Wilderness Quality Time with My Daughter at Las Trampas Regional Preserve

Date: January 15, 2025

Place: Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, San Ramon, California

Coordinates: 37.816703, -122.049741

Length: 3.5 miles

Level: mildly strenuous

This year's January was a dry and sunny month. Despite my thoughts about drought I was happy to take every opportunity I had to be out and about and of course, to go hiking. My younger chika was home on her school break and I invited her to join me on this hike. I chose to go to Las Trampas wilderness Regional Preserve where I've hiked several times in Las Trampas before, but only the short, easy loop around Bollinger Creek. This time I wanted to go on a loop trail on the ridge east of Bollinger Canyon Creek.  

Our hike as captured by my GPS

From the trailhead at the end of the access road was a lovely view up Bollinger Canyon. The shorter version of the Bollinger Creek Loop Trail would begin on that dirt road, going north. 

We weren't going on the shorter loop however, so we went a few steps up the hill to the not very obvious gate in the cattle fence and took the trail, a narrow footpath here, due south. A bit ahead we saw the serpentine curves of the Chamise Trail snaking up the hill. I pointed it out to my chika . She eyed it warily but said it didn't look too high. I agreed and we moved on. 

The earth was very dry, which at the time I was thankful for, having hiked at Las Trampas in the past when it was muddy. It has been muddy fairly recently though, and animals had left their impressions in the dried earth. 

Deer tracks

Just before our first trail intersection we came upon a dismembered bovine skeleton. The skeleton wasn't bone dry, but it had been picked clean, possibly by vultures and helpers. The lower area of Las Trampas near Bollinger Creek is leased for grazing, but other than that carcass we've seen no cattle that day.

Turning left on the Chamise Trail we started ascending Las Trampas Ridge. It wasn't a long climb and soon we were up in the chaparral which covered the higher part of the ridge. 

We also had a great view to the north, of the upper Bollinger Canyon area. It was hard to believe we were in middle of January - the sky was completely clear and blue and the air felt like spring. There was no mistaking the absence of wildflowers, however. It was way too soon to see any bloom yet. 

We reached the next trail intersection and paused there for a couple of minutes to admire the large and crooked-looking live oaks and to consult the trail map. 

My original plan was to continue on the Chamise Trail directly on the Las Trampas Ridge Trail due north but seeing that the narrow Mahogany Trail offered a detour down the creek east of the ridge I suggested to go down that way. I promised my chika that the detour won't extend our hike by much and she agreed to the change in the plan. 

Mahogany Trail

So we went down the Mahogany Trail and immediately were losing all the altitude we had gained coming up the Chamise Trail. From a gap in the trees we had a nice view of the next ridge to the east - steep sloped and covered in chaparral. The trail we were on extended all the way up that ridge as well but we wouldn't be going that far from our original plan for today. 

The chaparral that covered the higher area of the ridge was pretty heterogeneous - not one or two dominant species but many types of bushes, intermixed. The toyon bush was probably the most visible one because of its load of bright red berries. 

Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia

The lower we descended into the gulch the taller the vegetation got. The trail was shaded well and ferns appeared as a regular part of the forest floor vegetation. The coffee fern though, is a hardy fern with a thick cuticle on its leaflets, rendering it pretty drought-resistant relative to other fern species.

Coffee Fern, Pellaea andromedifolia 

We continued descending deeper into the gulch. My chika wasn't amused when I guaranteed her that we will regain all of that altitude soon enough. 

Mahogany Trail

We reached the bottom of the gulch which was well shaded by thick canopies of oak and laurel trees. The creek at the bottom of the gulch had some water flowing, but only a trickle.

At the bottom of the gulch where the creek forked the trail forked as well. The path we came down on forked east, becoming the Trapline Trail. It extended all the way up and over the eastern ridge of the wilderness, exiting in San Ramon. I archived that trail in my brain to pull out on another day.

My chika and I turned left to continue on the Mahogany Trail. We crossed the little creek flow, and started ascending back toward Chamise Trail. The trail was steep and ascended fast from the deeply shaded gulch into the higher, open chaparral. 

Poking through the chaparral was a large stone slab that looked like the dorsal fin of a huge sea monster. I am not very knowledgeable in geology but the angle of the slab told the tale of some really powerful tectonics were in play in this area.

