A week and a half after hiking at Sunol I had another free day and I decided to go back and try the Welch-Flag Hill Trail that I had noticed on the map last time. This time the weather was cooler and felt like I could handle a bit more climbing. My plan was to find some place to park on Welch Creek Road and start hiking from there. The only problem with that is that the park doesn't allow parking on the road without a permit. It's a one-lane road with no shoulders and very few places where it would even be possible to park if it were allowed. But on most weekdays the park is very lightly used and there are no rangers around, so I figured that I could probably get away with breaking the rules a bit.
First, I drove a short distance up Welch Creek Road just to check out the beginning of the trail and see if there was room to park. About a quarter mile up I saw an unmarked gate on the right. Parking looked possible but not welcoming because of a ditch and a pile of logs in the way, so I turned around and went back down to near the start of the road where there was plenty of room on the shoulder.
Hiking back up the road made me a bit nervous because the road is so narrow that it would be difficult to get out of the way if a car came by. Luckily, none did. Once through the gate and on the trail, I relaxed and enjoyed climbing a little oak wooded canyon. I noticed a lot of bumps and hollows along the way that were probably the result of old landslides. This whole area near the mouth of Welch Creek has some wild topography — very steep rocky hillsides rising from the valley that is the track of the Calaveras Fault. Soon the canyon opened up and then the trail climbed steeply up the nose of a ridge overlooking another steep little canyon which opens up into a valley. Soon there is a trail junction with the Flag Hill Loop Trail.
Looking back, a sign informs me that the "Welsh to Flag Hill Trail" terminates at the road and that I will have to return to Flag Hill. Obviously, they don't want people using the road as a trailhead as I did. By the way, I noticed that all of the signs along the way spelled Welsh with an "s", as in "someone from Wales", while on the map it is spelled with a "c". I turned left and continued up another steep ridge and then around the head of the valley. I came out on the ridge of Flag Hill a little below the summit, and enjoyed the big view over the central part of the park. Soon I was at the cliffs that I had seen on my previous hike, and cautiously approached the edge to take a photo. I generally like being on high places, but when it is a sheer drop off, I suddenly get very uncomfortable near the edge. I settled for a shot from a couple of feet back. The trail then continued down the ridge and back into the valley to complete a loop.
It turned to be a really nice hike with lots of interesting stuff to see along the way. If it weren't for the parking situation, I would heartily recommend it to anyone, but apparently the park district doesn't want people doing what I did today, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for getting someone into trouble for it. So I'll leave it up to you what to do with the information.
3.6 miles, 1000 ft. climb
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