Sunol 1-30-15

on the McCorkle Trail

The day started out foggy, but by noon it was beautifully clear and sunny, so after lunch, Darby and I headed to Sunol. My idea was to hike something like the route I took about 3 years ago when we got soaked by a rainstorm that started halfway through the hike. I've been trying to avoid duplication of trails in this blog, but finding new ones without a long drive is getting harder to do. So, although I've already covered most of this route, I'm just going to do it again because it is one of my favorite places. The part that I especially wanted to see was the eastern area of the park -- the backpacking camps and the McCorkle Trail.

The last time I hiked to the Little Yosemite area, the road along Alameda Creek was closed because of construction work on the Calaveras Dam. As today was a Friday, there was no one at the Visitor Center to ask, so I assumed that the road was still closed and we started out on the Canyon View Trail instead. Looking at the park map, I see that this trail is described as having a "gentle rise in elevation". It is true that it only climbs a few hundred feet, but the first part of the trail is uncomfortably steep before it levels off along the hillside. At the Cerro Este Road which leads down to Little Yosemite, we crossed it and continued on the Canyon View Trail, which joins the Camp Ohlone Road a little further on. It was great weather for hiking -- a little cool but clear and sunny. I noticed lots of woodpeckers flitting about in the oak trees. The hills were still nice and green, but just starting to look a bit dry again after a month of no rain. The creek was still running pretty good from the December rains. Above Little Yosemite, the creekbed is a lovely wide area of gravel and big old sycamores.

We turned left on the Backpack Road which climbs up into a pretty little valley with a large rugged rock jutting out of its center. Then we turned left on the McCorkle Trail which gradually climbs around the head of the valley and across the hillside. I was thinking that this would be a nice area to be spending the night in a backpacking camp. I've never camped here, but maybe someday I could talk my grandkids into it. Finally, I reached the junction with the Cerro Este Road. Last time I came this way, I continued up over the ridge at Cerro Este, but today I felt like I had had enough climbing. Besides, the sun was getting low, and I wanted to head for home.

At this point, I got a bit confused, and wished I had a park map with me. I didn't bring one with me because I figured I knew all of these trails by heart, but sometimes my memory isn't as good as I think it is. I knew that there was an old road that headed down this ridge to the west, but I wasn't sure just where it was. I knew about this road because I remember hiking on it the first time I ever came to Sunol. That was in the mid-50s before there was a park here. My uncle, John Bruce, a biology teacher as San Ramon Valley High School, had heard about the future park, and took our families out here to check it out. We hiked way up this ridge and enjoyed the views. I remember finding a tarantula along the way.

off-trail on the ridge

I probably should have turned left on the Cerro Este Road, but instead I headed cross-country over the brow of the ridge. The hillside became very steep for a long way down, and I had to step carefully to keep from slipping down. It seems that I'm not as agile as I once was. We finally came to the road and from there it was much easier going back to the Canyon View Trail. Later, at home, I was still curious about the road down the ridge that I remembered. The park map doesn't show anything there, but the USGS topo does, and a faint track shows up on satellite photos. I guess my memory is not as bad as I thought, but somehow I lost it. I think it was because there were a few cattle there and we swung wide around to avoid distrubing them.

It was a very good hike -- beautiful place, beautiful weather, and not really too hard.

6.1 miles, 1600 ft. climb