Back on December 15th I went on a moderate length hike in the “wilds” of East San Jose. Joseph Grant County Park (http://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/JosephDGrant.aspx) is located on the road up to the more famous Mt Hamilton and the Lick Observatory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hamilton_(California)). Besides the historical ranch buildings down low, there’s a “famous” cabin where President Herbert Hoover stayed at one time, up near the 2999 foot Antler Point.

We met at 9AM on a beautiful day, though we did see some fog or “smog” lower down in the distance:

…and some eye-catching contrails in the sky:

The cabin’s restoration was apparently halted a few years ago. Fortunately though, it is now stable and has a good roof:

Here’s the signboard at the cabin, including President Hoover at the lower-right with a string of fish (which had to have come from a place much lower than the prominent ridge that the cabin sits on!)

On our way down, we took a slightly different route and happened across this hollow tree with some Christian items on the ground and in the hollow of the tree. Odd!

More interesting (and quite amusing) was our passing by the “Control Your Pee” sign.

I caught 2 of my friends with a sly smirk just as they were reading the sign for the first time!

On our return at about 1PM, we happened across a very shady and cool hollow, which had frost on the ground on a fairly warm day!

Great hike! 11 miles and about 2500 foot elevation change.

Our GPX track: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2504269

Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59666465@N00/sets/72157638963125583/

FOOTNOTE: Sadly, the Pala Seca cabin was destroyed by fire in late February 2014. The cause is unknown. You can see from the ruins and the scorched ground that the fire was very hot and thorough. Thank you to Joe Buck for providing the photo.

Remnants of the Pala Seca cabin, March 30, 2014. Photo courtesy of Joe Buck.