"Rain is a precious gift to humans, to wildlife, and to nature.The next precious gift is a reservoir to catch and conserve it.”
Since the recent atmospheric river storms sent record-breaking billions of gallons off water into the parched reservoirs, Bill and I thought we would ride up to Lexington Reservoir County Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and see for ourselves if it made a difference. While everything looked a lot greener, and the reservoir a bit fuller, experts say, “It wasn’t enough to make a significant dent in the statewide draught." Hopefully, more rain is on the way in the winter months.
Unlike today with the bright blue skies, yesterday the clouds were abundant and slowly moving through in the most playful way as seen in the photos. Lexington Reservoir is an artificial lake on the Los Gatos Creek near Los Gatos. Aside from Bill and I not being affected by the draught as cyclists, neither are the rowers of the Los Gatos Rowing Club on Alma Bridge Road who are always a welcome sight. They offer year-round recreational and competitive rowing programs for middle school and high school students. Many of the alumni have gone on to row at top colleges and several have competed in the Olympics.
The ride initially begins on the Los Gatos Creek Trail a short ride from our homes and continue along the back of downtown Los Gatos and onto a wide gravel path that is immensely popular to dog walkers and hiking enthusiasts. If you a cyclist however, you might want to avoid it during the weekend. There is a short steep climb at the very end of the path that requires some grit and focus and switching the bike into low gear. After leveling out for a bit, there is a short downslope followed by a straight diagonal line about a quarter mile in length before reaching grades around 15 percent. At the top of the climb is the scenic Lexington Reservoir. We decided not to circumnavigate the reservoir as usual which cut our round trip ride from 25 to 18 miles.
Postscript: On the ride back on the Los Gatos Creek Trail, I stopped to take a couple of photos of The Main Street Bridge Mural Project next to the freeway of An Ohlone Indiginous Village including a bear, that was sponsored by the Town of Los Gatos and painted by Volunteers. Wooboi Weary is the Designer/Director
