Gary-Summer: Del Valle

Showing posts with label Del Valle. Show all posts

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

Extra Photo's

Little Yosemite

Construction at Calevaras Reservoir

Little house on ridge going to Mission Peak

Turkeys at Del Valle

Almost to parking lot

Last OWT trail marker

Dumbarton Bridge

Animals

Our Bobcat

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

April 10, 2018 - Del Valle to Stewart Camp

Title: April 10, 2018 - Del Valle to Stewart Camp
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Lichen Bark, Del Valle Regional Park

Hike Info:

Type: Backpacking

Trail:Ohlone Wilderness Trail, Sailor Camp Trail, Rowell Ridge, Greenside Road

Destination:Stewart Camp

Distance: 6.68 miles

Start Time: 11:55

End Time: 7:11

Travel Time: 7:15 (0.92 mph)

Moving Time: 5:57 (1.12 mph)

Elevation Rise: 3,472'
Descent: 1,256'

Maximum Elevation: 3,361'
Max Grade Incline: 40.8%

GPS Tracks

Description:

Lunch Time

I got up 6:50 and Sherri was up shortly afterwards. She had been coughing much of the night. So she was not sure if she should go. But we worked out a plan, including raiding some of David’s cough drops. The plan is to meet Andrea at the Mission Peaks parking lot at 10. So we leave at 9:00am, stopping at Walgreens for a few supplies, including a PayDay bar. We get to the parking lot at 9:40, with it being full. Andrea gets in at 10:10, but she finds a place. We decide to leave the RAV4 at Mission Peak and drive Andrea’s car to Del Valle.

We were to pick up our hiking permits from Del Valle-we already had the camp spots reserved. But when we got to the entry station-nobody was there. Nor at the visitor’s center. We spotted a groundskeeper and asked him. He was able to get us the map and a blank permit.

Sign post

So after having a quick lunch-more snacks than anything else, we took off. I left first, being the slowest uphill, around 11:50. The beginning is pretty steep. We go up and up and up. But I think I am doing pretty well. I get to a place where I can look over the Del Valle Reservoir and take a few pictures while Sherri and Andrea catch up with me.

But from this point on, Sherri and Andrea out pace me. We continue to go up steeply. I am thinking that this is one the harder hikes I have been on. But we should see as we continued on the with the day. We get to a rest stop and Andrea takes the bear canister from me. Well, I should not say she takes it but she does carry the bear canister from now on, throughout the whole trip. This is a good thing as I was having a hard time doing these climbs anyway. I am not sure that it's the weight, but the lighter load really does help some.

Del Valle Reservoir

Gary, Andrea, Sherri

A couple of points doing this stretch. When we come to the intersection of the Sailor Trail and the Vallecitos Trail, we come to a trail registry. We do sign in to the trail registry. Well sort of. The pen is not in a writing mode and we do not have any extra writing implement. So I leave an impression in the paper. Then we go up a little more than a mile-well the elevation gain seemed like a mile, but it was the distance. Here we get to Boyd Camp. Since I am the weakest link by now, I do not stop to use the facilities here, and keep going.

Road we have travelled already

Gary staring down a cow

I think we picked the right time to do this trail. Even though I'm sweating and moving slowly going up this trail, there is a lot of beauty in the green. The hills we see, then the oak and pine trees, and the flowers are just starting to come out in bloom-all are refreshing to the spirit, if not maybe the body. The only animals seen are a few birds but that is OK. These hills we are going over are rolling ridges. These are well defined by the growth of the trees towards the top, or close to the creeks.Between the two, the grass stand out their viridity.

Guardian Cows

WIlliams Gulch

Today we met five people. The first three were backpackers, who started out at Mission Peak-where we will end. They are on the easy part of their hike, even though going down this trail would be the hardship on the knees. Then there was another person who I met. After talking with him for a few minutes, I found out that he was using this as a training hike because he is on a trail crew. As it turns out, he works around Big Meadow and the San Joaquin River, my neck of the woods. He also looks like he's maybe around 50-55 years old. The last one just looks like he's working out-walking around and does not seem to be having any problems with going up the slopes which I'm having troubles with.

Sherri and Gray taking a rest

Much of the OWT alongside a series of water district properties, or even through them. So there is all of these off-shoot trails which just goes a short ways and stops, usually with a sign saying No Trespassing. So with the signage, it is not too hard to follow the trail. Most of time it is a road, probably a fire road or an access road. But there are times it turns into a one track trail.

Andrea, our flower child

One of these times is when we dropped into Williams Gulch. And by drop, I do mean drop is it a pretty long decline. Maybe 500’ down. Then we follow the creek a ways.I will say this creek is pretty and I can see why you might want to see it. Lots of shades of green color it. Once we cross the creek, it is back to climbing up the the slope on the other side. Seems unfair why couldn't they just go across the top of the. Of course we would have missed Williams Gulch but that would be a price I am willing to pay at the moment. So we continue on up and climbing out of the Gulch.

As we climb out of the Gulch, we go through an area called The Big Burn. But I must be fading as I do not see any signs of a burn. When we got to the top of the ridge, there is another dip, but nothing like the last. Then we climb up to Schlieper Rock. I should phrase that differently-we climb to the base of the rock and rest there for a few minutes. But not too long as we are now in the middle of a cloud. (From pictures I have seen on the net, if we had a clear day and the energy, the view would have been fantastic.

Sky and foothills

Altamont Pass Windmills

Then it back to the trail with more going up and up and up. That is until we hit the trail to Murietta Falls. Looking at the map we are getting pretty close to Stewart Camp where we are stopping for tonight. We can go on by the OWT which is a total of 1.8 miles or we can go down the Murietta Falls Trail and and get to the camp that way, about 1.35 miles. Seems like a no brainer to me, plus not as much climbing. Plus it goes right by Murietta Falls which I would like to see. Like I said, no brainer.

By this time, some clouds have enveloped us and so we are no longer able to see too far.At one point Sherri comes out of the mist like a Jedi figure. The trail down to Murietta Falls is pretty gentle and a lot easier than anything else we've been on today. We get to the creek which flows out of the Falls. First, it is barely a trickle, even with the rains we had last week. And then the cloud which we are in is hiding any trace of a fall. After a short discussion, we decide we are too tired and cold to chase down falls which may or may not be there.

Murietta Falls in fog

Stewart Camp

So we are left with walking back up a slope to Stewart Camp. The redeeming thing about Stewart Camp is that there's water and an outhouse, all the luxury is of home. The water we need to filter and the outhouse is an outhouse with no toilet paper. Good thing we brought the toilet paper with us. But when we get to the camp spot, for a few minutes, we are slow setting up. But it is getting dark and colder by the minute. So Sherri cooks while Andrea and I work on pitching our tents. All which we could find had a pretty good slope to it. So we pick the lesser of evils. Then there is a light sprinkle which gets us covering things up quick. But we had eaten already. It does hurry us into the warmth of our bags around 9pm.

Trail Lesson:

I just need to be in better shape!

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Breakfast in Mountain View	Ritz Crackers, Tortillas, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Mountain House-Beef Strogonoff	Clif Bar, GORP, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly, Girl Scout Cookies