October 28, 2013 - Pig Pond

Title: October 28, 2013 - Pig Pond

Trail head: Pacheco State Park

Hike Info:

Trail: Pig Pond

Destination:Pig Pond

Distance:  2.0 miles

Travel Time: 1:00 (2.00 mph)

Moving Time: 0:40 (3.00 mph)

Elevation Rise: 200'

Maximum Elevation:

Description:

We hiked this trail last year and enjoyed it. So this evening as we are coming home from visiting my parents, we stop at Pacheco Pass State Park and go for a short hike over to Pig Pond. We start from the parking lot-this is a fee area, but we have our State Park Pass for free admission.

After going through a gate—all gates should be left as you found them-we start to cross a field in what looks like a lightly used tractor track.. The trail then rises up a hill. With the sun low in the sky, the dried fields really do look golden. On top of the hill, we look back, in the distance you can see the traffic of 152 rushing over Pacheco Pass. Looking southward, the windmill blades slow turn. We head down after passing through another gate. We intersect the Cut Off Trail—which goes over to the Tunnel Monument. But we continue straight.

Another hill is climbed and we drop down the last third of a mile into the Pig Pond. On the way down, we scare up three deer which lope away. In previous visits, the pond is fuller with birds scampering along its shores. But tow]day, the pond is really no bigger than a mud puddle. Maybe because of the wind, there is no life to be seen. Since the sun is about to go down, we return the way we came without exploring around a bit. But we do get to admire the oaks against the darkening sky. Not a bad leg stretcher for those who have been stuck up in a car for awhile.