Into the East Bay's Vault of Nature: Backpacking the Ohlone Wilderness, Day 1

Sunol Regional Wilderness

Date: May 21, 2021

Place: Ohlone Regional Wilderness, between Sunol and Livermore, California

Coordinates: 37.516284, -121.831945

Length: 3.7 Miles

Level: Strenuous 

Twice before I attempted to backpack the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, attempts that failed, the first because of stormy weather and the second because of illness. A few years passed since those attempts, and when I started training for the Mount Shasta expedition I knew right away that this was my chance: that backpacking this long-desired trail would be part of my preparation to summit Mount Shasta. 

Ohlone Wilderness Trail is a great hike by its own right. It is local for me, it is simple to obtain the permits, and it features the best that the East Bay has to offer. The full length trail stretches from the west base of Mission Peak in Fremont all the way to Del Valle Regional Park in Livermore. Having hiked Mission Peak numerous times, including a recent one way hike through the peak from Ed Levin Park in Milpitas to Ohlone College in Fremont, I decided to skip this part and enter the trail from Sunol Regional Wilderness. 

Alameda Creek near the Visitor Center in Sunol 

My next step was to look for a partner to hike with. I don't mind solo trips but having company is safer and usually more fun too. Pappa Quail wasn't to join me on this - he stayed home with the chikas. All of my friends whom I invited couldn't join me at the time so I decided to post an invitation on a local hiking group i'm a member of. I had booked permits for two people assuming that I'll either find one companion or go on my own. As it happened, there were two who were interested in joining, so I booked a third permit and replaced the two person tent with a four person tent. I had met each of my would be partners separately and they had met each other for the first time on the day we set out. 

That day, Pappa Quail drove with me to Del Valle, where we parked one vehicle and returned home. At noon my two companions arrived, each in her own car. After a few minutes of introductions and organizing, the three of us got into one of my new companions's car and we took off to Sunol. 

It was Friday, early in the afternoon, and there were very few people around. We made final adjustments to our backpacks and headed out on the trail. 

Our hike from Sunol Regional Park's Visitor Center to Stewart's Camp as captured by my GPS

The first day was to be a short one - less than four miles to our first campsite. It was however, all uphill, and we were carrying heavy packs. 

The first mile and a half I knew very well because I've hiked it many times, alone or with the 4H Hiking Project, or with my family hiking group. It was easy for me to slide right into the hiking leader mode and tell my companion all that I knew about this place and its history and nature. Speaking of nature, I was very happy to see the mariposa lilies blooming along the trail - it was high season for these lovely flowers. 

Yellow Mariposa, Calochortus luteus 

A couple of weeks before this hike there was still some green in these East Bay hills, but now the grass was completely dry and yellow. I was amazed at how quickly that change took place. We've ad such a miserable winter with so little precipitation that the grass did not grow high at all. the expects said that the low grass was less of a fire hazard but unfortunately fires did ravage California this summer as well. Thankfully, the Bay Area was spared this time. 

We were going constantly uphill with no letup and one of my companions started lagging behind, having to adjust her pack again and again. As we waited for her at the top of one of the steeper bouts I looked back and admired the sight of Flag Hill - that beautiful rise right above the park's visitor center. I hiked up that hill a few years ago and I was glad to have a nice full view of this hill from where I now stood. 

Flag Hill

By mid-May the grass of the East Bay hills was completely dry and yellow. The oaks however, were very green. Most of the oaks along our path were the coast live oak and whenever they were separated from one another, they grew into great size and impressive shapes. A good portion of my computer image memory is taken by photos of inspiring oak trees. 

Coast Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia 

Higher up the trail we started seeing white mariposa lilies. Fr some reason this species's common name is also yellow mariposa, perhaps because of the yellow spots inside the petals. 

Yellow Mariposa Lily, Calochortus superbus 

We turned onto McCorkle Trail and walked through a greener area of low chaparral. There were some others wildflowers there and a patch of grass that was still somewhat green, and we stopped there for a short breather break. 

Pearly Everlasting 

From that trail junction we could see the Calaveras Reservoir and the quarried hill next to it. I pointed out to my companions Mount Hamilton, way far in the back, to the right. 