A raptor glided across the sky. At first I thought it might be a vulture but as it came closer I saw that it was smaller and more colorful - a red-tailed hawk.

Red-tailed Hawk

A fallen tree blocked our trail. My chika was limber enough to climb on and over the broken boughs but I decided to walk around it. As I circumvented the hole left behind by the dead tree's root crown I saw a few clumps of large brown mushrooms. I figured that this fungus was already decomposing the dead tree's roots that were left in the ground when it fell. 

At the high point of the trail I turned and looked behind at the chaparral-covered eastern ridge. I heard people's voices carrying over from there - other hikers were on the trail that we didn't take.

 

Back on the ridge, on the wider Chamise Trail, we resumed walking northwest. My chika was a bit dismayed that we were going uphill still. She asked for a break but I convinced her to continue some more distance and have our lunch at the top of Vail Peak, up ahead.

Chamise Trail Trail

From the ridge we had a very nice side view of the large rock "fins". From this angle they looked more like the scales of the kraken.

On the west, on the other side of Bollinger Canyon, loomed Rocky Ridge, which was much smoother and was almost free of high vegetation, except for a few oak patches here and there. There were hiking trails there as well, but most of them where outside of the park's boundaries and required a permit from the EBMUD water company which manage this area.

Another raptor glided high above us. This time it was a turkey vulture. I followed it with my eyes until it vanished behind some trees.

Turkey Vulture

We reached the Las Trampas Ridge Trail and continued northwest to Vail Peak. As we ascended higher the view opened up to the northeast and the majestic Mount Diablo came into view.

Mount Diablo

The last bit of uphill climb was short and a bit steeper than the rest of the ridge trail. By the time we were going there I too was ready for a lunch break.

Before being swallowed by the knoll vegetation I turned around and looked southeast where I could see the big drop into the Tri-City Valley and the faint outline of the Ohlone Wilderness ridge in the horizon.

It was in the vegetation on top of the Vail Peak knoll that I saw the first wildflowers on this hike - a gooseberry bush in bloom!

Chaparral Currant, Ribes malvaceum

The Las Trampas Ridge Trail didn't go up to the summit but rather, circumvented it. There was now comfortable place to sit near the trail and when I saw a narrow foot trail going up I motioned my chika to follow me to the summit. We did find a good place to sit there and eat our lunch, but we were surrounded by the vegetation and didn't have a good view point. The nice sight at the summit was the colorful lichen growth on the old, twisted oaks that thrived on that knoll.

After our lunch break we descended back to Las Trampas Ridge Trail and resumed our hike. We were going northwest still, but now we were descending.

Las Trampas Ridge Trail

The view we had before us now was of the Bollinger Canyon below us. It looked a long way down from were we were.

The Las Trampas Ridge Trail merged into the Bollinger Creek Trail. We continued our descent on the trail that was now wider and also steeper.

Lower down the trail the chaparral changed into an oak savanna with bright green new winter grass and patches of dark live oaks.

Bollinger Creek Trail

Between the oaks I spotted the next bloom of the day - the California laurel trees. They were in full bloom and looked very festive.

California Laurel, Umbellularia californica

Just before we reached the valley floor I noticed the third and last wildflower of that hike - a small silver bush lupine with a single inflorescence head.

Silver Bush Lupine, Lupinus albifrons

We reached the Bollinger Creek Loop Trail and I stopped and looked south down the valley. It looked green and inviting. It would be a faster walk back down the dirt road that extended outside of the creek (the one pictured  in the first photo below the map).

Eventually I decided to go down to the creek and follow the narrow and deeply shaded path that stretched along the water. I was hoping to see newts.

Bollinger Creek Loop Trail

The trail was very dry even close to the creek. There was some water in the creek but there too, it was only a trickle.

 

We didn't see any newts that day, but we did see plenty of mushrooms. The heavy smell of rotting wood was in the air, but he mushrooms were pretty.

It was also damp enough beneath the trees to have some nice lush patches of liverwort and other mosses.

There was quite a lot of storm damage along the trail - many fallen trees that were not cleared from the path. I also noticed much damage done by wild pigs - their diggings were everywhere.

