Gary-Summer: April 12, 2018 - Sunol Backpacking Camp to Mission Peak Parking Lot

Thursday, April 12, 2018

April 12, 2018 - Sunol Backpacking Camp to Mission Peak Parking Lot

Title: April 12, 2018 - Sunol Backpacking Camp to Mission Peak Parking Lot
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Background : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals

Trail head:Sunol Backpacking Camp, Stars Rest

Hike Info:

Type: Backpacking

Trail:Ohlone Wilderness Trail, McCorkle Trail, some cow trail, View Trail, Cerro Este Road, Camp Ohlone Road, Eagle Trail

Destination:Mission Peak Parking Lot

Distance: 12.46 miles ¹ ²

Start Time: 9:21

End Time: 6:04

Travel Time: 8:42 (1.43 mph)

Moving Time: 7:28 (1.67 mph)

Elevation Rise: 3,051'
Descent: 3,763'

Maximum Elevation: 2,101'

GPS Tracks
¹Lost data for about five minutes while we went cross-country
²Gary stopped at Sunol Nature Center. His data included:

Distance: 4.80 miles

Start Time: 9:21

End Time: 1:10

Travel Time: 3:48 (1.26 mph)

Moving Time: 3:10 (1.52 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,098'
Descent: 1,740'

Maximum Elevation: 1,480'

Our tent and morning view

Description:

It rained a lot last night; and the wind blew At least it seemed that way. The official records for Livermore says it rained a little more than an eighth of an inch. Maybe where we were it did more, I do not know. . There were times I was wondering how the tent would hold up. But it did. We kept mostly dry inside. But where the bag touched the sides, there was some moisture. But I did not sleep very well-my air mattress deflated. At this point, I do not know why, but suspecting the valve may be letting the air out.

Drying Out

I am the first one up at 6:40. There is clear skies and the smell of clean invading my nostrils. The sun is starting to touch mountains to the west of us around the time Andrea gets up. Her tent did not hold up as well as ours.The inside of her tent got wet. Then to add insult to injury, her mattress deflated again. But it sounds like her sleeping bag kept her warm.

We get Andrea’s stuff hung out and then Sherri gets up around 8. So I work on getting our tent aired out as well. By the time we leave camp, it is 9:20.

Sherri leaving the Hawk's Nest

First, we head down to get water where Andrea fills up. And then on to the bathroom by the Hawks Nest camp spot. I should have gotten this spot instead of Stars Rest. Closer to the necessities of life. Oh well, next time we camp at Sunol, will keep that in mind.

Sherri takes off, then I leave, leaving Andrea to catch up to us-this is not a problem. It si a steep down hill which ends at a creek, maybe something called Rock Scramble, but I think this may be more of a name on a map than the name of the creek. By now, that steep downhill is more of the normal, but this one seems a bit more-glad I am not going up it. The trail is a single track through here. When we reach a gate, some of the family camped above us in Eagle View came by. But none of the backpacks carrying tents, food or stuff. So we wonder where the beast of burden are-that would be the men in this case. As a note, in our group, Andrea is carrying more of the weight than I am.

Cerro Road Junction

The trail goes down to a little creek and then starts climbing. Another night’s sleep does not cure my shortness of breath. Even Sherri inhaler does not help me tackle these rises better. Sigh.

But the story of today is we are going down to Sunol Nature Center where we will regroup and make a decision. The OWT has acquired a new name : McConnell Trail. When we hit the Cerro Road, it is back to being a dirt road for a third of a mile. There is a stone sign which mentions Little Yosemite. After the third of a mile, we turn off again and follow a creek downhill; it is steeply, of course.

And then, there was an unmarked trail branching off. Which one is branching off and which one is the OWT? The map does not give help us make a decision. Since both look well used, we take the one going down. Turns out thus is the one less traveled. After maybe ¾ of a mile and some descent, our trail looks less trodden by humans and more by our friendly cows. A few times we have to scramble under branches or slosh through mud, but a track still is available to us. So we continue on.

We come across a fence, a pond and cows, so we know where we are, and we are not on the OWT, which we already guessed at. By following the fence, we avoid most of the cows, except for one which seems intent on blocking our way. So we walk around it-definitely not close and get to his other side. In a short while, we hit the View Trail which connects into the Cerro Estes Road. That is the same road we came across the Little Yosemite sign. So I guess we are destined to make ti to Yosemite on this trip.

Little Yosemite

While this is not the OWT, it leads us to a road which will lead is down to the Sunol Nature Visitor Center. But in the meantime we get to visit a place with Sherri had expressed a wish earlier to go to. That is Little Yosemite. Now I know what you are going to say-that is 150 miles east of where we are. And that is what we thought as well. But that is what the trail signs say and the map collaborates it as well.

