The day we woke up and still had christmas shopping to do.

We had a nice quiet Christmas. Really nice. Mom and sis Peg came down for dinner and to trim the tree on Thurs. Ginger beef, a big salad, and rice...yum! Breakfast the next morning, hit the gym, then off to see Avatar (first for mom and sis, second time for me). Home again, sent them on their way, and a nice relaxing evening summed up our Christmas. Next Friday, we have the big Christmas celebration with the entire family coming down. Presents will be opened then.

Today is the first day of Kels vacation so we took a hike. Last hike with Kel at Harvey Bear I was charged by a cow. I have been to Harvey bear since that time, but I will say, I have developed somewhat of a fear of the cows now since my friend was chased by a cow last Wed.

The hike started out GREAT. No cow sign. Just sheltie plumes.

Getting the kinks out of the old bones and burning calories. My kind of fun.

Lots of gates keeping the cows confined. Still no sign of any cows and I was beginning to think that we chose our hike well.

I love a clear day. In the distance we can see the pointy hill and our house is at the base of that hill.

About 3 miles into the hike we are on the loop taking us back to the main trail to go home and what do we see in the road. Pretty much the biggest cow I ever saw in my entire life. He is sitting in an area of the trail that has a huge gully to the right so very difficult to get by.

Well turns out it is a bull not a cow and all around it are cows with babies. I'm like, turn around Kel we have to walk back. It's ok. It is a nice walk with no cows. He is like let's just go forward.

Turns out the big bull wasn't a problem. I had Kel go first (good thinking on my part) and as Kel approached the monster (I made him carry Fin), the big guy got up and took a couple steps. Not quite off the trail, but at least we could get by. However, one of his cows wasn't so nice. As we approached the big guy, she comes trotting down the hill mooing at us. I got so scared, I pick up Tazz and started to run. Kel was just walking by the bull I think just amazed at how big he was and I'm like, "Run Kel, Run!!! She's coming for us!" We jogged about 100 feet and I passed Kel (not easy jogging while carrying Tazz) and Kel stops to look back and says the all clear. We had a few more cow encounters on the way back to the main trail, but no more scary run ins.

They are some scary girl cows for sure.

Friday Hike

Harvey Bear Ranch, only a 10 minute drive from home (ok really it is 15 - that's why I'm always 5 minutes late when I'm meeting someone there). Saw a couple friends and their dogs as I was driving in (they had just finished their walk) but today was just Fin and I hitting the trail.
Are we there yet? No grasshopper, lots of hills to go.

We are still optimistic as we head to the first gate and see cows on the hill. We have lots of climbing to do.

Frist view of the sky and Morgan Hill. Still lots of climbing to do.

Not there yet grasshopper. Not too much farther, but we haven't gotten to the top yet.

We are there!

1.8 miles to the trail head. Now we turn south and head back to the car. 2.2 miles to go.

And look. It is down hill! Time for a jog....

Cows.

More cows.

Future friends?

We did 4 miles today. Fin held up great. Interesting that on the uphills she was a dragger but once at the top and we started jogging, she was right in front.

Harvey Bear Ranch

Went for a walk/hike today. I forgot the camera, so no pictures.

Not really a hike as the roads are really nice...more of a walk... but we were away from civilization...so sorta hiking. Lots of fun. Dogs are allowed on leash. There are some areas you could go off leash, but we ran into horses and bikers so off leash wouldn't work for me. For well behaved dogs, you could probably get away with it if you hike in far enough, but the rules are on leash

Directions: From Highway 101, exit San Martin Ave. Go east for 2 miles and the entrance to the park is on the left side.

You have two choices, up or flat. There is a nice flat paved 2 mile loop you can do (I saw lots of runners, walkers with kids, and bicycles down on the flat). I chose up.

Up is gravel or dirt wide roads. There are a number of gates to go through as you walk along. We walked about 1.5 miles in and then out on the Harvey Bear trail. Beautiful views. Saw some cows. Ran into a couple of horse back riders, 2 runners, 2 bikers, 1 biker/dog combo. We went up there around 10:45am so probably this is a busy time.

This is a really a nice place to walk if you are in the Morgan Hill/Gilroy area.

Harvey Bear Ranch