Sunol 9-16-14

Another Tuesday morning hike. I'm thinking that I should keep trying new places — at least new to me in the last few years, so I choose Mission Peak. It seems that I have been avoiding the place because I know that it is a pretty big climb to the top, and there is not much shade on the trail. I think maybe I'm ready for it today. So Darby and I drive to the Stanford Ave. Staging area in Fremont. Most Regional Parks are nearly deserted on weekdays, so it is quite a surprise to find the parking lot completely full and all of the nearby streets all parked up for blocks around. Something must be going on that I don't know about, but I don't feel like dealing with crowds, so I change plans and we drive to Sunol Regional Wilderness.

When I got home from the hike, I looked on-line and found out about Mission Peak. It seems that sometime recently, people started posting selfies on Facebook of themselves on the peak. Now, it has become an internet phenomenon, and hundreds of people are climbing Mission Peak every day to take their selfies. They have to line up at the summit to get to the pole for their shots. It is becoming a major problem for the park district. I guess that it is good that people are getting outdoors and getting some exercise, but it has become really crazy. It seems especially crazy that while all this is going on, I can drive a few minutes over the hill to Sunol, a wilder and more beautiful place in my opinion, and be the only one on the trail all day.

Sunol was deserted when we got there except for a couple of people doing maintenance work on the Visitor Center. We started off up the Indian Joe Creek Trail, one of my favorites. It winds up a tight little canyon shaded by maples and sycamores. After a while, it climbs steeply, and passes the Indian Joe Cave Rocks, a pile of basalt boulders that are great for a bit of climbing. I pass on the scrambling, though, and just concentrate on getting myself up the trail. By this time we have gained over 1000 ft. We turned right on the Cave Rocks Road, climbed some more, and then left on the Eagle View Road to the Eagle View Trail. After crossing a steep little ravine, the single-track trail contours across a very steep brushy hillside to the Vista Grande Overlook, the high point of the hike. By this time, the day was pretty warm, and Darby and I were both beat. We enjoyed the far-reaching views for a few minutes and then started down the Vista Grande Road which follows the crest of the sharp ridge. I remembered coming down this ridge in the spring a few years ago when it was beautifully carpeted with poppies. It was quite dry and dead today. We greatly appreciated finding running water at the faucet at High Valley Camp, and continued down the Hayfield Road back to our car.

Indian Joe Creek Trail

Indian Joe Cave Rocks

On Cave Rocks Road

Eagle View Trail

 I was quite worn out and Darby appeared to be too. On days like today, when he gets home he crashes on the floor and doesn't move the rest of the day. But it was really a nice hike with changes of scenery at every turn -- shady canyons, rocks, open hills with far off views. That's why I like to keep coming back to Sunol.

5.4 miles, 1400 ft. climb

Sunol 9-9-14

Maguire Peaks from Loop Trail

Seems that Tuesday hikes are becoming a regular thing. Maureen's horseback riding lesson means that I generally have the day free. I hadn't been to Sunol for a while, but I wanted to do something new, so I thought of the Maguire Peaks Trail. I had hiked it about 40 years ago, but my memories of that are pretty dim now. I do remember it as being a pretty long hike, and when I looked at the map I saw that it would be about 10 miles from the park headquarters. That sounded much longer than I had the energy for, but then I looked closer and saw that the park map showed a parking symbol on Welch Creek Road. Years ago, parking was not allowed anywhere on this road, but apparently, now it was permitted. The note on the map said that a permit would be needed, available at park headquarters. Starting from this road would cut the hiking distance by nearly half, so I set out to try it.

It was foggy when I left Hayward, but over the hill it was all sunny. Luckily, the day stayed relatively cool making the hiking much more enjoyable. Welch Creek Road is a steep winding one-lane road which is a bit scary to drive, and mostly with no shoulders, but I found a place to pull off about 100 yards above the start of the trail. Darby and I started off up the trail, a fire road climbing steeply out of the canyon. We passed what appeared to be the site of a former ranch, judging from the trees that didn't belong there — eucalyptus and redwoods. The redwoods were tall dead snags, victims of a fire. We kept climbing over a ridge and down into a little valley where a road branched left, so we turned on it. It soon became a single-track trail, and I realized that we must have made a wrong turn. But there was a trail marker, so we continued on. We passed through a group of cows with young calves lying in the grass nearby, and several of the cows started bellowing and coming after us. Undoubtedly they felt that their calves were threatened. I've never been attacked by a cow, so I was not really concerned, and we just kept walking past them and soon they went back to grazing.

