Snow hike up the Bald Mountain trail near Mt. Umunhum

If you aren’t familiar with Mount Umunhum, well, you'll probably learn a bit about it here! It is the fourth highest peak in the Santa Cruz mountains, at an elevation of 3489 feet at its highest point. Mount Umunhum has an old radar at the top of it called “The Cube” or “The Box” and can be recognized by the characteristic shape of this building from across the Silicon Valley.

We were very excited to learn that during our latest rain storm in San Jose, Mt. Um received some snow! The roads up to the top were closed however, starting on the day that snowfall occurred. The following morning, we learned that it was possible to drive up to the Bald Mountain parking area and hike up to the top. The hike is a fairly long one and we did not attempt it. It was 3.7 miles in each direction. However, we wanted to experience snow and were able to do that by hiking just about 3 miles roundtrip.

We parked with a lot of difficulty at the parking lot. It was full with all the enthusiastic South Bay residents eager to see snow. After a bit of patience and luck, we got a parking spot and started off. We were fortunate to see a lot of snow on the sides of the Bald Mountain trail.

There were a few clearings where we were able to play in the snow. My daughter was over the moon since she’s been wanting to see snow for a very long time. We had fun throwing snowballs at one another. A little further took us to a picturesque bridge that was covered in snow. We could see the fresh spring water flowing in the creek below. We finally reached a beautiful view point about 1.5 miles in, and were enthralled by the beauty in all directions. Mt. Um was towering over us streaked in snow and had a very majestic appearance.

On our way back, we built a snowman “Snowy” and this was the highlight of our hike. We learned from the signpost at Mt Um that the origin of many creeks in our area is from this peak. The Los Gatos Creek, Rincon Creek and Guadalupe Creek all begin here. The creeks join other waterways from the Santa Cruz mountains and together form the Guadalupe River which flows through downtown San Jose. All of the surrounding land is called the Guadalupe Watershed.

We would love to return and either drive up to the top of Mount Umunhum or hike there one day. For now, we hold our one-of-a-kind experience of a snow hike close to our hearts.

Rancho Cañada Del Oro Open Space Preserve

Green trails

About a week back, we set out on a hike as a family. We had wanted to go someplace new and stay in the South Bay. My husband logged on to his computer and started looking up a few county parks and trails. He zeroed in on Rancho Cañada Del Oro Open Space Preserve, a place he had never been to before. That in itself was very rare, given that he’s lived in the bay area and has been an active hiker and biker for two decades. I had never been to this area before either, and we decided to try it out.

The drive took us through Almaden Valley, past the Calero Reservoir and the Santa Teresa county park into a street called Casa Loma Road off McKean Road. This is roughly at the boundary between San Jose and Morgan Hill and officially falls under Morgan Hill, CA. As we turned into Casa Loma Road, we saw the countryside becoming even more rural and a few farms with horses, cattle and sheep on the way. It was a very charming area to be driving in. We were a bit taken aback to come upon a sign proudly displaying “Team Trump” and “Re-elect Trump in 2020”. What was that doing in California, we thought? However, freedom of expression and all that I suppose. A bit perturbed but moving on, we arrived at our destination. The parking lot was full, and had an equestrian parking lot adjacent to it which happened to be empty. However, cars without trailers were not allowed to park here. We had to drive further on a mud road to the spillover parking lot and get ready for our hike there.

Meadows galore

My husband strapped on the hiking carrier and my son promptly ran off in the opposite direction, away from us. We decided to let him run around for a bit and get the wiggles out before he agreed to be strapped in to the carrier. Then we set off. We planned to do a test run with a 2 - 3 mile hike and see how our daughter handled it.

The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. There were maps at the trail entrance, however we did not need them since my husband had printed out and studied the trail at home. The area is supposedly beautiful in the spring when it is covered with wildflowers. We could picture this, since the landscape was covered in brilliant hues of green on that cold January day.

We first had to cross a little creek by stepping over rocks to get to the other side. This looked to be a bit of a challenge with a hiking carrier and an exuberant four year old in tow. We managed this rather easily though, to the utter delight of said four year old. We continued our hike and saw beautiful large oak trees, meadows and manzanita plants (characteristic shrubs or small trees with a smooth red bark and twisting branches). We saw a salamander making its way across the trail.

My daughter picked up a little branch and stated “If we ever see any pandas, I have some bamboo for them”. Then feeling very satisfied that she had any potential panda needs handled, she continued, “And, if we see another one, I’m going to look for another bamboo branch for him. No, for her. I’m going to call them all “her”. Everything is a girl, mama!”. This filled me with pride, because 1. My daughter loves nature 2. She loves animals 3. She is a natural feminist 4. What an active imagination! and finally 5. I love the way she expresses herself.

We continued on our hike until we reached a clearing at the 1.5 mile mark – time to turn around, because 3 miles was probably our limit. My husband was carrying our toddler in the carrier on his back, still getting used to the carrier and its weight distribution. My toddler was getting restless from sitting for so long. My daughter was showing signs of getting tired and ‘hangry'. I was anxious to complete the hike successfully, not to mention the fact that the backpack I was carrying was starting to feel uncomfortable on my shoulders.

