Rancho Cañada del Oro

I'd registered and planned to ride the Tour de Menlo today, but lost my enthusiasm for the event after last-minute adjustments to the route (poor planning on their part). I opted, instead, to join a friend who invited me to tag along on a hike she'd organized for some coworkers.

The main parking lot at Rancho Cañada del Oro had filled up, diverting a few of us to an upper (overflow) parking lot.

We warmed up with a stroll on the Llagas Creek Loop Trail; there were signs for an organized run on the trails today, but even the stragglers must have finished before we got going.

We continued by following the Mayfair Ranch Trail (mostly uphill) to the Longwall Canyon Trail (mostly downhill).

The Open Space Authority doesn't seem to share anything about the history of this place, but I did find a source that reported it was once the site of a walnut orchard. I didn't notice any remnants of that, but it's likely they'd been cultivated in a flatter section of the preserve.

Six miles of hilly terrain exercised some under-utilized muscles, and collegial conversation broadened some horizons, too.