On the north side of the peaks

We joined the correct trail again, and continued on the fire road around the west side of the peaks. The road climbed to a ridge with a great view of Sunol Valley and San Antonio Reservoir, and we sat on a bench for a few minutes to rest. A couple of guys appeared hiking the other direction. They said that they had started at the park headquarters, a long hike, but they looked pretty fit. We continued on down across the north side of the peaks, and finally around the east side to finish the loop. I noticed in several places patches of yellow-flowered tarweed, and its distinctive sweet aroma, something that I always enjoy about this season. The climb back over the first ridge was tiring, but no too bad, and we made it back to the car in pretty good shape. I usually use the gps on my iphone when I hike, and I did use it today, but I forgot to turn it off, so it read 29 miles when I got home — not very useful. Fortunately, the park map shows mileages for the trails.

Southeast of the peaks

It turned out to be a very nice hike, and it seemed to be a good place to get away from it all. It seems that this part of the park does not get a lot of use, especially on a weekday.

5.5 miles, 1300 ft. climb.

Tilden 9-2-14

Seaview Trail

On the day after Labor Day, I was expecting more hot weather because the last couple of days had been quite hot, but the TV weather said it would be cooler. A hike in the Berkeley Hills where the fog tends to linger would probably be cool, so I headed for Tilden. I knew that I would likely run into lots of dogs, so I left Darby at home. It turned out to be a lot cooler than I expected.
Tilden is one of the oldest parks in the East Bay. I have fond memories of family picnics under eucalyptus trees back when I was barely able to remember anything, in the late '40s and early '50s. The park was and is filled with features like a golf course, merry-go-round, swimming area, pony rides, and a little steam train ride. Throughout the park there is stonework that was built by the CCC in the 30s. The developed areas are all along the valley of Wildcat Creek, and when you get away from the creek, up along the ridges on either side, the park is still surprisingly wild considering that it is just over the hill from Berkeley.

Driving from Hayward around mid-morning, it was all overcast, but when I got up into the hills, I found dense fog. My plan was to do a loop around the ridges around the headwaters of Wildcat Creek starting from somewhere near Lake Anza, so I parked at the Brook picnic area just below the lake. I crossed the creek and started up the Curran Trail, then turned right on the Seaview Trail. Soon I was up in the fog again, and it was a wild scene with wisps of fog racing over the ridge against the dark trees. I had forgotten what a pretty trail this is with lots of big old Monterey Pines along it. I noticed that in many places the ground was damp and muddy, and the grass bright green, surprising because most of the east bay hills are dry as a bone right now. There has been no rain, but the fog has been condensing on the trees and dripping on the ground. It is the same process that keeps the coastal Redwood forests so green.

Vollmer Peak from Seaview Trail

 As I reached a high point on the ridge, the sun broke through and revealed distant views to the northeast, but the view to the west was still all fog. After dipping down a bit, the trail climbed again toward Vollmer Peak, the highest point of the Berkeley Hills. I turned right on the Vollmer Peak Trail which contoured around below the peak and then brought me down to cross South Park Drive. I didn't feel the need to reach the top. As I remember, it is just a flat area with lots of antennas. I found the gravel road leading to the Gillespie Group Camp, and a bicyclist stopped me and asked if it led to the Grizzly Peak Trail. I answered yes, and then as he disappeared down the road, I realized that with his skinny tires he wasn't a mountain biker, and he was looking for Grizzly Peak Blvd. I felt sorry for directing him down a dead-end road.

I turned off on the Grizzly Peak Trail, a single-track that climbed steeply a short distance and then leveled off along the hillside below Grizzly Peak. I was headed back to the northwest and it would be mostly downhill from here, so I coasted along at a steady pace. Fog was still hanging over the ridge so I was in and out of sun. The trail was not as scenic as the one on the other ridge, going through woods and cut through dense brush. After a while, I was looking down on the green grass of the golf course, and passing just below residences on the hill above. I was getting tired of walking and my feet were getting a bit sore. After crossing Golf Course Road, I didn't see any trail signs, so I just followed a rough path straight ahead. That turned out to be the Selby Trail, which I followed all the way down to Lake Anza, although there were a couple of unmarked road crossings that were confusing. Luckily, I guessed right every time. The lake was nearly deserted. On warm summer weekends, it can be packed with swimmers, but today there was only one. After a steep scramble down a dirt hillside below the dam, I was back at the car.

Lake Anza

 This turned out to be a very enjoyable hike. I especially liked the part along San Pablo Ridge with the blowing fog. I was surprised when I looked at the gps app on my phone and saw that I had gone more than seven miles. It didn't feel like that far. I think the cool weather had a lot to do with that. Several of my recent hikes have been considerably shorter than this one, but seemed a lot harder, and I think it was mostly because they were on hot days in the hills further east.

7.2 miles, 1550 ft. climb.