On a warm Saturday afternoon, I only had a couple of hours free for a hike, so I didn't want to drive too far. Darby and I went to the south entrance of Garin Park at Mission Blvd. and Whipple Ave. (which is really Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park, but it all runs together as a single park). This time, at the first fork, we went right, leading to the Tolman Peak Trail which goes up the South Fork of Dry Creek.
There were a bunch of cattle hanging out right on the trail, but they didn't pay much attention to us. The few that were right on the trail slowly moved aside for us. I was surprised to see that one of them was a bull. He didn't have horns, and he wasn't at all interested in us as we passed by just a few feet away. Darby was perfectly behaved, and just quietly walked along beside me. We often go out on Garin trails with the horses and Darby runs along behind. He has learned that he should leave the cattle alone and he is pretty good about it now.
The trail is pretty easy for a mile and a half or so, a wide grassy valley at first, then becoming a narrow canyon. Darby ran off the trail to the nearby creek, and I thought he wanted a drink, but he bounded up the far bank and stopped, staring through a fence. There in a little clearing were three little pigs. There are lots of wild pigs throughout the hills of California, but I don't see them often. More commonly, I just see the dug-up earth around oak trees where they root for acorns. These little guys were quite young and as soon as they saw Darby, they scattered into the brush. Luckily, he didn't chase them. I suppose mama was probably not far away, and she might get defensive.
The fire road ends and a single-track trail turns left, and climbs steeply up the hillside. This last half mile was quite a killer. Even plodding along very slowly, I still needed to stop for a couple of short rests. We came out of the woods and onto the grassy hilltop that is Tolman Peak. It's really hardly a peak at all, just a bump on a spur ridge coming down from the main Walpert Ridge. But it is near the park boundary, so you can't legally go much higher.
Now on a fire road again, we started back down along the ridge, with great views down over the lower hills to Union City and the bay. Back down into the valley, we completed the loop and retraced our outbound route. I was quite ready for the hike to be done with. It was a longer and steeper hike than I remembered.
5.5 mi. -- 1350 ft. up and down
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