Lafayette Reservoir Hike

On March 7, 2007, I set out to do the upper trail at the Lafayette Reservoir. Check out Jane Huber's link below for this area. Those of you who are familiar with the lake will know that there is a lower (paved) loop of 3 miles, and a more difficult upper, more difficult trail of 4.5 miles. Real hikers and manly-men would only consider doing the upper trail, as the lower paved loop is for children, seniors, and mothers with strollers. I, of course, chose the upper trail.http://www.bahiker.com/eastbayhikes/lafres.html

The trail starts on the east side of the reservoir with this nice picnic area and continues to slowly climb.

As I was hiking, I recalled that I've done this hike several times years ago and remembered a particularly difficult spot called "heart attack hill." Appropriately named, it is a portion of the hike that goes straight up with the same trajectory as the Apollo Space Rocket. Until then, however, I would just enjoy the wildflowers...

...and the great views of Mount Diablo to the east. I have many good shots of this mountain, but this is one of my favorites. I've been on and near the mountain many times and like looking at it from afar. It is the highest point in the East Bay, and was considered a holy spot by the local Indians. Here's a link for Devil Mountain http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=517

Looking west, as the trail continues to climb, you see the reservoir and the picnic area to the right. Years ago, Mellissa and I took our canoe on this lake and fished and cruised around looking for birds and cool inlets that you can only get to via canoe.

I continued on and found some Miner's Lettuce growing in abundance. I almost always eat some while hiking, since this is one of the few edible plants of which I am very sure won't kill you. It's yummy. Early settlers and Indians collected and ate it. Here is a great blurb about it: http://www.almaden.ibm.com/almaden/environs/wildflowers/miner.html

Once, upon finding wild mushrooms, I said to Lisa, "Hey, try one: I'm 50% certain it's OK. Turned out it was the Deathcap Mushroom, capable of killing a person in 15 minutes. Hey, who knew? Looked like a real mushroom. Good thing Lisa declined to eat it.


In contrast to the Miner's Lettuce, I found an equally ubiquitous plant, poison hemlock. Some people think it is wild carrot (looks like it, huh?) or wild parsley, but those people are now dead. It is real nasty stuff. In ancient Greece, hemlock was used to poison condemned prisoners. The most famous victim of hemlock poisoning is the philosopher Socrates. If you are hiking and want to be single, just say, "hey look Honey, wild parsley - try some."

While we are on this discussion, we can't forget the king of poisonous plants: Poison Oak. I love this plant for several reasons: it hides in the currant leaves (you've seen it as wild blackberry), it changes color, it grows as a shrub, a small tree, or a vine. It is the master of disguise. Deceptive, toxic, successful, pretty, and inviting, it can lay a world of hurt on the unaware. Everything about this plant is dangerous: the stems, the leaves, the surface oils, the dust beneath it, and the smoke if you burn it. I was almost hospitalized once for standing in the burning smoke of this innocuous-looking oak.

Many native-American Indians, immune to the toxins, lost their lives by offering welcome gifts of woven baskets made from the stems to early settlers. After incurring severe rashes and painful blisters, the settlers, naturally believing in witchcraft, thought the Indians had put a curse upon them and killed the Indians. Pretty sad.

OK, enough about the plants. I continued on, dreading the up, up, up nature of heart-attack hill looming in my mind and in the distance. It was getting hot, not much to look at, and the 2-hour limit on my car's parking meter was running out.

And, why is it that every time I look up, I see this? I am starting to take these vultures personal. OK, I need to lose a few pounds and they could live off my gut for a week, but surely there must be a dead mouse somewhere. But no, they always hover and circle over me.

Finally! I see heart-attack hill! Hmmm...looks a little steeper and longer than I remember. I decide that I am no wimp. I will attack the hill with gusto! In fact, I should just jog up it to prove that I can. Off I go... bring it on, dude..





OK, here is the bailout trail that skips heart-attack hill and heads down to the paved loop around the lake. Sure, I could have done it, but I only had 30 minutes left on the parking meter, it was hot, my heel hurt, the vultures were scaring me, there was poison hemlock and poison oak all around, it might have rained, there could have been an earthquake up there, my back was sweaty, I only had two tangerines left, and Mellissa would get mad if I got a big parking ticket. So, naturally thinking only of her welfare, I decided to walk the last 2 miles on the paved path with the children, seniors, and mothers with strollers. I sure hope Lisa appreciates all I do for her.

So, loaded with 15 pounds of hiking and camera gear, boots, hat, windbreaker, and really cool hiking staff (with an actual shock-absorber built in), I finished the hike walking with seniors in shorts and tank-tops. What do they know? They could have eaten poison hemlock and died like Socrates.