So we stopped for a snack which I had packed and carried, and let our toddler dart off wildly in different directions as we followed frantically behind him run around and explore. Then we started the return hike back and managed to motivate my daughter to walk all the way back. When we reached close to the start of the trail, we were delighted to see a family of deer who were grazing in the nearby meadow. My daughter picked up a long twig and spent a long time splashing it in a puddle (it had rained recently), and just enjoying herself.

Beautiful oak tree

Nicely shaded trails

Manzanita plants

A family of deer

I forgot to mention that it was a particularly cold day so we had to bundle up through the hike. We managed to finish it though, and both kids crashed and fell asleep on the way home in the car. We drove to Chipotle and picked up food which we ate out in our driveway while the kids finished their naps in the car.

All in all, it was a refreshing new experience and a place we definitely want to be back to some day. Here’s a song that I love to listen to when I am in a contemplative mood that fits in well with our experience at Cañada Del Oro. 

Slomo by Slowdive

My love and I go

It's a curious woe

Like dreamers at dawn

Awake but not yet

You give me your heart

It's a curious thing

Give me your love

It's a curious love

Picturesque landscape

A star is born

David Bowie

Good morning, blogosphere. I started my day with yoga and am glad to have been able to complete today’s practice before work. It definitely sets the tone for the day.

Today is David Bowie’s birthday. He was an artist and a legend who had a profound effect on a lot of people. I am no exception. I don’t remember a whole lot of facts about him but would like to take a moment to reflect upon his contribution to the world.

It’s sort of a grey area when you consider which date to remember him by. His life spanned from January 8 1947 to January 10 2016. I remember the latter day four years ago when I was heartbroken to learn the news. But I’d like to remember Bowie on his birthday because on this day, a star was born.

A shout out also to Steve Garvey, bass guitarist of the Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone you Shouldn't've)? - who shares his birthday on January 8th.

Known by many different names such as Starman, Bowie, and often referenced by the character Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie was a musician as well as an artist. I remember listening to a few of his songs while growing up, but since we did not have exposure to music other than mainstream rock and pop, only his very popular music (read Let’s Dance) reached us. He was known as a music chameleon as far as genres were concerned. Glam rock, art rock, pop and experimental are some of the terms used to describe his music. However, his music was just his own unique genre. He has even done drum and bass with his album Earthling, and pulls it off with ease like all his other music. His essence permeates into his work, regardless of what style it takes. He had an exceptional talent to be able to achieve this while pushing the envelope with his art and music. He takes the word "expression" to a new level.

A few years ago, I started getting hooked to his albums. I was on a trip to London for work. I remember riding the DLR every morning all the way from the city to the Excel center. It was a long ride, and I listened to Ashes to Ashes on loop the entire week! Everything in the city came alive, I could feel all the great music that had come out of those streets and buildings and filled the air around over the years. My whole trip felt like a dream.

When his album Blackstar came out, I had just had a baby and was recovering at home adjusting to life with a newborn. My husband gifted me the album. Only a few days later, my mom told me about the news about Bowie which she had read about online. I kept looking from her to the album cover, wishing that it wasn’t true. However, moving on from the sadness and back to his influence, I think it just goes to show how much he was admired as a person as well as an artist.

My favorite Bowie songs are Heroes, Ashes to Ashes, Cat People, Starman, It's No Game (Parts 1 and 2) and China Girl. That might sound like an odd list, but there you go. I also enjoy Ziggy Stardust and Changes. Under Pressure, sung with Freddie Mercury, is another favorite. If you’ve listened to Ice Ice Baby in the 90s, you’ll know where that riff came from. My baby daughter used to rock out to Under Pressure – it was the first song she used to dance to as soon as she was able to pull up on to furniture and stand with support! Dancing in the Street is another collaboration of Bowie’s with Mick Jagger, and interestingly is one of the few Mick Jagger songs that I can really enjoy because of Bowie being in it. The Man Who Sold the World is another favorite song (and album) by Bowie that was later covered by Nirvana. And finally, his collaboration with Lou Reed was also exceptional. Bowie produced the song (Take a) “Walk on the wild side”, which happened to reach us even in India. The saxophone solo at the end of the song was played by Ronnie Ross, who was Bowie’s saxophone tutor during his childhood. Fun fact about Ronnie Ross: he was born in Calcutta, India, to Scottish parents before moving to England as an adolescent. I enjoy all of these intersections and collaborations that show Bowie's influence far and wide. Space Oddity of course features in countless movies and shows.

A few years ago, my husband and I watched Labyrinth which is a movie in which David Bowie stars as a goblin king. We enjoyed its bizarreness and the fantasy element it had.

With that, I will make a mental note of my playlist for the drive home. I hope to come across many other happy coincidences of Bowie’s influences over time.

There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us

But he thinks he'd blow our minds

There's a starman waiting in the sky

He's told us not to blow it

Cause he knows it's all worthwhile
He told me:
Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie

- Starman by David Bowie