We didn't pause on this stretch of trail. Away from the vast vistas of the ridge and seeing that the very creek had little action in terms of wildlife I felt ready to finish the hike.

Somewhere along the way we crossed a large black pipe that extended from the creek all the way up the Rocky Ridge on our right. If that pipe was moving water from Bollinger Creek, no wonder that the creek flow was so low.

My chika spotted a squirrel and I photographed the healthy-looking rodent as it climbed a nearby tree. It was an eastern gray squirrel - a species brought to the west coast by some fellow who thought that the western gray squirrels were not pretty enough! 

Eastern Gray Squirrek

The last bit of trail followed a cattle fence, but we did not see any cows. We stood for a moment at the end of the trail and appreciated the beautiful day and the good time that we had together on this hike. It was however, time to return back home.

Chasing the Runaway Balls on the Goldenrod Cascade Loop Trail at Anthony Chabot Regional Park

The Cascade Waterfall

Date: January 10, 2025

Place: Anthony Chabot Regional Park, Oakland, California

Coordinates: 37.753850, -122.118217

Length: 4 miles

Level: mildly moderate

 

 

The January hike planned for the 4-H hiking group that I lead was planned for the Goldenrod/Cascade loop trail in Anthony Chabot Regional Park. It is a lovely trail that I hiked many times before, and I even wrote about way back when I just started this blog. At that time I hiked this loop as part of a longer hike starting and ending at the Lake Chabot Marina. It amounted to 9 miles altogether, and I did not intend to take the 4-H group of children on such a long trail.  The loop on its own is only 4 miles long - a convenient half a day's hike. Since it had been a few years since the last time I hiked this trail, I went on a prep hike prior to taking the group, and I invited my elder chika to come along.

Our hike as captured by my GPS

So on a bright, sunny Friday we parked at the Clyde Woolridge staging and started south on Goldenrod Trail, which starts as a dirt road that was also the line between the city and the park. 

Goldenrod Trail

Past a few houses and a horse range, the city side of the Goldenrod Trail is a large golf course. This area is also the highest of this loop trail, meaning the golf balls that are hit outside of the golf course end up rolling down hill.  We saw a golf ball on the trail and picked it up.

On the east side of the trail the trees closed in, tall eucalyptus groves at first, but a bit lower down the trail they were replaced by the usual east bay mix of oaks and laurel. 

We were descending down the trail, on a mild slope at first. We stopped briefly when Lake Chabot came into view. My chika asked if we'll be going all the way down there and I confirmed that indeed, we were. She groaned a bit, no doubt thinking abut the ascension that would follow, and I quipped about the high power lines that interfered with the view. 

After the view point the trail became pretty steep. It also distanced from the city area, curving east toward the lake. The trees now shaded nearly the entire path and the forest flor was more moist with a thick, green lower vegetation. We started seeing mushrooms, both pretty and interesting. 

We were quite far from the golf course now, but found a couple more golf balls. I pocketed them as well - they didn't belong in the forest. 

Goldenrod Trail

The next time we had a nice view of Lake Chabot we also stopped for a short break. There were no power lines obstructing the view from here and I could see the arrowheads that indicated the movement of waterfowl on the lake's surface, even if I couldn't discern the birds themselves from that distance. 

Just before turning left on the next trail junction we saw another golf ball. It was a fairly new-looking one, which meant it had come a pretty long way in a pretty short time. This time I remembered taking a photo of the ball before removing it from nature. 

All that time my chika was looking for birds but hasn't seen many that she considered worthy of her attention. Eventually she did find a few that were both interesting to her and also in clear enough view for photographing. 

Brown Creeper

Another mushroom attracted my attention - it was brown and well camouflaged among the dry leaves but it was whole and pretty.

We reached the lake shore and doubled back to the north on Bass Cove Trail, along the shoreline. This was the north most end of Lake Chabot - a human made water reservoir, one of the earliest built in the East Bay.  The trail was about 12 ft above the lake, and there was no access to the water.

Bass Cove Trail

I found it funny that at the lake shore there was much less view of the lake than from higher up the trail. 

Lake chabot

We scanned the water surface for birds but all we could see were coots and a few mallards that were resting near the opposite shore.  

American Coot

It didn't take us long to reach the northern end of Lake Chabot. The end was clogged with tall wetland vegetation. A few more coots were swimming between the clamps of tule and horsetails.  

