Herewith I multiblog. Or lazily blog. But multiblog sounds a whole lot better. Anyhow -
First there was the ride up Tartan Trail. Actually, it went to a variety of other places too, but attacking the Torture Trail again grabbed my imagination. The last time I tried it I was left a quivering wreck, or suchlike, and I was hoping that I'd improved.
I think that I did, or at least the evil thing didn't feel nearly as long as the only other time I'd tried it. And since I've been afraid to tackle it again, that's good. I did get snookered by the relatively easy part in the middle, thinking that I was done with it, but nooooo....
The next day Eric and I thought we'd check out the south part of Skyline, so we headed out from his place bright and fairly early and climbed Page. Nice thing about doing that early is that you avoid the main problem of climbing Page Mill which is that the steepest parts have no shade, hence are hot. We had a nice trip south on Skyline and then climbed up as far as Castle Rock, which is as high as you can go anyhow. The best thing was that the downhill from Castle Rock to Saratoga Gap was fast and fun, and our downhill on 9 as far as Redwood Gulch was certainly the best we've had there. Not at all annoying as it has been the other times we've done it. The Gulch is much too steep to be convenient shortcut, though, even in the downhill direction. Makes you feel like you're going to flip over.
Anyhow, if you've read this far, I can tell you about my adventures in Saratoga and Los Gatos, and the quest for the secret passage therein. Actually, it was two hitherto unfound-by-me connections that I set out to explore on Sunday. The first one was a bit I was pretty sure was there, even though I'd never noticed it before. That was the connection I surmised between the top of Mt. Eden and Pierce, ending up across the road from Sarahills. It's a road you'd never notice unless you were looking for it, especially as normally you'd be already into a fast descent by then.
What you have to do is take the first left as you descend, even though it's got a big Not a Through Street sign, and even though you go right from a fast downhill to a steep uphill.
Then the reward is plummeting right down after that, and hoping that there really is a way through down below, else you have to climb a really really steep hill back up.
Fortunately, there is a gate at the bottom, which leads into a very short stretch of road ending up on Quarry Drive, I think it is, connecting to Pierce.
and the other end looks like this:
Once past that, you can see this across the street:
which is both evil and something that I didn't climb. Instead I went through the Maze to get through Saratoga, though I did feel obliged to climb this - 
as atonement. Seems unfair. Before I knew about Sarahills, I couldn't feel like a lamer for avoiding climbing it. Alas for my lost innocence.
Now it was time for my big exploration, the route I believed I'd found from Saratoga to Los Gatos without needing to ride along 9. I'd been part of the way, but no one that I've talked to believed that it was possible to go further without heading back onto 9. The map seemed clearly to prove them wrong, and I'd scribbled enough street names and turns to hopefully find my way.
The first turnoff was here, one of many streets marked as Not a Through Street.
Soon after this, climbing begins, and continues for some time. At some point you come to the first sign that tells you not to use this road, and then a few miles later (and even more climbing) this one: 
I was in an irrational enough mood that I felt
determined to continue nevertheless, as I'd gone to the trouble to plan the route, and I kept on climbing, expecting to be shot (or chastised) (or something, anyway) at any moment. I actually turned around a couple times, but each time I saw a jogger, and that kind of deflated the whole menace thing. Soon after
this, though, the road got even narrower, right at its apex, and went alarmingly close to a
residence that seemed to contain an extremely upset and large dog. At this point I became uncertain as to whether the road ahead went through or turned into a driveway, and the dog reduced my enthusiasm for finding out. No joggers came by this time, so I chickened out and turned back.
First there was the ride up Tartan Trail. Actually, it went to a variety of other places too, but attacking the Torture Trail again grabbed my imagination. The last time I tried it I was left a quivering wreck, or suchlike, and I was hoping that I'd improved.
I think that I did, or at least the evil thing didn't feel nearly as long as the only other time I'd tried it. And since I've been afraid to tackle it again, that's good. I did get snookered by the relatively easy part in the middle, thinking that I was done with it, but nooooo....
