Windy Hill Open Space Preserve

With my still sore hamstrings from yesterday's hike, the nice weather did drag my ass out for another one, and not to exaggerate, it was one of the best hikes in peninsula. 

I did the loop in the counter-clockwise direction. The first half was totally exposed with steep incline through the whole Spring Ridge trail until you hit the summit, and that is some 2000 feet of elevation. and yes that almost killed me. It took me a solid one and a half hour just to get to the top. I thought i was a piece of dead meat when I realized that was only a third of the total distance of the loop. There were a lot of young groups using the picnic tables near the submit area, and that's where it leads to the 2nd and 3rd sections of the hike, the Lost trail and the Razorback Ridge trail. These two trails are mostly shaded and with streams running occasionally crossed, so it was very nice. I usually sweat a lot during my hikes, and I love cleaning my faces and arms in the stream. Anyways, the rest of the trails are basically slowly descending you back down the parking lot through the woods, so it was definitely easier than the 1st 3rd. Along the way I saw a lot of small lizards and birds. I think it was my 2nd time to see wild woodpeckers. 

The change of scenery from crazy incline to summit views to deep into the woods really make this trail unique and stands out from a lot of other parks around the area. There is also a nice creek, some story-book like old houses and bridges towards the end of the hike, but I failed to take good pictures of them. I'll try harder and share with you next time :)

Trail info

Trail head: close to a small parking lot near 4860 Alpin road, Portola Valley, CA 94028
Difficulty: moderate-difficult, 2000 ft of elevation
Length: 9-mile loop; can be shorten to a 7-mile loop
Condition: dirt/gravel trail; half exposed/shaded
Time: 3.5 - 4 hours
Parking: other than the small parking lot, there are 2 large parking lots, Windy Hill parking lot and one on Skyline blvd.  

The view from the summit

 an old-fashion stone bridge