I've been neglecting this blog for a while because the little hiking I have done has been on old trails that I've already covered, but today I tried a new trail that turned into a bit of an adventure. I'm not up to the kind of hiking that I used to do. I've had two open heart surgeries and a knee replacement and I just turned 80, but I still enjoy a little adventure.
Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve has been around since the beginning of the park district in 1936, but sometime recently they added some land to the east and created an new trailhead. I was inspired to try it out when I read a very interesting book called Deep Oakland: How Geology Shaped a City by Andrew Alden. As a long time resident of the East Bay and a former USPS mail carrier in Oakland, I thought I knew a lot about the city, but I had a lot to learn. One chapter describes a hike in this new area of Sibley. It is mostly about geology, but today's hike was mostly grassland with few visible rocks.
I quickly glanced at the map at the trailhead, but soon forgot what I had seen. It was one of those days when I felt open to new experiences and whatever trail I ended up on would be fine. So I wandered somewhat aimlessly until I found myself on the McCosker Loop Trail and began climbing up the ridge. It was hard work, but I slowly gained elevation and the views grew more expansive. I finally reached a hilltop where I could see a trail appearing descend and then climb even higher. I didn't want more climbing, so when I came to a fork, I turned left to head back down. The fork that I took was apparently just a dirt road to serve a pair of power line towers, and that's where it ended. That's where the adventure began. I could see down to the area of the trailhead but the hillside was very steep. I tried going one way on a deer trail that ended in dense brush. I tried another way on deer trails and steep rough hillsides getting my socks full of stickers, and finally managed to find a way down. Back home looking at the map I saw that if I had just continued on the main trail, I wouldn't have had much more climbing and it would have been much easier. But some of the fun of hiking is getting into situations like this and having a little adventure.
2.3 miles, 540 ft. climb
