Off Trail Hike in Sanborn Park

It was one of these lazy Bay Area autumn mornings, sunny and not too hot. The hike started casually, to visit the Lake Ranch Reservoir and see if it already filled up with water. We quickly climbed to the reservoir and found that the water has cleaned since summer, no signs of smelly algae, but the level is still low. Continuing on the road past the reservoir, we walked by the creek paralleled with an old forest road. It looked like a good idea to turn right off the trail and check it out.

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The trail along the creek was overgrown and blocked with fallen trees. After a couple hundred meters we discovered an old water pipeline, probably a reminder from the days when the reservoir was privately owned.  A little dam on the creek used to fed water to the pipeline, which carried it to the reservoir. The dam is now destroyed.



Past the pipeline the trail disappeared and the creek started to climb up the bottom of a steep canyon. The forest was dark, moist, and full of  vegetation. The ferns were up to 2.5 meter tall. Dead trees, branches, and thick layer of leafs covered the ground. Our progress along the creek was slow because of the obstacles. It felt like a primal forest, though we found reminders of peoples activity in the creek: broken pipes, a water tank, and some cables.





Isia found some cool looking fungi that grew on dead branches under the ground, and two salamanders. I identified them on the web as Sierra Newt Salamander. The salamander had a very tight and muscular grip when walking on my hand. According to the web page description, this tight grip is developed during the mating season.



At some point the creek canyon was totally blocked by fallen trees, this is where we turned back.