Backpacking in Castle Rock State Park

This morning's hike took us to Castle Rock State Park in the hills above the City of Saratoga. Castle Rock is a favorite of rock climbers, who like to climb two of the rock formations in the park: Castle Rock and Goat's Rock.

We arrived at the park at our usual start time of 7:45 am. Following our training instructions, as ever, we had breakfast and drank liquids before the hike. The weather today, unlike the past several weeks, was beautiful with hardly a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather for hiking Castle Rock. Castle Rock sits next to the summit on the west side of the Santa Cruz Mountains, so often, the only view you have is of fog.

We did a circuit of about 5-6 miles, with full backpacks and, for the first time, poles. Many people took the opportunity to use the restroom at the trailhead, but I wasn't yet "ready". We hiked the first three quarters of a mile past Castle Rock and on to Castle Rock Falls. We were hiking past a creek for a good part of this time and Duane started to tell a story about the time we went hiking in New Zealand. By this time, I did need to use the restroom, which was sadly now half a mile behind me and, since I knew what story he was about to tell, I told him to "Shut up!"

Flashback: On our honeymoon, Duane and I went for a short hike in Te Wairoa, a village buried by volcanic ash. Part of that hike went past a stream to a waterfall and, like today, I had to go. Bad. Real. Bad. Since running water is a urination trigger, I was trying to focus on something else. Of course, Duane starts talking about the waterfall, and the beautiful sounds of running water, etc., knowing all the while that I was in discomfort. I was being teased!

Fast Forward: So when he started to tell this story again today, in the same situation as before, I thought, "Nooooo!" Hmmfph! At last, however, I found a quiet place to "pause" after which I felt much improved!

The waterfall is beautiful, but difficult to see from the vantage point at the overlook platform. We rested for a few minutes and took in the view before moving on. At about the 50% mark, the trail doubled back on itself, rising steeply for several hundred yards. This was the second most difficult part of the hike and was probably the most physical Duane and I have gotten since beginning our training.

At last, we reached Goat Rock, a favorite of climbers. I sat down and began to eat my last trail mix bar. Duane had already eaten both of his and was looking at my one remaining trail bar with longing in his eyes. I couldn't resist, so I gave him half of my bar.

After a few minutes of resting, some of our group decided to climb up to the top of Goat Rock to see the spectacular panoramic view of Saratoga Gap. I wasn't about to attempt this, but several of our fellow hikers were tempting me with tales of the wonderful view, so I decided to give it a try. Goat Rock has a near vertical face over 10 feet tall that you have to climb to get to the top. All you have are little fingerholds and a couple of tiny places to put the toe of your boot. This was not easy, but I got close enough to the top that someone was able to grab my hand and get me the rest of the way up. The view was indeed superb!

The remainder of our hike went over large rocks, in some places next to a cliff face with cables that you could hold on to (like a staircase bannister), and through woods, at times chaparral, at other times redwood forest. We (the fast group) arrived back at the parking lot at about 11:40 am. Since we were supposed to hike for nearly another hour, our mentors took us across Highway 9 to Sanborn Park where we continued to hike for another half an hour.

This was the most difficult part of the hike: the mental challenge of walking past our car in the parking lot knowing that we had just finished our hike. I just wasn't mentally ready to do another one. This resulted in a bad case of "I don't wanna!" But I went anyway, until it was time for us to turn back. We had to go pick up our son, who had his first T-Ball game today.