Apr 15th, Mission Peak, 6.45 miles, 3 hr, 1400 K cal, Elevation 2,507 ft

We gave rest to our feet for the past 2-3 weeks either because of weather not permitting or due to other activities that we were engaged in. You know what I am talking about :). We had hiked exactly a year back to Mission peak  from the Ohlone side, which was less steeper but distance was longer. This time we wanted to experience the hike from the shorter but much steeper Stanford Ave entrance. Well, we paid for the 2 weeks rest we took. It was a little bit difficult and there was absolutely no shade throughout the hike. This route is probably one of the most popular hikes in East Bay, so there were hundreds of hikers though out. One would never feel left out or feel as if we were going too slow. You can always find someone who is behind you taking a break or struggling to hike. Since we have the upcoming Yosemite hike, we decided not to take break for the next few weeks to prepare for it. We also have a new member in our team who did very well while the old timers were gasping for breath. Well done everyone!!

Total hike time: 3 hr
Difficulty: 7.0/10

Before the last 0.5 mile to reach peak

Time to FB check-in @summit

Crew taking rest for few minutes@summit

Greeenery all around

San Ramon cows give way to hiker but Fremont cows
don't seem to care

Mar 16th, Mt Diablo State Park, 14 miles, 4000 ft elevation, 3,500KCal

It's been our burning desire to summit Mt Diablo this year, especially since we have been seeing it on every hike we have been on. Though I was a bit skeptical about my own ability to complete the loop, I tried not to reveal my fear to the others. But I guess our motivation and the inner desire helped us to pull it off. All of us were better equipped  for this hike with hiking poles, boots, ample food and water. It was very foggy when we started off on the hike at 8:30 AM from the Mitchell Canyon Staging area, Clayton. While there were a number of options to go up, we took the Back Creek trail and it was nearly 7 miles of uphill hike. I wished the there was some breeze so that we wouldn't feel that exhausted. At every mile we felt summit is closer to us but even after 5 mile of constant climb it felt  as if we had not reached any closer. We met other hiking teams who hiked several times in a year to the summit to see the wild flowers in bloom. But for some of us it seemed like once in year was more than enough while for others in the group, once in a life time was more than enough :). With a few 5 min breaks, we reached summit at 12.45 PM and quickly polished off the food & ice cream. Few of the people who had driven up to the summit, commended us for the hike we did. The views along the trail were spectacular and the photos do no justice to it. The trail allowed us to get a 360 view of Bay Area.

The hike downhill was no less spectacular, but we had to keep a close watch on the trail, since loose rocks and pebbles made it very slippery. One of the team members slipped and fell, but was fortunate not to get too hurt. The constant downhill hike put severe stress on our knees and calf muscles. We finished the downhill 7 mile portion of the hike in less than 3 hours. Even though we were exhausted, we were already planning our next big hike at Yosemite in mid-May. A bit crazy isn't it? We recovered some of the last carbs by having pizza and crashed to bed @8.30PM while some of us added Advil and/or chilled beers:).
Total Hike time - 7Hr

Most of the downhill trail  is like this

View of Summit from where we are

Lonely CA poppy

View of Summit from another point

At the summit

on our way back

Mt Diablo State Park- Mitchell Canyon Staging Area - Back Creek trail - Bald Eagle Trail - North Peak Trail - Summit Trail - Summit - Juniper Trail - Deer Flat Road - Mitchell Canyon Road - Mitchell Canyon Staging Area

Difficulty: 8.5/10

Mar 9th Las trampas 6.5miles, 2050ft, 1340 KCal 2.45 hrs, over 4000ft of ascent and descent

By the time the we ladies finished dance class, our hiking leader had made hot Indian breakfast for us. With last week's episode of light headedness and dehydration for some of us we did not think twice before digging in.  With our biggest hike just a week away we decided to hike up the more harder trail.  We had done portions of this trail last year. At some point during our hike we missed the route we planned and ended up on a trail that required prior permits. Some areas were just like rock slide areas with steep slopes and 2 of us froze without taking a step :). Our partners helped us and somehow we again landed up on the correct trail. But the areas we went through were breathtaking and one could spend hours just looking at the views of the bay, San Francisco (we even caught a glimpse of GG bridge), and the mountains.

Las Trampas Regional Park-Rocky ridge trail - Sycamore trail - Devils Hole trail - Elderberry Trail
Difficulty: 7.5/10

Mar 2nd, Sunol Reginal Park, Elevation 2073 Ft, 6.11 Miles, 2.31 Hrs, 1127 Kcal

The ladies were exhausted after one and half hours of dance class, but gamely came for the hike. The initial mile and a half of the hike was along a creek and we crisscrossed it quite a few times while continuously climbing uphill. It was a pretty intense climb and we needed to stop and rest more more frequently than usual. But the views were fantastic and the weather just right. On the way back we took a break at Little Yosemite. It is a hidden gem and there was quite a rush of people to visit it. Of course, we followed it up with a delicious and well deserved lunch at Pakhwan!

Indian Joe Creek Trail - Cave Rock Road- Cerro Estes Trail - Camp Ohlone Road
Difficulty: 7/10

small creek crossing

Distant view of Mt Diablo from Sunol

California state flower Poppy

enjoying the view

Trio resting

little Yosemite

Feb 23rd, Mt. Diablo State Park, Elevation 1760 Ft, 7.16 Miles, 2.32 Hrs, 1137 Kcal

This year our target is to hike to the summit of Mt. Diablo.  As part of that goal, we decided to tackle a moderate hike on Mt. Diablo. The drive to Mt. Diablo is very scenic. With the rains over the last few days, the hills had turned full lush green all around making it extremely beautiful. There were a few areas along the trail that were still wet and slushy to walk. For most part of our hike we didn't see a single hiker and nor any animals as we usually come across in other hikes. Although, we were compensated on the way back by a bald eagle and a baby green snake. We had decided that whenever we hike more than 7 miles, we would treat ourselves with a grand lunch & we kept our promise :). 4-5 weeks from now our goal is to reach the summit of Mt. Diablo. Stay tuned..

South Gate Rd- Curry point- Curry Canyon Trail- Frog Pond Trail and the same way back.
Difficulty: 6/10

A small  pond along the way

Long shot view of the summit

scenic view from one point

Valley view

 

on our way back

this creek had cut through the trail

Feb 16th, Del Valle Regional Park, Elevation 2050 Ft, 4.11 Miles, 1.40Hrs, 745Kcal,

It was a perfect day for a good hike and we didn't want to miss the opportunity. Some of my team members had prior commitments and early morning mishaps. In spite of that, we gathered after the dance class and drove to Del Valle Regional Park. The drive was beautiful with vineyards on either side of the road.  There were already several folks with their fishing rods around the lake. Even though distance wise it was not much there were some steep climbs that we had to do which exhausted us due to lack of any breeze and some of the highest temperatures we have seen this winter.

Del Valle Marina - Squirrel Gulch Trail  - Ridgeview Trail  - Eagle Crest Trail - Hetch Hetchey Trail - Del Valle Marina

Difficulty: 6/10

Lake view from above

Wild purple flowers

Trying to practice just learnt dance step

One of the steep climb.