Sunol's Maguire Peaks Loop Hike

It's great to be back hiking again! Yanni and I decided to conquer the Maguire Peaks loop, a beautiful 8-mile trail around the base of the peaks. Perfect weather; wonderful wildflowers, and my bud Yanni.

I have a lot of pics on this blog, so remember: click on a pic to enlarge, and click back arrow to go back.

One of the highlights of this hike was the wildflowers. Here, we found Mule Ears, Indian Paintbrush, Chinese Houses.

OK, speaking of Chinese Houses, here it is above: a pretty cool flower, delicate and colorful.



So, we're hiking along and see this dead tree that became an acorn storage center for a woodpecker. During the winter months, when it's time to eat, the birds see no point in taking the acorn from the tree. It's easier to just punch through the shell and grab the nut.

To use bad English, you cannot believe how perfectly "jammed in" these acorns are.





....and speaking of bad English, I found some Blue Dicks.

So, we're hiking along, and Yanni decides to climb a mountain. You see our trail (in white) below. We scurry up the hillside for a view looking west to the 680 freeway and the peninsula.

Our short climb is not good enough for a Greek God like Yanni; he has to climb higher and go to the top, (especially after seeing "The 300").

I decide that staying below, protecting the packs, taking pictures, and generally resting is the more prudent course of action. Yanni scrambles up to the top of the mountain, dons body armor, pulls out a spear and shield, and starts yelling something about defending Sparta. I tell him to give it a rest and come on down so we can continue our hike.

So, we're hiking along and talking when I decide this would be a good time to enter the Ranger Rick look-a-like contest. I came in third in that one, but won first place in the geek-a-thon.

Poison Oak was abundant along the trail, and in some cases, sneaking out onto the trail waiting for an unsuspecting hiker to brush against it. Here, the Poison Oak is small and gnarled. Other times, we saw it as a shrub, vine, and even as a tree.










...and naturally we see more wildflowers: Fairy Lanterns, Wind Poppies,, Owls Clover, and California Poppies.

...Orange and yellow varieties...

Among the many cool things in Sunol are the different kinds of signs they have to guide you through the many trails.

Look out! Fiddlenecks!! Whew, that was close. Almost stepped on them.

What is it about blue lupines and California poppies? They are always together in the wild, When you see one, there is the other. I think that they are more than just friends, as they claim.

We wander on and at every turn, the trail just gets better and better. We hit this stretch of open area after coming out of a more wooded section.

And great views everywhere. Here's Mt. Diablo from the south.

And me posing in front of the Calaveras Reservoir.

Yanni looking pensive and taking it all in. You can clearly tell what he is thinking, "Must defend Sparta, must defend Sparta...."

My new favorite flower is Indian Paintbrush...

Six hours later, we hit the end of the trail. Me, happy to have seen so many wildflowers on such a perfect day, and Yanni, mumbling something about defeating Persia.

So long Sunol...