It had been nine months since the three of us had done a moonlight hike, so it was nice
to have an opportunity to get together on a cold evening with a nearly full moon. To
make a somewhat short outing of it, I picked a summit with about 5 miles hiking,
roundtrip near Gilroy. We had been to the area on several previous occasions. Canada
Road winds through the Diablo hills from Gilroy, eventually joining with Gilroy
Hotsprings Rd at Coyote Creek and the southwest corner of Henry Coe State Park. Before
reaching this point, Canada Rd meets at a junction with Jamieson Rd in a small valley to
the south. This quiet valley is home to several ranches and associated homes. After
hopping a gate along the road, we hiked up a series of ranch roads that follow the ridge
for several miles, crossing a couple of property boundaries. The views were open for the
entire hike, eventually taking in the city lights of Gilroy and Holister as well as
parts of SR152 as it makes its way past Casa de Fruta enroute to Pacheco Pass. Steve had
brought a bottle of wine which we shared at the summit, though it was a bit too cold out
to enjoy it comfortably. In all we spent about two hours on the hike.