Exploring New Grounds at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

Date: January 30, 2024
Place: Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, Sunol, California
Coordinates: 37.595119, -121.895262

Length: 6.5 miles
Level: moderate

 

 

Last summer the East Bay Regional Park District announced that they opened to the public a good chunk of open space added to the Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. Naturally, I wanted to hike there and check it out. In summer however, Pleasanton Ridge is pretty hot and dry, and I was decided to wait for hiking conditions before I went hiking there. Last January I had the opportunity to go, and I invited a friend to come along. We met at the new staging area in Sunol and started hiking uphill. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The first part of the trail was actually a paved road. The view - typical of the East Bay hills: open grassland oak savanna. 

Near the road were a few large boulders and I caught a glimpse of a lizard poking its head from a gap between two of them. It was a lovely, sunny day and I guess the lizard was waiting for us to move on so it would feel safe to go out and sunbathe. 

Lizard

The initial stretch was westward, but the trail soon switchbacked to the east. The December rains have taken their time to do their work and by the end of January the hills were bright green and beautiful. It was wonderful to see it after the long, dry season. 

The trail split off from the paved road and continued uphill as a wide dirt road. After a few short switchbacks it lined up at the ridge crest in the northwest direction. 

The slope wasn't very steep but we gained altitude quickly. Soon enough we had a lovely view right into Niles Canyon. I could see Alameda Creek glistening below, and the road and railroad next to the strip of water.

Niles Canyon

In the southeast I recognized the buttress of Mission Peak, which looked much milder and more inviting than it is when viewed from the west - the direction where most people ascend it. There is a trail to Mission Peak from the east - it begins in Sunol Regional Wilderness and it is part of the Ohlone Wilderness Trail. I hiked it a few years ago (in the height of summer, no less). It is a beautiful trail, though longer than the west-ascending routes.  

Mission Peak

We approached a small grove of oaks. Nearly all the oaks there, as well as the other oaks we've seen on that hike, were coast live oaks, which are evergreen. Between the oaks was another tree, completely bare of leaves. This was a California buckeye tree, which is deciduous.  

The higher we ascended, the wider the views we had. It was difficult getting a good photo of the views southeast because of the glaring sunlight, but we did have a nice view into Calaveras Valley and the west part of Sunol Regional Wilderness. 

Calaveras Valley

East Bay Regional Park District uses poles for trail signs. These are for people use, except no one told that to the local birds. Bluebirds like the high view on their surroundings, and practically every sign pole we saw along the way had a bluebird perched on it. 

Western Bluebird, male

The green grass was still young and low enough so that the rocks were visible. Islands of rocks, most of them still in the place where they have eroded from the mountain's bedrock, some already rolled away some distance. Many were covered in lichen.  These rocks make excellent shelter to little wildlife, such as lizards. 

The view northeast opened up all the way to Livermore. The horizon was hazy despite the recent rains, and thin feather clouds hovered above the area of Altamont Pass. 

View northeast

below us, off to the side, was a small cattle watering pond. These little man-made ponds are a common sight in the East Bay, which has changed greatly with the introduction of cattle and the invasive grasses of the mediterranean. Now these ponds are a source of life not only for the cattle but also for the local wildlife. 

Cattle Pond

The uphill ascend was continuous, without any letup. whenever I felt like I needed to catch my breath I would pause and look at the view. Higher up the trail I could barely discern Mount Hamilton among the mountainous mass on the south. I identified it solely for the Lick Observatory domes on its summit. 

Mount Hamilton

Once we were high enough to have a view to the northwest there was the San Francisco Bay, and beyond it the dark ridge of the Peninsula. 

View Northwest

On the eastern bay shore, just at the edge of the water past the cities of Fremont and Newark are Coyote Hills, looking very modest in comparison to the larger, taller ridges on the east and west. 

Bay View

After a good, long walk my friend and I decided it was a good time for a break, so we sat down on the rocks by the side of the trail, ate our snacks and enjoyed the view. I enjoyed also the colorful lichen coat of the nearby rocks. 

We got to see some wildlife too - a colony of busy ants that aggregated outside of their nest. At first I thought there were dead but upon a closer look I saw they were moving still. I'm not sure why they had aggregated in this manner. 

