Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2008: Bikepacking in Henry Coe State Park / Day 8: China Hole, Henry Coe State Park, to home in downtown San José by bicycle, via Coyote Creek Trail 21
The swelling on the bottom of my foot makes hiking the bike for a few miles up out of the canyon at China Hole really awkward, but I limp along and enjoy the ride back down to Silicon Valley afterward. 43.7 bicycle miles.
Fortunately, no big Henry Coe brush fire has started this morning while I hike and bike up Manzanita Point Road toward headquarters, which is what happened while I was leaving the Park on this same route at the end of last year's trip.
- Morning at China Hole: too many flies buzzing around to enjoy morning here, so I try to pack up as quickly as possible and leave
Of course, this still takes me a while, and I eat a quick breakfast and make a cup of good coffee anyway. An early mountain biker comes down the trail and waves "hello" as he passes, the first other person that I've seen up close in a week. - View down the canyon behind my tent site at China Hole, Henry Coe State Park
Lee pointed out to me in an e-mail that the plants shooting up through the grass-like tufts here are a different plant than the tufts below (I had thought they were all part of the same plant). - A few yellowjackets are still buzzing around the ground near my tent, feeding on this "leaf"
It's not until after I take this close-up shot that I realize that this is not a leaf, but a dead cricket of some kind that the yellowjackets are slowly feasting upon. No wonder they're still here! - I finally get the 10-ton bike packed up and snap one last photo before departing China Hole
It was pleasantly cool overnight, but the canyon is heating up substantially now that the sun is starting to shine down here. Time to get out and away from all the flies here! - I start limping up China Hole Trail with the 10-ton bike
This lower part of the trail is rather steep, so excellent vistas back down into the canyon present themselves almost instantly. That might be the brutal Willow Ridge Trail that I can see rising up a distant hillside. I didn't climb that trail during this trip, but I've learned to respect it during previous trips here. - I come around a switchback and can see back down to China Hole below
After a tough, but rewarding and enjoyable, week at Henry Coe Park, I hate to be on my way home, and leaving the Park behind me. - I bend around a switchback in another of my favourite stretches of China Hole Trail as I limp along upward
I'm a fan of chamise and ceanothus chaparral like this, which is a common vegetation type on hillsides in the California coast ranges. - China Hole Trail passes briefly through a stand of manzanitas
The trail will pass through a denser, shadier stand of manzanitas shortly, but there will be a bit a more open chamise chaparral on the way to there from here. - Rising higher on China Hole Trail, I still have some grandiose views down into the Coyote Creek canyon below
This won't last much longer though, as I enter more manzanita forest and get on the ridge that climbs toward Park headquarters. - China Hole Trail passes through a lot of chamise again before entering another manzanita-dominated area
The manzanita grove ahead is marked by all the lighter green leaves pushing above the carpet of chamise chaparral. - Now I pass through my most favourite part of China Hole Trail, "the manzanita tunnel"
The manzanita growth seems slightly less dense than what I remember from last year. Faulty memory perhaps, but some trimming may have been done, either by maintenance crews or last year's brush fire. Passing here means that I've almost reached the top of the trail. - Looking back down toward the canyon across to Willow Ridge from Manzanita Point Road, about 1100 feet above China Hole
The road is actually flat for a brief stretch here on the ridge, but that doesn't last of course! The last couple of miles up Manzanita Point Road climb a few hundred feet more on the way to Park Headquarters. Most of the grade is quite gradual, but it can feel steep if you're tired and on the way back to headquarters after a long day hike. I pass a Park volunteer along here and say "hello." After a week in the wilderness, it feels odd to be speaking to people again... - Woo hoo, I've made it back to Henry Coe Headquarters and my week spent in the Park comes to an end
I go inside and have a good chat with the folks on duty and consume a couple of cans of Coke, which I only drink on bikepacking trips (toward the end). Though it's cooler today, it's still 90 degrees, so there aren't many people here in the "busy" part of the Park. I rinse my sweaty head and fill up with cold water before leaving. - I begin the 2600-foot descent down Dunne Ave from Henry Coe State Park to Silicon Valley
It is a lot of work to make it to the top of this road by human power, but the ride back down always makes the effort worthwhile. - I snap a few photos on the upper part of Dunne Avenue, looking down to Silicon Valley
Once I get involved with the 10-mile downhill, it's hard to interrupt myself to stop for photo breaks. - This is one of the best views from upper Dunne Avenue down to Anderson Reservoir and the town of Morgan Hill below that
The road is too narrow to stop here if you're in a car, but not if you're on a bike. Anderson Reservoir looks like it's at the bottom of the hill, but it's actually several hundred feet above Silicon Valley. - On the way down, I stop at the portable toilets at Anderson Reservoir, which is a County park
Despite the hot weather, Anderson Reservoir is teeming with people picnicking and barbecuing today, and a few folks are out in the water in their boats. It's not a tranquil place like Henry Coe State Park up the hill! - The final steep hill down to Silicon Valley is a blast and I begin the 23-mile northward ride home on the flat valley floor
Riding through the endless suburban tract houses in Morgan Hill isn't the most interesting, but there's a hint of a cool breeze down here that feels very good after a week in the heat. - Coyote Creek Trail is my chosen route back into San José today instead of the busy, but more direct, Monterey Road
Coyote Creek Trail has some shady segments that are enjoyable in today's heat, and it's always nice to be out of busy traffic. However, on some of my trips, I just take Monterey Road because it's more direct. - Other long sections of Coyote Creek Trail are quite hot and exposed to the sun
The best thing is that the temperature seems to be dropping just a little... - 15 miles on Coyote Creek Trail, then another seven miles on nasty San José streets, and I'm home!
I stop at a Vietnamese tofu shop on Senter Road for a tasty snack of fresh fried onion tofu cubes and hop in the shower as soon as I get home. Another tough Henry Coe trip is over! Once I recover (give me a few days!), I'll probably feel inspired again and start thinking about doing another trip at Henry Coe next year.