Geocaching while hiking—and vice versa

These are a couple of my favorite things to do: walk/hike and geocache. Yesterday three of us went out to Pacheco State Park, on the Santa Clara/Merced County border; today a somewhat different three of us went to Coyote Lake–Harvey Bear Ranch County Park, in a different part of Santa Clara County (it's a big county). In each place we hiked some 8–10 miles and did some geocaching.

The caches for the most part weren't especially remarkable. But the places were glorious in their springtime green, and wildflowers were (subtly) popping. The weather was perfect, and we could see vast distances—from Pacheco, all the way to the Sierra Nevada in the east and Mt. Umunhum in the west. Here are some photos I took.

First, Pacheco State Park, once a Mexican land grant and still used to graze cattle; it is also home to a pretty impressive wind farm and is bordered by a major reservoir (click to view larger):

There in the distance is San Luis Reservoir—
and even farther, the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada

Someone gave this cow skull some gussied-up antlers

And here is Coyote-Harvey:

The newly leafing oaks (not sure what kind)
were glorious!

Looking west

Happened to spot this nest hidden in the grass—
western meadowlark is our guess

And here is proof of the geocaching part of the adventure—David and Alastair (aka FifiBonacci and Mimring) going literally above and beyond:

Above

Chuckles

Beyond

Teamwork!

It was a couple of really nice days, in good company. And now: I will rest.