Fort Ord, here in the Monterey area, is no longer an active Millitary base, as it once was, but does still support some Millitary activity such as the exchange where my son Clayton shops.
For those that live near me in Massachusetts, Fort Ord is like Fort Devens. They both have sections closed off to the public and support some ongoing Millitary/Federal activities. The difference is that Ft Ord has set asside 14,650 acres with 86 miles of trails, jointly managed between the Army and BLM (Bureau Of Land Management)
Our hike starts at the Badger Hills Trail Head on the Monterey-Salinas Road (CA68), closer to Salinas than Monterey
There is plenty of parking and bathrooms at the trailhead.
The trail we took heads west then south along the Toro Riverbed from the parking lot, and then up hill to the Skyline road, along the ridge going east, then down and around Oil Well a road to Toro Creak Road until you arrive back at the parking lot.
As you get to the bottom it is deceiving that you should be arriving back at your car but the trail takes you along side a housing area and school for over a mile before you get to your car. Here we met mothers pushing baby carriages as this section is relatively level.
After leaving the lower area of the parking lot the trail, as you can see is a gravel road, climbed steeply towards the ridge.
We met walkers with dogs, hikers, horseback riders, joggers, and mountain bike riders on the trail.
For nearly the whole trip views are unobstructed by trees and there are limited places for some shade.
There are a number of places to sit and enjoy the view at nicely spaced park bench seating like this one along the Skyline Road.
This is one of the better shade trees along the way and is just about at the halfway mark. It's a good spot for a rest and/or snack and you keep an eye across the way you may see others on the trail, although they are far away and are only small spots that move.
This tree is also is just about the highest spot on the loop and the rest of the hike, although a good distance to go (about 3 miles) is nearly all down hill.
Some of the ground cover is flowering.
There is Salinas off in the distance as we head down hill.
In addition to the roads that are used as trails, there are a few path trails that you can take as well.
It was a good hike for a workout and burning off our French Cafe lunch we had in Monterey.
The hike covered 6.17 miles and it had a 738 ft elevation gain.
Check out this track on AllTrails:
http://alltrails.com/tracks/mon-23-feb-2015-23-08?utm_campaign=mobile-iphone
Brent
macaloney@hotmail.com
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