Wildcat Canyon 10-17-14

View from San Pablo Ridge Trail

I've been trying visit most of the larger regional parks, and Wildcat Canyon near Richmond was an obvious one that I hadn't got to yet. That's mostly because it is not the easiest to get to from Hayward. It's not really such a great distance, but it means passing through some of the worst traffic in the area, and I saw plenty of it this morning. I left home a little after 9 am, which I thought would miss the worst of the commute, but ran into barely moving traffic on 580 in Oakland, and got off at High Street to take my chances on surface streets. So I wound through much of Oakland and Berkeley — an interesting tour of lots of funky neighborhoods, but a slow and tedious one. Well over an hour later, I made it to the Alvarado Park Staging Area of Wildcat Regional Park.

I immediately saw that things have changed since I was here around 40 years ago. The entrance road used to continue about a mile and a half up the canyon to a parking area. Now, that road was the trail. Darby and I started off and soon turned left on the Belgum Trail. I soon passed a sign with information about the Belgum Sanitorium that once existed on this hillside. It was established in 1914 by Dr. Hendrik Belgum to treat the mentally and emotionally disturbed. It was housed in a large stucco mansion that had been built earlier. All that remain now are some foundations and some palm trees and other exotic plants. It sounds like it was a rather strange and interesting place.

The trail soon climbed high above the sanitorium site and along a ridge to a junction with the Clark-Boas Trail coming up from El Sobrante, and the San Pablo Ridge Trail. It was all open grassland with great views all around the north bay. It was a cool, mostly overcast day which was good for hiking, but up on the ridge, the cold wind was a bit too much. From the junction, the fire road headed down across the ridge, but a well-worn path led straight up a steep hill. I chose the path to avoid losing elevation, but it was a hard climb. Then, back on the fire road, there was another steep climb up a higher hill. I was slowly making my way up when I was passed by a couple of young women going much faster and making me feel old. Finally a third hill brought us to the Mezue Trail heading down a spur ridge to the right, which took us down to the Wildcat Creek Trail, where we turned right again. It would have been nice to follow a shady trail along the creek, but it stays high up the hillside with no view of the creek at all. After a while the dirt road became a wide paved road, the old access road that I remembered from years ago.

Other than the change in the road, the park was pretty much as I remembered it — steep grassy hills with nice views and little wooded canyons — much like many of the east bay parks.

5.9 miles, 1200 ft. climb

Redwood 10-2-14

Macdonald Trail

Hot weather was forecast for today, so I thought of where I could go hiking where it might be a little cooler. I chose Redwood Regional Park, but I thought I would try some trails that I hadn't been on in many years. I wanted to hike the Macdonald Trail in Anthony Chabot Regional Park from Redwood Road to the top of the hill at Parkridge Drive, a segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail that I had missed in my recent hikes. But I wanted to make a loop out of it, and the only way I could figure that was to walk along Skyline Blvd. for a mile or two until I could get into Redwood Park. After that I could loop around along the Dunn Trail and the west ridge, a part of Redwood that I hadn't seen in many years.

Darby and I started hiking from the Macdonald Staging Area at about 9:30 am, early enough that it was still nice and cool. Actually, it stayed relatively cool all morning, with a nice northerly breeze. The climb up the hill wasn't too hard, and soon we were up on the ridge with some nice views through the trees. We left the park at Parkridge Drive, and walked through several residential blocks to Skyline Blvd. The walk along Skyline was much nicer than you would expect on a major street through a residential neighborhood. It's a divided road with a nice path through the median shaded by big old pine trees all the way.

Skyline Blvd.

At Redwood Road, we followed it east a few feet and then followed a trail past the Skyline Ranch Equestrian Center. Soon we were at the Trudeau Center, the former site of the EBRPD headquarters, and continuing on the Dunn Trail into the park. The trail is signed for off-leash dogs, so we were on the alert for them. We passed a couple of them with no problems because the owners were considerate enough to keep their dogs under control. The trail winds in and out of a number of little ravines with some redwoods, but mostly oak and bay trees. The Baccharis Trail led to the West Ridge Trail, and then we turned off on the Toyon Trail, a single-track leading down off the ridge. I don't think I had ever been on this trail that contours along some very steep wooded slopes. At the bottom, the Golden Spike Trail took us to the Big Bear Staging Area, and then back to our car.

I was a bit tired at the end, but it didn't seem like a particularly hard hike. It felt like maybe 4 or 5 miles, so I was surprised when I looked at the GPS on my phone and it read 7.75 miles. I usually don't look at the distance on my phone until I am done hiking. That way I don't give myself any excuse to feel more tired because of how far I have come. I guess the nice weather and the lack of any really steep hills made it easier.

7.75 miles, 1300 ft. climb