For a short distance McCorke Trail overlapped with the Cerro Este Road, which is a wide dirt road. Once again we were going uphill and our pace slowed down. I wasn't concerned - even at a slow pace I we were making good time and would be in our reserved campsite well before dark. I took advantage of the slow pace to enjoy the wildflowers we were passing on our way. 

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

A few years ago I did a solo day hike to that campground. I had walked east on the Camp Ohlone Road, which is the trail that's right by the Alameda Creek, and then I climbed a steep trail to the wilderness campground, just to see how it looked like. I did that hike on a very hot day in June and I remembered how grueling that climb at the end was. 

This time I was approaching the campground from the McCorkle trail, which covers the height difference at a much milder slope. Once we turned left onto Cerro Este trail, its part that overlapped with the McCorkle Trail, and remained with the McCorkle Trail, I was on a terrain that was new for me. Looking out to the northeast the East Bay hills appeared to stretch endlessly into the horizon. Rugged and wild, it was a landscape I could easily lose myself in for a much longer time. 

View of the Ohlone Wilderness 

We reached a [lace where we had a splendid view of the Calaveras Reservoir. This reservoir is filled by a tributary of the Alameda Creek. It's dam was recently replaced in a lengthy project that took over six years to complete and had caused the shut down of the family campground and the running water facilities in Sunol Regional Park. 

Calaveras Reservoir

A sole pillar marked the junction where the Cerro Este Trail split again from the McCorkle Trail. We paused there to pose for photos and to drink water. My two companions were chatting together and I found myself lagging somewhat behind, somewhat relieved that I didn't need to be engaged in too intense socializing. This arrangement was just what I needed: I had company but I didn't feel any pressure to entertain anyone. I could still lose myself in my own thoughts as I often do when hiking solo. 

Sunol Regional Wilderness

We were getting to the last part of this day's hike. The day was hot but not too much. One of my companions soon started lagging again. Unused to the physical demand which was added on by the heat, she need to go at a slower pace. 

Sunol Regional Wilderness

My other companion had a different mindset - once starting on an incline she was reluctant to stop until she reached the top. I didn't mind the sow pace at all. It gave me a good excuse to pose by each wildflower I saw and to give it due attention. 

Harvest Brodiaea, Brodiaea elegans 

A cattle gate with a sign marked our passing out of Sunol Regional Wilderness into the Ohlone Wilderness. The sign stated that from now on, anyone hiking beyond that sign has to have a permit. Behind that sign was also the campground where our campsite was for the night, All we needed to do now was to find it. 

California Buckeye, Aesculus californicus 

Finding our reserved campsite wasn't an easy thing. At that campground there are eight different campsites, all well separated from one another and at some significant distance from the single pit toilet and the single water spigot that served all sites.   Our site wasn't one of the two lower sites, meaning we had to ascend some more, to the chagrin of my tired companion. 

Ithuriel's Spear, Triteleia laxa 

On the other hand, it wasn't as far from the toilet and the water source as were some of the other sites. We walked the last bit of access trail at a slow pace and I charted in my head the locations and distances of all the useful and interesting features the the campground. And I also found a trap spider webbed hole, which was very cool. 

Ore campsite was removed from the main trail by a stretch of about 200 yards of really narrow trail that was overgrown by poison oak in the beginning, and by thistles in the end. We had to do some bushwhacking to get to our designated site. I think it was one of the least used ones. 

Our campsite had one wiggly table with many thistles growing very close to it. There was a small flat area that could accommodate a small, two person tent. Our tent was a four person tent so we needed to do some clearing work to fit our tent in that location, and to be able to sit at the table without getting thorns in our backsides. 

Sycamore Camp

All that work was much more tiring than the hike itself. Once everything was done and the tent pitched and ready for sleep we got to making dinner and tell stories until bed time. On a full stomach and with no more work to do that day it was easy to get to appreciate the beauty of that site, even though it has fallen into neglect. A beautiful buckeye in bloom had perfumed our location with its sweet fragrance. 

California Buckeye, Aesculus californicus 

And we had a great view of the sunset, too. 

Sunset 

Once the sun had set, the temperatures dropped sharply and sitting outside with no campfire (wasn't allowed at that location) had become unpleasant. My companions slipped into the tent and I lingered a bit longer, enjoying the peace and solitude of the early night before following my friends into the tent. 

Link to the post of Day 2 of the Ohlone Wilderness Trail backpacking trip.