Diablo Foothills Hike

Ok, on March 10, 2007, I convinced Lisa to go out for a short two-mile hike to see the "China Wall" in the Diablo Foothill Regional Park. Check out Jane Huber's link. http://www.bahiker.com/eastbayhikes/diablofoothills.html

Six miles later, we returned to the car. Hey, how was I to know that we would be out all day?

Lisa is the well-appointed hiker, wearing her summer pack that holds just the right amount. She loves this pack and it works well for her. Water, windbreaker, sunglasses, snacks..she's good to go!

We start out and head up the trail for the infamous China Wall. Along the way, we see beautiful wildflowers just coming out in the early spring. Buttercups, Poppies, and Orange Monkey Flower. They say the inside looks like a monkey, but I have never seen it.

So, we keep hiking along trying to get to the China Wall. Blocking our path is this: A big cow or bull or steer, or whatever....All I know is that he was saying, "you wanna get by me?" he stood his ground, so we had to make a lot of noise and try to scare him away...

He stood his ground, so we gingerly walked around him. His three friends lined up as well. Here are the Roast brothers....Hey Chuck, turn around..

We finally reach the "China Wall". I cannot understand how this geological structure was created or how it was destroyed. Every time I look this up on the Internet, I get info on the Great Wall of China.

Here's another view. Interesting wall(s). We counted nearly 20 parallel walls that existed at some point. You can't see it here. but these stone walls, in some spots, are over 10 feet high.

The wild flowers were out in force and we found these Fiddlenecks. Interesting plant. The seeds and foliage of fiddlenecks are poisonous to livestock, particularly cattle, because they contain alkaloids and high concentrations of nitrates. The sharp hairs of the plants can cause skin irritation in humans. However, the shoots, seeds or leaves of several species were used as food by Native Americans, and the plant also had some medicinal uses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddleneck

Poppies, always beautiful, were also in abundance. Lisa is always able to get the best shots of this California state flower.

Here's her secret: she sets her camera on macro and holds steady...steady now.. and click!

Once you reach the China Wall, you see amazing things. There are holes in the wall that we thought the local Indians may have used for storage or grinding. At the top of one of the rocks, it appeared to be a carving of an eagle or something close. Pretty cool.

The China wall always fascinates me because I cannot figure it out. What built it? What caused it? What is the geology behind it? Walking along it, you get the feeling that it was once something great and meaningful.

In fact, at times, it almost looks like Stonehenge in England. http://www.britannia.com/history/h7.html

And, as always, our friend the Poison Oak was everywhere. I love this plant. Deceptive, dangerous, painful, pretty, successful, and abundant, it hides among others to disguise it's toxic nature. We found several plants that had no leaves, just a bush of stems waiting for the unsuspecting to grab ahold and suffer the consequences later.

At the top of the Wall, there are beautiful views of the bay. We stayed on top for a while enjoying the 360 degree view and having our snack. When I learn how to post a video, this is the spot. You see Mt. Tam in the distance.

Here's another reason to not eat wild mushrooms: One, you cannot tell them apart from the poisonous ones (the experts are always landing in the hospital with liver damage and death), and second, they have a way-to-close relationship with cow dung.

Here is the pretty Red-Winged Blackbird hanging out, as usual, near the water and cattails where they like to build their nests. Unbelievably, they can number in the millions and destroy whole crops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_Blackbird

OK, every hike I have been on includes a vulture swooping down on me to see if I am dead or rotting. These birds love to feed on rotting flesh and have a habit of following me around, not that I take it personal. This hike was no exception: they were everywhere.

On the "cuter" side were these little ground squirrels living in colonies of 30 to 50 varmints with their amazing linked tunnels. They stand up on hind legs to get a better view of predators. This is one of those "hey Lisa, don't take that shot; it'll never come out" shots.

Time to head home and the trail back looked pretty good. This is when you just don't want to leave the flowers, the hills, the plants, the animals and the outdoors itself.

We finally approached the final cattle gate and walked through to civilization.

..and yes, one last cow looking at us, standing his ground, doing his best DeNiro impersonation: "hey, you lookin' at me punk? Just try to walk past me."

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.

Sunol Hike to Flag Hill

On March 6, 2007, pack, camera, and hiking stick in hand, I set out for the hike to Flag Hill in Sunol Regional Wilderness. Flag Hill is a steep climb on a narrow trail that is better hiking going up than it is going down. http://www.ebparks.org/parks/sunol.htm

It was nearly 75 degrees as I hiked the steep trail toward the top. I was looking forward to reaching the top to take a rest. The Boy scouts were doing some anti-erosion work there and erected a sign.

The view looking back toward the Park HQ and park entrance road is pretty impressive, especially on such a beautiful day.

And, as always, the wildflowers are such a welcome sight. The Poppies, Buttercups, Shooting Stars, and Blue Dicks (yes, the other flowers always make fun of the Blue Dicks) were all starting to appear.


Up, up, up the trail goes past this weird looking Oak. I had the park to myself; no one was around and the Visitor Center was closed as well.

Well, I was not entirely alone.....


I did have a little company, although they were not too happy to have me there. Unfortunately, the males in springtime are interested in the females and are rather aggressive. The females are annoyed and trying to look after the young ones. None of them are actually too pleased to see a hiker tramping through an area they consider to be theirs.

I finally make it to the top and look out over the edge. What I thought would be a perfect spot for a rest turned out to be a perfect spot for a new hatch of small, gnat-like flies. I counted their number to be 14 million and there was only one of me. Being much more popular to them than I wanted to be, I quickly left the area, taking a few hundred with me.

The trail wound around the backside of Flag Hill and took me through some interesting areas. I was headed toward the Cave Rocks area and eventually down through the Indian Joe Creek trail.

I hiked along and came to the High Valley Camp area, a group camp and the perfect spot to finally take a break.

The picnic table in the far right of the photo was a welcome spot to eat my beef jerky, fruit, and cheese.

And, again, I was not entirely alone.....

I am always thinking about outdoor survival while hiking. If I had to spend the night or two, what would I eat? Where is the best place to erect a shelter? Is there enough firewood? In addition to waterproof matches, I always carry two other types of flint, so I could always make a fire for warmth, light, and signal. Here is a nice patch of Miner's Lettuce for some edible greens.

If all else fails, and you really get hungry, there is an awful lot of prime beef nearby... It's a little rare and preparation may take a while, but there is plenty! These disagreeable fellows made me walk around them since they did not like me being so close to their trail.

Heading back the next 3 miles took me along the creek for another wildflower display. More Poppies, Milkmaids, and Indian Paintbrush looked pretty cool.

...and the Shooting Stars were out in abundance....

I followed the Indian Joe Creek Trail back to the parking area. The fun part here is that the trail crosses the creek in five different locations, so you need to have waterproof shoes or, in my case, hiking sandals.

Just toward the end of the hike, I stopped to rest, take some shots, and eat my last tangerine. I was actually sad to leave the woods, the flowers, the hike and the trail, but had a great time.

Visit Sunol if you get a chance. In my opinion, it is one of the best regional parks around and close to anywhere in the East Bay.