April in Henry Coe State Park shows a stunning display of wildflowers. With four companion backpackers we counted about 80 flowering plants on a 6-day trip from the Coe headquarters to Coit Lake, Missippi Lake and back to the park entrance. This was new territory for me, but the 87,000 acres park provided a variety of ecosystems from grasslands, oak woodland, chapparal and many acres recovering from the 2007 Lick fire. Visibility was good enough to afford a distant view of the snow-capped Sierras. Pachecho Falls was stunning with multi-level cascades of water dropping into round emerald pools. Cougar prints in dried mud teased us, but wildlife viewing was restricted to an angry rattlesnake, rabbits, turkeys and a variety of song birds. Until our last night camping at Poverty Flats we saw very few people, even though this park is little more than an hour from San Jose. (photos by Bob Early)
