really in the mood to walk 12 miles back that day, but I had no choice. Once I got going though, I felt fine. At the entrance to the Narrows I ran into three hikers who were on their way out as well, but weren't going through the Narrows because it had taken them a long time coming through the other way and they were a little pressed for time. However, with Tevas it is the quickest way back and avoids the steeps of the trails on either side.

It started to sprinkle as I splashed my way through admiring the scenery of the ravine - the lush hillsides of grass, bushes, vines and trees, the water, the rocks, the moss and lichen. It's a nice spot. By the time I got to the other side it had started to rain seriously. I put a garbage bag over my pack and put on a rain hat, but stayed in shorts and t-shirt. This worked out well as I powered my way up the China Hole trail - a long, but gradual uphill. I got soaked in cool rain, but kept moving and so didn't get too cold.

When I got to Manzanita Point the trail leveled out and it cooled down even more. Wearing a wet t-shirt in those conditions (even if it was Capilene) was starting to get me chilled. I took off the shirt and put on my Zephur without a layer underneath. I didn't have a real rain jacket with me, but I found that the Zephur's water resistance was perfectly good for the last hour and a half in a light, cool rain. I stayed warm and dry on the mostly flat rest of the way home.

I made this change on a picnic table at Manzanita Point. Manzanita Point is what Coe calls a group camp area. It's a few miles in, but people are allowed to drive one car in on the dirt road and drop off supplies at their designated site. Having walked by there many times it has never failed to amaze me how much stuff people bring in just for a weekend in the woods. I don't know that better proof of the affluenza concept exists. Anyway, while changing I heard some whoops and cheers about a hundred yards off through the trees. Some of the group campers were probably being picked up by a car so that they wouldn't have to walk out through the scary rain.

I avoided the road and stuck to the more scenic Forest and Corral trails and arrived at park headquarters around 2. I went in to talk to Barry Breckling, the head ranger and the most knowledgeable, friendliest ranger I've ever run across (and he actually hikes!). He knew all about the caterpillars and said that such overpopulations happen every now and then. He also told me that the trees always recover. They'll re-leaf in a few weeks and you won't be able to tell the difference by mid-summer. He also informed me that a large controlled burn was planned for the fall along Willow Ridge. I had seen a new fire-break and asked him about it. Coe has an informative Web site. Many of the articles there have been written by Barry.