The next day Eric and I thought we'd check out the south part of Skyline, so we headed out from his place bright and fairly early and climbed Page. Nice thing about doing that early is that you avoid the main problem of climbing Page Mill which is that the steepest parts have no shade, hence are hot. We had a nice trip south on Skyline and then climbed up as far as Castle Rock, which is as high as you can go anyhow. The best thing was that the downhill from Castle Rock to Saratoga Gap was fast and fun, and our downhill on 9 as far as Redwood Gulch was certainly the best we've had there. Not at all annoying as it has been the other times we've done it. The Gulch is much too steep to be convenient shortcut, though, even in the downhill direction. Makes you feel like you're going to flip over.
Anyhow, if you've read this far, I can tell you about my adventures in Saratoga and Los Gatos, and the quest for the secret passage therein. Actually, it was two hitherto unfound-by-me connections that I set out to explore on Sunday. The first one was a bit I was pretty sure was there, even though I'd never noticed it before. That was the connection I surmised between the top of Mt. Eden and Pierce, ending up across the road from Sarahills. It's a road you'd never notice unless you were looking for it, especially as normally you'd be already into a fast descent by then.
What you have to do is take the first left as you descend, even though it's got a big Not a Through Street sign, and even though you go right from a fast downhill to a steep uphill.
Then the reward is plummeting right down after that, and hoping that there really is a way through down below, else you have to climb a really really steep hill back up.
Fortunately, there is a gate at the bottom, which leads into a very short stretch of road ending up on Quarry Drive, I think it is, connecting to Pierce.and the other end looks like this:
Once past that, you can see this across the street: which is both evil and something that I didn't climb. Instead I went through the Maze to get through Saratoga, though I did feel obliged to climb this - as atonement. Seems unfair. Before I knew about Sarahills, I couldn't feel like a lamer for avoiding climbing it. Alas for my lost innocence.Now it was time for my big exploration, the route I believed I'd found from Saratoga to Los Gatos without needing to ride along 9. I'd been part of the way, but no one that I've talked to believed that it was possible to go further without heading back onto 9. The map seemed clearly to prove them wrong, and I'd scribbled enough street names and turns to hopefully find my way.
The first turnoff was here, one of many streets marked as Not a Through Street.
Soon after this, climbing begins, and continues for some time. At some point you come to the first sign that tells you not to use this road, and then a few miles later (and even more climbing) this one: I was in an irrational enough mood that I felt
determined to continue nevertheless, as I'd gone to the trouble to plan the route, and I kept on climbing, expecting to be shot (or chastised) (or something, anyway) at any moment. I actually turned around a couple times, but each time I saw a jogger, and that kind of deflated the whole menace thing. Soon after
this, though, the road got even narrower, right at its apex, and went alarmingly close to a
residence that seemed to contain an extremely upset and large dog. At this point I became uncertain as to whether the road ahead went through or turned into a driveway, and the dog reduced my enthusiasm for finding out. No joggers came by this time, so I chickened out and turned back.When I got to Los Gatos, I decided to recon my route from the other end to see if I could determine the limits of the private section. I saw such mysterious sights as this 
bridge, but ultimately made a wrong turn and ended up on a section of road that legitimately dead-ended at a cluster of houses. However, turning around I did get this nice view - so it wasn't all in vain. I came back via a little cruise around download Los Gatos and then via a flat route to
home, having done more than enough of my share of climbing for the day. So I guess there is a route where I thought, but it's pretty obvious why nobody goes that way. Such is life.
bridge, but ultimately made a wrong turn and ended up on a section of road that legitimately dead-ended at a cluster of houses. However, turning around I did get this nice view - so it wasn't all in vain. I came back via a little cruise around download Los Gatos and then via a flat route to home, having done more than enough of my share of climbing for the day. So I guess there is a route where I thought, but it's pretty obvious why nobody goes that way. Such is life.
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