We Have Hiked Sunol

I am packed and ready to go!

"Another Sunol Hike?", Lisa asked me. We have hiked Sunol a lot during the past few months, and this hike, the Eagle's View Trail, will complete Sunol for a while, since we have hiked all of its major trails.

What is it that makes Sunol such a great place to hike? Why do we keep returning to this beautiful regional wilderness?

Here's why: vast open fields of purple Vetch.... (don't forget to click on the photos)

...grand views....

and beautiful wildflowers.

Everywhere you turn in Sunol, you get a fantastic "Kodak moment." Sunol is really the East Bay's hidden gem. I can see why Yanni has returned to this park so often.

And speaking of Yanni, he was so overcome with Sunol's beauty, he decided to roll around in a field of poppies. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he just picked up 4,385 ticks.

We hike up Hayfield Road to Cave Rocks and then cut over to the Eagle's View Trail. We hike the ridge for a while and then down through the High Valley Camp and finally back to the park headquarters for a total of about 9 miles.

As if this day weren't perfect enough, we see butterflies all along the trail. Check out this guy...

...and his friend, Fred....

I mentioned Vetch above, a funny-looking wildflower here, and a weed behind my house.

The Eagles' View Trail is one the park's prettiest, full of ups and downs with varied topography. We wander through this are that had little waterfall and creek. Yanni is standing in the upper right of the photo.

This is a great time to visit Sunol as the fields of wildflowers are so abundant. Here's one full of Owl's Clover and Mustard.

..and me with the High Valley Camp in the background, where we walked through to head back.

I have had the best hikes in Sunol and have been several times by myself, with Mellissa and mostly with Yanni. We are not saying goodbye to Sunol, only that we will be checking out other hiking areas (like Pleasanton Ridge next week) and will certainly return to Sunol in a while.