We have a snack break at a picnic table in Little Yosemite. Also there is an outhouse.There is a pretty big difference between the one in Yosemite and the one here. First, there are roads here while only trails in Yosemite. Next, the trees are broadleaves while in Yosemite, it is mostly pines. In Yosemite, the outhouse is a two story four bathroom outhouse-here it is a single pit. But here, there is a river which cascades over boulders giving the impression of a Sierra stream. Just an amazing sight and not too far from the populated areas. As Andrea said, she has been living in the East Bay for ten years and did not know about it. (I was born across the Bay and did not know this was here either.)

Bobcat

But we can't stay there forever, we have a car to pick up. So we continue on down the road, which is about a mile and a half long. Along the road, we see a bobcat sauntering ahead of us. It goes for about a hundred yards and disappears over a rise in the road. Shortly afterwards, a lady comes over the top and asks if we saw the bobcat?

The road follows the creek and until I get to the Sunol Regional Park proper.. Here we hit a paved road and after a few minutes we get to the to were the Nature Center. There we have a lunch and decide what to do.

Sherri and Andrea as they leave

Here is a moment of decision. I know that how I have been laboring, particular on the uphills. The estimate I gave to complete the hike for myself would be between 7 and 9 hours to get from here back to the car. This is to cover 7.5 miles but about a 1800 foot rise. I am willing to be left behind and wait with the packs. Andrea and Sherri think that they can make it over there a lot quicker and I agree with them. So after we have a quick lunch, they take the stuff they will need to make the trip-food, water, map and a few other things. . Then they are off about 1:30.

Sunol Regional Park

So I spend time reading playing around writing my blog and just enjoying the sunshine and the clouds and the present surrounding. I've got probably about a 5 to 6 hour wait,if I'm lucky and they are moving fast. But right now, I can deal with that. I do take a nap and just enjoying the sun until they come. I will admit that around 5:30pm, I started looking for them. The air got colder when the sun went behind some clouds and a ridge. I have moved all of our packs and stuff over to the parking area and am ready to go once they arrive. They get in around 6:3, and we pack our car pretty quickly and are off.

Sherri added her thoughts about the hike she and Andrea walked without me:

Andrea and I left Gary and headed up towards Mission Peak. There was some turkeys on the hillside as we continued our upward trek. The variations of feather pattern on their back was so interesting. Every time we headed up a switch back they reappeared and would run off only to reappear on the next switchback. Hiking the cattle range continues but the bovine seem very content in this part of the trail. On the first part of the trail there seems to be a bit more of a bovine attitude of I own the trail and needed a little more encouragement to move off the trail so we could scoot by.

It was great being able to have some mother-daughter time and being able to chat as we went along. As the advertisement says: Priceless. I did slow my daughter down a bit, as the trail was a little hard-our goal was to make sure we got her car at the end of the day. This part of the trail had area of hill with no tree but green grass and section of creeks, little waterfalls and trees. We could even see some farm houses in the distances. Of course I got my lesson in reading signs as my sense of direction sometimes in not the best. But sometimes you learn that the trail and the road do go to the same destination.

Andrea with Mission Peak behind here.

As we got to the junction for the Mission Peak we got to see Dumbarton Bridge. So interesting to see how the South Bay and East Bay are connected. We choose not to do Mission Peak as we do not have the time as we need to get to Andrea’s car and we would really like to do it with Gary. So as my usual pattern, you can’t see everything so you need to come back on another trip. I pick up my speed as we rush down the hill. I do not think Andrea thought it was a rush. It was an end to another enjoyable if not challenging trip. Would I do it again? Yes but with more training for the ups and downs and a different first campsite.

After picking up Andrea’s car at Del Valle, we are off to find a place to eat. Habit Burger looked appetizing and we go off there. Satisfying. We say our goodbyes. It has been a real good thing to walk with Andrea these past three days. She is going back to the Bay Area and we head off to Fresno. We drive straight through and get in a little after 11pm, tired and content. No unpacking tonight, just a shower.

Evidently, I did not get everything over to the packs at Sunol. Sherri is missing her Nook Glowlight.

One thing more-the day afterwards, I found a tick on my side. Sherri operated on it and got most of it out. I went to see a doctor because of the concern with Lyme’s disease. Looks like Sherri’s surgery worked. The doctor did not see any remains of the tick. Also he said that there was not any Lyme’s disease reported in the area where we hiked. Yeah!

Trail Lesson: Sometimes it is better to acknowledge ones weakness so that others can succeed.

Background

Air Mattress. It turned out that the flap which controls the airflow in does not seal properly. Fortunately, I was a few days short of the one year mark, so I was able to return the mattress to REI. I love that store.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Ritz Crackers, Tortillas, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Habit Burger	Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly