No matter how much we crave trees, flowers, meadows, mountain peaks, etc., we still like seeing human stuff along the trail — provided it’s suitably old and existing in a state of advanced disrepair.
Last week’s water bottlers and PowerBar wrappers are unacceptable, but last century’s rusting Model A’s are priceless. The barely standing old shack along the Tarwarter Loop at Pescadero Creek County Park was another of those little pleasures of hiking: seeing another generation’s leftovers.
Some of the ruins are straightforward: The cemetery at Black Diamond Mines springs to mind. Others are a mystery, like the rock walls at Ed Levin County Park.
So, what are your favorite vestiges of human folly on trails around the Bay Area? Send links and share with all hiker buddies.
(Hat tip to Ralph Alcorn for putting this idea in my head, and posting pictures of some Pacific Crest Trail detritus at his blog).
Favorite?
The Coe wrecking ball thing:
http://www.fedak.net/photos/MississippiLake/IMG_0177-standard.html
2nd place, the tractor on the Santa Lucia trail:
http://www.fedak.net/photos/JuniperoSerra2/PA305223-standard.html
A few come to mind:
An old wrecked car along Coastal Trail on Mount Tam, way downhill from the road
Crashed cars off the side of Mine Hill Trail at Alamaden Quicksilver
Old cars on Montara Mountain (some accessible, some not)
Airplane wreckage on Resolution Trail at El Corte de Madera Creek Redwoods
Airplane wreckage on a couple spots on Tam, most notably Cataract Creek
I hiked the Resolution Trail when it was completely fogged in… an airplane on final approach at SFO flew right over me just after I turned onto the trail. Kinda made the whole plane crash thing sink in.
Link here.
Can’t leave “my” Almaden Quicksilver County Park off this list…
Almaden Quicksilver is the site of the historic mercury mines in the hills above the town of New Almaden. (The town was named, IIRC, for an original “Almaden” also known for mercury mining.) There are a ton of old “ruins” and related sites in the park. They include the old reduction works just below the high point of the ridge along the Castillero Trail near what was once a mining town high in these mountains. A few of the old buildings of English Camp still are there, in various states of disrepair. There are several large structures at the Senador Mine site. Many, many other old sites can be found throughout the park by those who are familiar with it – they range from flattened buildings to holes in the ground that were once mines.
Old strawberry truck on highway 1.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2061/2227953698_0e95afc6ec_o.jpg
Derelict road grader at a Lexington county park
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/149/337016033_d9efae4b22_o.jpg
Lime kilns at Fall Creek
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1155/1352664326_909bc83089_o.jpg
Old boilers at UCSC
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/151676419_c5a5eba120_o.jpg
I have a lot more.
There is a 1950’s-looking truck off the side of the trail along Campus Drive in Leona Heights Park in Oakland. The flora have taken it over as one of theirs.
Has anyone been to the Moraga Staging Area of EBMUD land and hiked the short loop trail. . .and seen the extensive ruins of an old homestead there…..? no pix, but quite interesting..
We were up on Pleasanton Ridge yesterday, and ran across an old barn near the ranger residence on top of the ridge.
I can’t seem to find my photos right now, but there are interesting bunkers all along the coast, and several are within a few hundred feet of the trail up Montara Peak from the beach side. They are covered in graffiti and have obviously spent more time as party locations than WWII bunkers, but they are still interesting to wander through. Just watch out for the poison oak!
Also on the Pleasanton Ridge is a 100-year-old olive orchard. The trees have long since stopped producing fruit, but the grove is still very much a sign of past human activity.
The Nike missile sites in Wildcat Canyon are pretty cool, too.
Mendonca Ranch on the Rocky Ridge Trail in EBMUD land. On a smaller scale, you can always find some spent bullets and shells along the Rocky Ridge Trail for a mile or two eastward of the junction with Dinosaur Ridge Trail. I’ve been told the area was used as a firing range during WWII.