6-27-13 Coyote Hills

I finally checked the Trails Challenge website again, and found the online booklet listing the hikes. I wanted to try one of them today. Since it was predicted to be hot, I wanted someplace close to the bay. I settled on Coyote Hills because I hadn't been there in a long time and I could combine the trip with one to a camera store in Palo Alto. I lost my camera a couple of weeks ago and want to start looking for a replacement. Actually to say I lost it is not quite accurate, because I think I know what happened to it. We were in the Big Sur area, and we stopped at Pfeiffer Beach. We didn't stay long because it was extremely windy. Darby took a dip in the lagoon, so when we got back to the car, I think I set my camera on the car roof to free my hands to dry him off. I must have forgotten it when we drove off.

As I was getting ready to leave for Coyote Hills, Maureen said she thought dogs were not allowed there. I looked it up again on the Trails Challenge information, and it showed that dogs were OK. We parked at the visitor center and walked back on the trail beside the road to the entrance kiosk. At the start of the Chochenyo Trail, there was a sign showing no dogs. There happened to be a park employee stopped there, so I asked him about it. He said if the Trails Challenge booklet says dogs are OK, then maybe it is OK, and he would talk to his manager. So we set out on the trail, keeping Darby on the leash. After a short ways, I could see a bunch of white birds on a marsh island. We got a closer look and they were white pelicans, a big flock huddled close together. We looped around the marsh area without getting into trouble for having a dog, and got on the paved bike trail that circles the hills, the Bayview Trail. It is a nearly level trail, so covering the mileage is quite easy. It was warm but not too uncomfortable, with a little breeze off the bay. It was a very clear day and it was nice to be out in the dry grass hills with expansive views all around. Darby kept looking at the water in salt ponds a short distance below, and I finally put him on the leash again to keep him from running down there. There's no way he would know that the water is no good. Around the south end of the trail, we found a water fountain, and he filled up.

It turned out to be a nice way to spend a morning, and I got to go look at a few cameras too. I didn't intend to buy anything today, I just wanted to get a salesman's opinion on what to look for. I'm going to do more research online before I decide.

4.9 miles, 300 ft. climb

6-21-13 Sunol

A couple of months ago I heard about the Regional Parks Trails Challenge. It didn't sound like my kind of thing except for the promise of a free t-shirt. I could use a new t-shirt, so I checked it out. At first I was just curious about what trails they listed for the challenge, but the website won't let you see the trails until you register and wait a couple of weeks. I thought that maybe instead of waiting, I could go to one of the part visitor centers listed and ask someone about it. One of them was at Sunol, so I decided to go there and I might as well do a hike while I was there. I thought maybe it wouldn't be open on a weekday, so I looked at the EBRDPD website and all it said was that it was closed on Thanksgiving.

So I arrive at the park, and the visitor center is all locked up and there's no one around. I had been thinking of hiking to Maguire Peaks, a pretty long hike, but it was a hot day, and I didn't feel that energetic. Instead, Darby and I hiked the Canyon View Trail to Little Yosemite. It starts off with a steep climb for the first half mile or so, and we were soon quite hot and tired. As the trail levels off and bends around the shoulder of a ridge, we could hear running water in the canyon below, and Darby kept veering off the trail and trying to head for it down some very steep slopes. I put him on the leash to keep him with me and we made it down to the trail junction at Little Yosemite. We could hear some young guys down among the rocks, spashing around and making a lot of noise. I took Darby down to the water a little below them. He enjoyed wading around and drinking his fill.

I had intended to finish the hike by going down the gravel road, but we found a fence across it and a sign saying that the area was closed because of the construction of the new Calaveras Dam. So we reluctantly headed back the way we had come, climbing a couple hundred feet back up out of the canyon. We passed a young couple, and as we passed the woman said "Mr. Newey!". It was Marissa, a friend who we had known for quite a few years because of our horses. I didn't expect to see her on foot. She is a very talented young woman who is home for summer vacation while going to veterinary school in Dublin, Ireland. On our way back we passed several other groups of young people who appeared to be on their way to play in the water. There were a couple of teen-age girls hiking in skimpy bikinis. I didn't tell them that although the creek was running, there wasn't a whole lot of water there.

3.5 miles, 800 ft. climb

6-10-13 Anthony Chabot

After a very hot Saturday, it cooled down Sunday, and by today, Monday it was quite cool and cloudy. On the morning news, they even said there may be thundershowers today. I didn't sound too promising for a hike, but I wanted to get out a bit anyway. As it turned out, the weather got nicer in the afternoon. So I finally got myself moving about 11:30, and Darby and I drove to Anthony Chabot and parked at Bort Meadow.

I had a couple of ideas. One was to hike the Macdonald Trail north, which is part of the Skyline Trail and Bay Area Ridge Trail. The other was to check out The Grass Valley Trail and Ranch Trail, which I hadn't been on. As we started out, I was still undecided, but after a few feet up the Macdonald Trail, I changed my mind and we went down the Grass Valley Trail instead. I started a GPS track on my phone because I suspected that the trail alignment shown on the park map was not correct. After walking about a mile up the valley, I stopped to take a photo with the phone. Apparently doing that stopped the GPS track, but I didn't find that out until later. Still, I can see that the map is not accurate because it shows the trail going high on the east side of the valley, while in reality it stays close to the creek until it crosses it. Then it switchbacks steeply up the west side hill.

We turned left on the Goldenrod Trail, a fire road that winds along up and down just below the crest of the ridge. Although it is quite near the houses along Skyline Blvd, they are mostly out of sight, and it feels more remote than it is. After a while we came to a junction with the Buckeye Trail, which could have taken us back to Bort Meadow, but I wasn't ready to head back yet. After quite a bit more winding in and out and up and down, we came to the Chabot Equestrian Center. As a horse owner, I was a bit curious about these facilities, and it looked like a pretty nice setup. We continued on along the trail, expecting to see another trail heading down toward Bort Meadow. We had probably gone about another half mile when I began to get the feeling that we had missed that trail. I stopped and looked at my position on Google maps on my phone, and although it doesn't show the trails, I was pretty sure that we had missed it. We backtracked to the equestrian center, and I asked directions of a woman leading her horse. She pointed out the trail which leaves right from the driveway of the center without any signs identifying it. So we headed down the Horseshoe Trail, and soon we were back in the valley and back to our car.

Since the GPS quit on my phone, I don't have any measurement of distance or elevation, but I would guess it was about 5 miles, 600-800 ft. of climbing.