The other day I parked at the Coyote Creek Lake parking lot and walked south over the Metcalfe bridge. The paved trail is part of the Ridge Trail and also part of the National Recreational Trail system. You can bike all the way to Morgan Hill. A few more steps after the bridge you’ll see a plaque on the right. Covered in dirt, but still visible are 0 and 1s. On closer inspection the words Santa Clara Valley appear on top of the binary code.
I found the Tamienne Monument, or, as some websites also call it, The Center of Santa Clara Valley. This marker is not monumental at all. The plaque can be overlooked. The binary hints to Silicon Valley, the Tamienne reference suggests a misspelling of the Tamyen people who once lived in the Valley.
There is no acknowledgement of the creator and it is not listed in the public art repository of San Jose. For the binary it is less mysterious, I can spoil this for you:
Binary – Hex – ACSII char
01010011 – 53 – S
01100001 – 61 – a
01101110 – 6E – n
01110100 – 74 – t
01100001 – 61 – a
00100000 – 20 – ” ” (space)
01000011 – 43 – C
01101100 – 6C – l
01100001 – 61 – a
01110010 – 72 – r
01100001 – 61 – a
00100000 – 20 – ” ” (space)
01010110 – 56 – V
01100001 – 61 – a
01101100 – 6C – l
01101100 – 6C – l
01100101 – 65 – e
01111001 – 79 – y
What do you know about the Center of Santa Clara Valley?
If you like to bike around San Jose, the Three Creeks Trail in San Jose is another option.
Resources:
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM9AJ5_Geographic_Center_of_Santa_Clara_Valley_California
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_Creek_Trail
https://www.americantrails.org/resources/coyote-creek-trail-san-jose-trail-network-california