The purpose of this cache is to introduce you to Coyote Alamitos Canal Park and to point out the adjacent notatrail. Coyote Alamitos Canal Park is an undeveloped San Jose city park that runs along the base of the Santa Teresa Hills. At its upper edge is a notatrail. What's a notatrail? Something that looks like a trail, feels like a trail, smells like a trail, and is often mistaken for a trail, but it's NOT A TRAIL. In this case, it's the Coyote-Alamitos Canal levee. The Coyote-Alamitos Canal was originally built to carry water from Coyote Creek to Alamitos Creek. The canal starts on Tulare Hill above Monterey Highway. The end of the canal can be seen from the Coyote Creek Trail. It circles around Tulare Hill, goes under Santa Teresa Blvd. then continues along the Santa Teresa Hills. It goes through Santa Teresa Park and Santa Teresa Golf Course, then follows the hills, ending at Miracle Mountain Drive. For most of its length, a wide, flat gravel levee road follows along it. There have been talks and studies about turning the canal levee road into a trail, but they've run into roadblocks due to private ownership of parts of the canal and objections by neighbors who live below the canal. This has been a hotly debated issue in the neighborhood. On the one hand, you have people who see the canal as a ready-made recreational resource and a means of connecting existing trails. On the other hand, the neighbors below it oppose it becoming a trail for fear of littering, vandalism, and the loss of privacy. Take a look and see what you think, but you can't use it as a trail. The levee either belongs to private landowners or the Water District. The Water District has maintenance easements throughout the whole canal, but nowhere is it a public trail (not even in Santa Teresa Park). People using the canal levee as a trail are technically trespassing, regardless of how many are doing it. While it's OK to hike around Coyote Alamitos Canal Park, it is not OK to walk on the canal levee. For more information on this complicated issue, see http://www.rhorii.com/SantaTeresaHills/
This cache is near the entrance to the park below the canal. At the top of the park, notice the "No Trespassing" sign. If you go past it, you will technically be trespassing on Water District land. It's not up there anyway. This is a sign-only micro. Bring your own pen. From the top of the park, you can get a nice view of the Santa Teresa Neighborhood.
1/26/07: The original cache got damaged and scattered. Fortunately, a cacher found the remains. I replaced the cache with something tougher, but more conventional. It's a little larger, so it could actually hold very small trading items. Bring your own pen still.
3/14/07: updated the coordinates.
11/10/07: Version 3 replaced version 2, which disappeared, possibly due to park maintenance. The replacement is about the size of film can, longer, but skinnier. Bring a pen. It's still below the canal, so no need to go up there.
6/23/13: the cache disappeared, either muggled or into the bushes. I replaced it a short distance away. The container is smaller and has a different aspect ratio than its predecessor.
1/30/16: The cache disappeared again. I decided to relocate it to the entrance of the park. It's almost accessible from outside the park. Watch out for muggles. Make sure you keep it well-covered.
6/20/18: The cache vanished or got lost. I replaced it with a larger container, containing a pencil. It has room for small trading items.
2/2/23: Replaced the cache a short distance away.