Ants

Shortly after we resumed our hike we came upon a trail switchback again, and from there we saw the top of the most prominent mountain in the Bay Area - Mount Diablo.  Once visible, the view of Mount Diablo stayed with us until we returned to this point on our way back. 

Mount Diablo Peak-A-Boo

Lower, and more to the east stretched the ridge of the Morgan Territory. That area too is one of the lovelier and more isolated places to hike in the East Bay. 

Morgan Territory

For a good long while we didn't see any oaks or other trees, just open grassland and rocks. Other from some distant cows and a few birds we didn't see much animal life either. Come to think of it, there were no other hikers there as well. It was just my friend and I, alone in the open air. 

On the eastern horizon (which was hazy, despite the recent rains) I saw the dark buttress of Brushy Peak. A few weeks later I'd revisit Brushy Peak Regional Preserve following a naturalist-led walk, which my daughter, the elder chika, assisted in guiding. 

Brushy Peak

I below us on the east I noticed well-ordered trees and I pointed them out to my friend. These were olive orchards that belonged to the historic farm that was in the area before it became Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. These orchard are in the area of Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and are still tended and harvested by Pleasanton farmers, and their products, cured olives and olive oil, are sold in local stores. 

We reached a trail junction and paused. Now we needed to decide which way to go. The junction opened a loop for us and we discussed which direction would be best hiking this loop. Seeing Mount Diablo ahead on the east I convinced my friend that it would be best to hike the loop counter clockwise. This way, I argued, we'll have the best views ahead of us and not in our back. 

Mount Diablo View

Another reason to have chosen the counter clockwise direction was the herd of cattle that eyed us warily from the other trail branch. They seemed relaxed enough, but they were all cows and calves, and I have experienced hostility from mother cows more than once on the East Bay trails and I didn't feel an urge to play toreador again.

Cattle

 My friend pointed out a trail that snaked along the curves of the slope on the west and asked if we'd be returning on that one. It was possible, but it would have extended our hike beyond our time limits. I included this photo because I love the the contrast of the clear and serene heights of the East Bay hills with the bustling, polluted and crowded city below. A short walk from the staging area from stress to bliss.

 

There was one calf guarding our trail choice too, but it wasn't him i was concerned with - his mother looked alert on the other side of the trail. They didn't move though, as we passed by. After leaving the calf behind I could look down into Kilkare Canyon - I hiked into it a couple of times but never had the time to hike all the way to its north end - it is a long hike and it is inaccessible from the north side of Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park.

Kilkare Canyon and a calf

Past the junction I also had a much better view of the lower, older part of Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. The olive orchards looked healthy and inviting, and the watering ponds full to the brim. It has been a while since I hiked there. Perhaps it is time to go back.

Pleasanton Ridge Olive Orchards

The counter clockwise trail arm started with a good downhill stretch. It was nice to go downhill for a change, but my friend kept reminding me that to every downhill there's an uphill coming. 

Trail

It was too early in the season to see any annual wildflowers, but the laurel trees were already blooming, and their delicate fragrance filled the air. 

California Laurel, Umbellularia californica

All of our hike so far was out in the open. On this part of the trail however, we got to walk under the trees. A thick grove of large oaks mixed with California laurel created a beautiful, shading canopy over a good segment of the trail.  

In the shaded, moist-retaining areas other plants were growing, including mosses and liverworts. 

Liverwort

When we cleared the trees an had open view again I had a nice direct look at the eastern part of the Ohlone Wilderness, and of the city of Livermore below.

View southeast

A few mre steps down the trail and  the view south opened up, revealing the San Antonio Reservoir, and the middle section of Ohlone Wilderness, and Sunol. 

San Antonio Reservoir

After that my friend's logical prediction started fulfilling - we were ascending once again. We were also slowly circumventing Sunol Peak from the north. 

As we curved slowly to the north I took a goodbye look at Mount Diablo, one of my favorite places in the Bay Area for nature hikes.  

Mount Diablo view

When we got to the north side of Sunol Peak we contemplated climbing all the way up, but the actual summit was taken by antennas and was fenced off. Somewhat disappointed, we resumed our walk around the peak, back in the southwest direction. 

Summit

There was another trail junction on the other side of the summit where the trail became pavement again. The paved road snaked down into the curves of the hills. I thought briefly that it would be nice to take that one down - it did connect with the pavement we deserted in the beginning of the hike, but that would extend our hike considerably, and we both needed to be back on time for other commitments we've had that day. 