Past the open water there was a patch of very still water that was covered with duckweed - a small higher aquatic plant. It was so dense that it was very tempting to walk on, like a carpet. 

Past the lake the trail continued a bit more inland, following the lower part of Grass Valley Creek. There were plenty of rotting logs and branches strewn beside the trail and many of them bloomed with lovely-looking mushrooms.

The lower part of Grass Valley Creek is probably my favorite part of this loop trail. The path, which starts as a continuation of Bass Cove Trail but changes to Columbine Trail past the turn to the path that goes around the lake, is narrow, and deeply shaded by the arching boughs of laurel trees. I find the laurel fragrance that fills the air and the nostrils very pleasing. The sense of this section of the trail is very wild.

The trail goes right by the creek and crosses it a few times. It was easy enough to cross it on the day of our hike - there hasn't been much rain yet  this season, and the creek was low. I have hiked there though when the creek was running high and it was impossible to cross it without wading in the water.

Grass Valley Creek

My chika pointed out to me a jawbone on the mat of dry leaves. It looked like the jawbone of a deer. There were no other bones of that deer around and it could have been carried there from up the creek, just like the golf balls.

We didn't see any live deer that day, but interesting wildlife doesn't always come in large packaging - a funny looking water-walking insect marched gracefully on the calm surface of the creek. The flow was very slow and hardly noticeable - if not for the lazily moving vegetation particles one could have mistaken this to be standing water.

We found a few more cute mushrooms on the way. When it is off season for the wildflowers, the mushrooms take the colorful reproduction shift.

After crossing the creek back and forth a few times the trail started rising on the hill side, leaving the water flowing down below a deep gulch. There were many tree species growing along the trail and the slope of the gulch, including groves of thin eucalyptus.

Columbine Trail

Below the eucalyptus on the trail were a few dark-eyed junco birds that looked for something to eat. The eucalyptus is an invasive species in California but it had already become an important part in the local habitats. One of the most known beneficiaries of the eucalyptus are the monarch butterflies. I looked, but couldn't see any on the trees we were passing under.

Dark-eyed Junco

The first part of the ascend, on Columbine Trail, was fairly steep but short. The Columbine Trail continued steeply up to meet the Goldenrod Trail about where the golf course was, and we continued ahead on the Cascade Trail, which was now almost flat and much easier to walk. 

Cascade Trail

The Cascade Trail curved along the contours of the hill, high above the gulch's floor where the creek was flowing. In places where the trail was out of the trees we got a nice view of the opposite hillside. Once again those high power lines interfered with the pristine forest view.

One of the trees that I haven't seen many of earlier on the hike was the madrone tree. Poking its canopy above the other vegetation, it's smooth, reddish back glistened in the sunshine.

Pacific Madrone, Arbutus menziesii

I came upon a crack in the rock to my left, a crack formed by a widening oak root. I instantly recognized that crack: that crack has caught my attention on my first hike of this trail, and when I took a closer look I saw a garter snake curled below the root. There was no snake there now. Not that I expected to see any out in January.

Up the trail there is a small waterfall. Most of the year the creek (and waterfall) are dry, but now I was hoping to see it flow. I was happy to see that it was flowing, even if a trickle.

It was a short distance from the waterfall to the end of the Cascade Trail. We walked quickly now, both of us eager to finish the hike and have lunch. I paused briefly to admire the pretty white berries of the snowberry bush.

Common Snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus

At the next trail junction we turned left and ascended the short and steep dirt road that led back up to the staging area where we parked. On the way up I admired the "cross-legged" oak tree on the side of the trail.

Just before reaching the top and closing the loop hike was a toyon bush, laden with beautiful red berries. It was a very nice sight to finish our hike with.

Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia

My chika and I had collected about four golf balls on this hike. Granted - we didn't look for them, only picked up those that were directly on the trail. On the following day however, the 4-H kids were much more industrious in finding and removing the stray golf balls. We collected nearly thirty balls, some were very old and some looked brand new. We found them all along the trail between the golf course and the lake, and half way up the Columbine Trail. We saw many more golf balls that we couldn't reach so we had to leave where they were. I can only imagine how many of these plastic golf balls are resting at the bottom of Lake Chabot.