Bluebird
I wanted to keep up with my recent trend of long wildflower hikes on the weekend so I took advantage of Saturday’s perfect hiking weather to hit a classic East Bay destination: Mission Peak. Rather than take the traditional approach, I took the longer but much more pleasant route from Ed Levin County Park. From the parking lot near the dog run, I headed up the Tularcitos Trail and caught Agua Caliente. This trail climbs nicely up the hillsides until it meets with the Monument Peak Trail.
I took this trail to the summit of Monument Peak where I enjoyed a snack and the views. One thing to note: the trail goes to the summit in kind of a round-about way via access roads. It’s much nicer to simply cut cross-country from the gate at Scott Creek – just follow the fenceline straight up the last 200 feet or so to the summit. It’s not very steep and it’s direct. This saves an extra 1/2 mile of hiking.
One of the great things about this area is the lack of people. There I was, a perfect hiking day (just barely warm enough for shorts and tank top) and I felt like the only soul on the planet. Monument is higher than Mission and has great views into Sunol and Ohlone Wilderness – I don’t know why more people don’t hike it.
Birdseye Gilia
From Monument, the hike follows a wonderful rolling ridge over to Mission Peak. Again, I had it entirely to myself (well, me and the cows). It passes by Allison Peak (private, covered in radio towers) and reaches the southern slope of Mission Peak about two miles beyond Monument. Once on Mission I was confronted with the masses out enjoying the nice day. A boyscout troop of about 40 people was crowding the summit, so I quickly made my way down the north slope and joined the Eagle Trail.
I followed the Eagle Trail back to where it connected to the ridge and followed it back towards Monument Peak. This was entirely a Bay Area Ridge Trail segment so I decided to continue on BART and take the Agua Caliente/Calera Creek back to the trailhead. Oh boy, was that a mistake.
I was really enjoying my hike until about 1/2 mile down Agua Caliente from the ridge. It became an overgrown ranch road that looked like no one had been on it for years except the cows. They had torn it to shreds during the muddy season and the pockmarked, cow clobbered mud had hardened to a ankle-breaking concrete in the sun. I gently, carefully worked my way down this steep trail at a snail’s pace, taking extra care not to trip or twist an ankle. Even then, I had a few close calls.
In addition to the terrible terrain, the ‘road’ twists and turns far more than the map would indicate. At one point I was convinced I had been watching my feet too much and accidentally wandered down the wrong ranch road and nearly turned back up the steep, nasty trail. Fortunately I eventually ended up where I was supposed to be, no thanks to the complete lack of any helpful signage at trail junctions.
Interrupted Coyote
To add insult to injury, there weren’t even any flowers on this stretch. I think the cows ate them all. Boo. The one positive thing was my encounter with a beautiful coyote. I came around a curve and saw him crouched in the thistle, stalking ground squirrels. He looked up just in time for me to snap his photo, then trotted away to find his dinner elsewhere.
So, a 75% awesome hike. I definitely recommend the ridge between the two peaks. Just don’t use BART from Ed Levin to get there!
Style:
In and out (with optional loops)
Distance:
13.6 miles round trip
Elevation Gain:
+/- 3300 ft
Trailhead and Permit Notes:
This route begins and ends at Ed Levin County Park. Gates open at 8 am and a $6 day use fee is required. Considering the busy alternate of the regular Mission trailhead, I think it’s worth paying. There is a sign at the junction of Agua Caliente and Monument Peak trail that says 2 miles to Monument and 8 to Mission. It is 2 miles to Monument (approximately), but the 8 miles to Mission is actually the round trip mileage from that point.
Useful Guides and Gear:
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Sorry to hear the westerly path off Mission Peak was in such terrible condition — when I was there two years ago, it was an obvious ranch road (the last half of my pictures look like an animal husbandry catalog) but wasn’t in nearly that horrible condition; I would’ve remembered it being that bad and said something 🙁 (I did, however, make a note about the signage having been… lacking.)
There’s something about that stretch of trail, though… tons of coyotes there. I got a few pictures of coyotes stalking around a herd of cattle on the lower slopes, and just a few weeks ago I was talking about it with another hiker who had a similar experience there last spring.
I saw the same thing, a coyote stalking around a herd of cattle. I saw him from a distance (from one of the higher switchbacks on the road, looking down on a herd below), and since I was concentrating on my feet my mind registered “border collie”. I then realized…wait, ranchers don’t use border collies with *cows*. Sure enough, it was a coyote. Weird. Didn’t get a good photo of that one, but then had the later encounter with the one in the photo above, so it was good.
What a small world.
I think we crossed paths just before you would have reached the summit of Mission Peak (just after I left it, driven away by the same boy scout troop). I remember a hiker commenting to me that she had just come over from Monument Peak and had not passed a sole, I had not thought twice about it until this came up in my RSS feed.
I’ve not been as diligent a blogger though it seems as my trail report is not up yet.
Nice, small world! Added your site to my reader – hadn’t come across it before, thanks!
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