After a short break we resumed walking down the trail that would eventually loop back to the trail we ascended on. We got a nice view of another cattle pond, and we even met another hiker - a single man who walked briskly uphill.  

View Southwest

The way down was much quicker, naturally. I also didn't bother to take as many photos. Not only did I see very few new angles of the same views, but mainly because I didn't need to catch my breath so often. 

View southeast

Before long we were looking directly down on the first cattle pond that we've seen on the way up, and on the town of Sunol. My friend, who kept checking the time seemed relieved, now that she could see that we would finish the hike on time. 

Around the trail curve was a small herd of cattle. Across the trail from the main herd was a single cow, and she was rolling on the grass and seemed to be having a great time doing it. The photo captured her in a curled up position but she was moving the entire time in what looked to me like joy. 

When we reached the trail sign pole it was still occupied by the bluebird. Perhaps it was even the same bluebird we saw on our way up. It flew away when we approached and perched on one of the protruding rocks nearby. There was another bluebird on the next rock near it - perhaps the female. 

Western Blue Bird

I would expect the new Pleasanton Ridge park area will attract many hikers before long. The views from there are really gorgeous. I will probably go there again soon, hopefully before the summer comes again and it becomes too hot to do so. 

 

A Call from the Desert People's Past: The Pictograph Trail at Anza Borrego State Park

Desert View from the cliff edge at the end of trail

Date: November 23, 2023

Place: Anza Borrego State Park, Borrego Springs, California

Coordinates: 33.020200, -116.360039

Length: 2.8 miles 

Level: easy

 

The pictograph trail was recommended to us at the Anza Borrego State Park visitor center in the morning before we went hiking at Palm Canyon. After our lunch we drove south to the trailhead of the Pictograph Trail. The way there included driving a good distance on a dirt road which was mostly ok but very sandy. It went through a primitive campground that was partially occupied. The parking area was fairly small, with parking 'stalls' roughly formed by previously parked cars in between the creosote bushes and the boulders that were strewn around.

At the trailhead

There were two other cars in the area near one of them were people who looked like they were about to go on the trail. They must have changed their minds while we were getting ready however, because by the time we were ready to set out they went back into their car and drove off.

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The trail led us directly into the boulders, meandering between and around them. I enjoyed seeing the lovely rock garden that included desert bushes and cacti, all looking plump and healthy.

Rock Horn Cholla, Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa

The afternoon sun was already pretty low and the north-facing slopes were dark. The lighting was fine for close up shots and all of my broad view shots have an end of day feel to them. 

We quickly crossed the pass leading to the wash where the pictographs rock was. At the pass - the highest part of this trail, grew many nice looking juniper bushes. 

California Juniper, Juniperus californica

The junipers were laden with pale berries - it was a good year for them. These berries are the staple food of many desert animals, from birds to coyotes. By eating them, and defecating the seeds somewhere else, these animals take an active part in dispersing the junipers far and wide. 

California Juniper, Juniperus californica

A sole agave inflorescence pole stood sentinel on top of the ridge to our right (south). The agave inflorescence was a silhouette and I was unable to tell if this was an active bloom or an old stalk. 

Desert Agave, Agave deserti

To our left (north) was the well lit south-facing slope of a crumbling rocky hill - a slope I might have enjoyed exploring had I been there on my own with more time on my hands. 

The trail curved south a bit and leveled. We walked through a small flat area below the pass, heading southeast. A larger hill of crumbling rock loomed ahead south of the trail. We had to circumvent it to see what was ahead of us. 

Every step we took around the curve of the hill revealed more sights. The rock garden scenery continued - featuring yucca plants as well. None of the yucca were blooming. 

Mojave Yucca, Yucca schidigera

To my utter surprise however, I did see one ocotillo blooming. Nit the entire plant, no. Only the tip of a single branch. A symbolic bloom of sort. 

Ocotillo, Fouqueieria splendens

The rocky slopes from north and south closed in on the trail once more. There wasn't much of an elevation chance there but the narrowing did give me the sense of walking through a sort of a strait.

Pictograph Trail

Here too the intertwined vegetation and the boulders created a beautiful desert rock garden. It probably looks very lovely when the plants are in bloom, but we were there at the end of fall. 

