Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Henry Coe State Park Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 1: Downtown San José to Henry Coe State Park 13
Ride from downtown San Jose to Morgan Hill on Monterey Road on level ground, then up into the hills on Dunne Avenue from Morgan Hill to Henry Coe State Park Headquarters at 2640 feet.
34.7 bicycle miles during 4:10 hours.
- The 10-ton bike is ready to leave downtown San José to head for Henry Coe State Park.
I'm only using my rear rack and saddlebags for this trip, but my load turns out to be so big and heavy that I wonder if I should have better balanced my load by using front saddlebags as well. Good thing I've decided not to bring any beverages along on this trip, as there isn't enough room to add anything else! - The 10-ton's bike driver is also ready to go to Henry Coe.
Well, sort of... The 35-mile ride to Henry Coe is never the easiest because the big hills are on the last 10 miles of the ride. Although I ride about 125 miles a week commuting to work by bike, it's mostly on flat ground. My first real hill ride of the summer was just two weekends ago, when I rode up to Mount Hamilton and back (50 miles round trip, up to 4200 feet and back). I had developed water under my right kneecap during my Death Valley bicycle trip in late April and gave it most of the summer to recuperate. It's an early day for me; I've managed to leave the house by noon. - Riding down Monterey Road in south San José.
About five miles south of home, riding through suburban sprawl. It's not pretty, and there's lots of traffic, but it's a flat and efficient ride, without too many traffic signals. And a nice bike lane much of the way. - Still riding down Monterey Road, now about 15 miles from home, getting closer to the town of Morgan Hill.
About 45 minutes later, I'm still riding down Monterey Road. It's turning out to be a fairly warm day (in the 80s) and I'm starting to work up a bit of a sweat. This part of Monterey Road passes through a quasi-rural area of orchards and farms, but San José is planning a massive suburban-sprawl development for the future that will eliminate much of this. - Henry Coe State Park's land becomes visible on the distant hilltops at the centre of the photo.
Henry Coe is the second-largest State Park in California at about 87,000 acres (Anza-Borrego near San Diego is the largest). The land at the top of these distant hilltops is just the beginning of the park, which extends far back into the steep ridges and canyons of the backcountry beyond. - In the suburban town of Morgan Hill, I head up Dunne Avenue, which climbs to the top of the hills straight ahead.
After a short break in Morgan Hill's little downtown for refreshments and iced espresso, I turned off Monterey Road and am now heading up Dunne Avenue, which ends at Henry Coe State Park headquarters some 12 miles up the hill. The bike lane here is a nice touch, but the ride through the 101 freeway interchange, which I just crossed, can be intimidating to the uninitiated. Unfortunately, the bike lane disappears there during double free-right-turn lanes onto the freeway (which California bike-lane design standards allow). So, even though I know what I'm doing out "in the middle of the road" avoiding the on-ramps, motorists have occasionally reminded me that they don't know what I'm doing out there (where the bike lane would be if there were one). - Further up Dunne Avenue, well above Anderson Reservoir, looking back down toward Silicon Valley, Morgan Hill and San José.
The climb towards Henry Coe always gets slower the closer one gets. But I'm well up into the hills now and only have four or five miles (uphill) to go. As usual during the summer months, it's a few degrees warmer up here than down in the valley below. I'm starting to practice drinking more water than usual (doesn't matter if it's not cold any more), a skill that is absolutely required in order to succeed in physically demanding hot-weather activities. - Taking a short rest on Dunne Avenue in one of my favourite shady spots on the way to Henry Coe State Park.
I've bike-camped in Coe Park many times now, and I often stop right here for some relief from the sun and consume an energy bar (a Clif bar, usually) and more water. Much of this road becomes quite narrow after passing Anderson Reservoir and has no shoulder where stopping for a break would be practical. Also, there's almost no traffic up here beyond Anderson Reservoir, (a popular destination for noisy day-trippers) so the feeling of arriving in the wilderness is starting to set in, even though I'm not there yet. Once my break is over and I return to my slow uphill pedaling, the driver of a car on its way down the hill (probably from Coe Park) gives me a thumbs-up as he passes me. Cool! - Somewhat tired from the climb up Dunne Avenue, especially the steep upper section of the road, I arrive at Henry Coe State Park
It has been a long 35-mile ride from home, but I've done well. My load felt noticeably heavier (because it is, with eight days of supplies) on the way up the hill than on my previous trips up here. Best of all, my bad knee hasn't given me any problems yet. So I might be in better physical condition than I thought. I even made it up that one last short, steep rise just before Park Headquarters that often makes me stop. It's Sunday evening, and most people have left the park and are getting ready to go back to work tomorrow morning. So there's no one around. - The 10-ton bike enjoys the rest while I sign in for eight nights of backpacking using the Park's self-registration system.
OK, in my case it's "bikepacking" rather than backpacking. Henry Coe Park is known to be rather empty on weekdays, so it's useful to leave an itinerary on one's registration if travelling solo through the depths of park like I'm doing. The park is huge and there aren't many rangers patrolling. Cell phones don't work in most of the park, except on a few high ridges, so if you seriously injure yourself, you'll pretty much be left waiting for someone to find you. I'll be camping at the very nice Sierra View campsite tonight, where I've camped several times before. A great place to to get a wilderness feel without going very far. Just over a mile from Park Headquarters, it's located on an isolated meadow where you might feel quite alone. - After climbing a short, steep segment of Hobbs Road, the 10-ton bike gets stuck on the drainage ditch that must be crossed.
Most of the 1.5 mile trip from Park Headquarters to the Sierra View campsite is fairly easy, except for the short, steep grade on Hobbs Road just before the Sierra View Trail. This little piece of Hobbs Road is steep enough that one drags the bike up the hill a few feet at a time, holding the brake levers in the "on" position in between segments, so that the bike doesn't slip back down the hill, while catching one's breath. I'm both frustrated and laughing when I can't get the bike across the little drainage along Hobbs Road to get on the Sierra View Trail. Can the oak trees hear me cursing? The bike is really heavy, and I haven't built up much strength on day one of the trip, so it falls over when I try to lift it over the drainage. A few days from now, I'll probably feel like Superman, but that's not today! Awesome views from here. - Arriving at the Sierra View campsite.
I'm ready to unpack, home for the night. I have my own private spring up here (just up the trail, but bring your own water filter), privacy (a dead-end trail leads to this campsite) and great views. And my cell phone works here, not that I have any intention of using it tonight. - Getting ready to prepare an add-boiling-water-to-bag backpacking meal by moonlight at Sierra View campsite.
It's nearly full moon this week, which makes the nights especially beautiful. Tonight's instant backpacking meal is Alpine Aire Pepper Steak, which turns out to be quite good.