Gathering Place: Alum Rock Park to Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve

Up the hill on the Boccardo Loop Trail

May 22 and June 5, 2016

Map used on this leg: http://www.ridgetrail.org/alum-rock-park-and-boccardo-trail-corridor

I call this post "Gathering Place" because Alum Rock Park  has been and continues to be a place for folks to gather and enjoy a picnic and hike since 1872! We ambled near smoky barbecues and tables heavily laden with food and drink.

Molly, Janene, and I made our way up the hill on Sunday the 22nd for another great day on the Bay Area Ridge Trail. The wildflowers are hidden now by the tall grasses, so the spectacular spring show is nearing completion, but the clouds and distant bay views were beautiful as usual. Compared to the last leg on Mission Peak, this hike was quiet and with many fewer other hikers.

Rather than making one through-hike, we broke this walk into two round trips, partly due to the lack of parking at the eastern terminus of the Sierra Vista trail.

We finished this walk on June 5, starting and ending at the staging area on Sierra Road. Peter, Janene, Julia, Kirsten, Richard, and David joined us on this half.

Mission Peak and the Bay

Mariposa lily

More photos from these two legs: https://photoenthusiast.smugmug.com/Other-1/Alum-rock-1/ and
https://photoenthusiast.smugmug.com/Other-1/Leg-19-Alum-RockSierra-Vista/

Photos from the whole walk so far: https://photoenthusiast.smugmug.com/Other-1

Mission Peak

Mission Peak trek

February 21, 2016

Map used on this leg: http://www.ridgetrail.org/mission-peak-and-ed-r-levin-county-park

We joined hundreds of hikers on a beautiful Sunday on our way up to the peak. Our friends Janene, Beth, and Marilyn joined us from Santa Cruz, and we got an early start to a stunning day-long 10.5 mile hike.

Here at the summit (2520'), peak baggers line up to climb the Mission Peeker, created by sculptor and park ranger Leonard Page in 1990. The Peeker combines tubes to look through, along with a time capsule sealed inside. In 2090, people will find such artifacts as an Ohlone charmstone replica, a picture of Bart Simpson, and a bottle of 1990 zinfandel. 

Do you notice that the rocks at the this hiker's feet tend to slant in the same direction? Mission Peak is the result of uplift and erosion as the North American Plate gets pushed and squished by the Pacific Plate. Planes of similar-slanting rocks are typical in this type of formation.

Below is the tremendous view to the south.

Here is an old fig tree.

More photos from this stunning day are here: https://photoenthusiast.smugmug.com/Other-1/Leg-17/

Our entire BART walk is here: https://photoenthusiast.smugmug.com/Other-1