Published in the Sept. 16-29, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Staff Report

Sophia Johnson, 9, and Ava Johnson, 7, both of Oakwood School, check out a Tarantula held by Monika Davis of Salinas at the Tarantula Fest, held Oct. 5 at Henry W. Coe State Park.

Sophia Johnson, 9, and Ava Johnson, 7, both of Oakwood School, check out a Tarantula held by Monika Davis of Salinas at the Tarantula Fest, held Oct. 5 at Henry W. Coe State Park.

Adventurous types who trek to Henry W. Coe State Park enter a world of quiet beauty and wonder. Recently, volunteers with the Pine Ridge Association, the nonprofit group that helps keep the park open, began an outreach program to introduce more people to the 87,000-acre wilderness.

The program was initiated by Mike Hundt, a PRA volunteer, to encourage people to explore the park and experience outdoor activities that await them such as hiking, camping, mountain biking, horseback riding, and fishing.

“I just realized we needed to bring more people out here and show them what Henry Coe is all about and how beautiful it is,” he said.

The initial outreach activity was done at the 2014 Coyote Valley Fall Festival where Hundt and other volunteers set up a booth to provide details to people who might be interested in visiting Coe Park. Events scheduled for this year include the Taste of Morgan Hill Sept. 26 and 27.

“We talk to people about the park and let them know about the flowers and the trees and the animals,” he said. “We talk to people who have never heard of Coe and then we talk to people who said they were ‘just there’ 20 years ago and are ready to come back.”

Hundt encourages people to take the 10-mile winding drive along East Dunne Avenue to Coe’s entrance visitors center. There, rangers and volunteers can provide maps and advice on how best to explore the park.

The PRA outreach program is promoting walks and talks where volunteers lead visitors on a hike and educate them about the flora and fauna at Coe. They also discuss the human history that helped shape the land during the days of the Native Americans as well as the Mexican and American pioneers. Many of these outings can be found by going to the Meet-up website www.meetup.com/Henry-Coe-State-Park-Outdoors-Meetup.

Among the upcoming special group outings is the “Blood Moon Hike” the evening of Monday Sept. 27. Volunteers will lead a hike to the Coe Monument to see the sunset followed by an easy hike to see the “super moon” rise.

Night hikes are a special way to view the park, with creatures such as bats and owls coming out with the stars. A night hike lets visitors see the celestial canopy over the park.

The popular Tarantula Fest will be held Oct. 3, attracting families who want to see the hairy arachnids up close as well as be entertained by a live band and tasty barbecue cuisine. Small hikes led by volunteers who go out searching for the Tarantulas and their burrows.

In November, the PRA outreach program will lead ardent hikers on the 15.6-mile Mount Sizor loop deep into the park. This is considered by many hikers the toughest hike in the San Francisco Bay Area, going up three steep mountain ridges, including the notorious “Shortcut” which has challenged many who have tried to climb this ranch road cut straight up a mountain.

“It’s a tough one, that’s for sure. There are some really serious gazelle types of hikers,” Hundt said. “They really want to get out there and see a lot of the park. They’re interested in getting out into the back country a little more and covering a lot more mileage than what the average person might encounter.”

Hundt recommends first-time visitors take an organized hike through the outreach program so they don’t have to worry about getting lost. The programs are also a great way for people to get exercise and make new friends, he said.

Details

Contact: www.coepark.net/pineridgeassociation or call (408) 779-2728