The moon was rising. I noticed it and pointed it out to my family. It was nearly full, and, nestled in the slopes depression, it looked like a big, white ball that paused in the middle of a downhill roll.

A couple of ravens were frolicking ahead of us. I tried to catch them on camera. In the southwest direction, illuminated from behind, the raven looked like a silhouette art of a horror book.

Common Raven

My chika got a much better image of the ravens after they landed on a boulder further down the trail. They seemed to be very friendly to one another - perhaps a couple or a parent - youth.

Common Raven

Just around the big hill we were circumventing on the north was the pictograph Rock. It was a large, smooth boulder with graphic symbols painted on it in red at eyes level.

Pictograph Rock

We drew near and took some photos. Pappa Quail commented that in a way they looked like modern day grafitti - makes left behind by random passers by who wanted to make a lasting statement. These pictographs however, are centuries old, and the paints that were used to make them were not as easily accessible as modern day art supplies. There was clearly planning and preparation involved in creating these symbols, and very likely that they did have a significant meaning to the area people of that time.

Pictgraphs

These days no one knows what is the meaning if these symbols, not even the contemporary Kumeyaay, to whom these pictographs are sacred to this day.

Pictgraphs

Near the pictograph rock I noticed another, lest conspicuous relic of the indigenous people's life in the area - a grinding rock. It was in grinding rocks such as this that the indigenous people used to process food.

Grinding Stone

There were a number of large juniper bushes behind the pictograph rock and the elder chika identified a bird in one of them and took its photo.

Brewer's Sparrow

We decided to continue past the pictograph rock. The information pamphlet we got at the visitor center had another relics site with more grinding stones marked near the end of the trail and we wanted to see it. The trail wasn't long so we continued walking southeast. 

Trail

A couple of people came from that direction. We nodded to one another, and they walked back to the trailhead while we continued to the trail end. 

Pat the pictograph rock the hills on the sides of the trail were farther apart and once again we were walking through a flat little valley with sandy soil and lots of creosote shrubs. There wasn't much going on in terms of wildlife, not even insects. The pamphlet showed the relics site to be near where the trail entered the hills again, but when we approached we saw nothing of human origin but the trail itself. 

We looked around a a bit but, seeing nothing special, we resumed walking and entered the gap between the hills where the creek and the trail squeezed through. This part turned to be a short high-walled canyon that ended with a dry waterfall drop. 

The canyon but was already dark, but when we reached its edge we were washed by the late afternoon sunlight again. 

Desert Agave, Agave deserti

Carefully, I approached the edge of the cliff and looked at the vast desert view that extended below me. The wash itself continued far below, bone dry, all the way to a distant open flat. Behind the large flat loomed the next mountain range, looking hazy at the end of the day. 

Pappa Quail and the chikas sat down on the rock. I was a bit uneasy, seeing how close my elder chika was to the big drop (I cropped most of her from this photo but left her knee in the lower right corner). When I told her that she replied drily that I was standing much closer to the edge than where she was sitting ...  and she was right. It is more difficult to assess someone else's risk than one's own, especially when that someone else is your child. I took a step back and sat down as well. 

After our little break we got back on our feet and turned about, starting our return to the parking area. Back on the northwest side of the canyon bit I searched again for the grinding stones that were supposed to be there according to the pamphlet, but didn't find them on the second search either. 

Our way back through the flat valley was much quicker. I didn't tame many photos, only here and there of some plants that looked nice, such as this double yucca in the photo below. 

Mojave Yucca, Yucca schidigera

The sun was lower now, and when it reached the top of the ridge on the west I stopped and took some photographs of this pre-sunset sunset. 

A large sand bar was in the middle of the valley. Pappa Quail and the chikas went ahead on the trail while I moved north to the other side of the sand bar. There I was able to catch yet another pre-sunset, and before that, see the cholla cacti glistening in the last of the day's direct sun rays. 

Rock Horn Cholla, Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa and Mojave Yucca, Yucca schidigera

The young chika was waiting for me when I returned to the main trail. She pointed out a large, black beetle, similar to the other beetles we've seen in Anza Borrego so far. 

Beetle

We were walking in the dusky zone now. The pictograph rock looked like a black silhouette now, and the raven sat atop it, a guardian spirit of the native past.

This time we didn't get close to the pictograph rock. Apparently there were other pictographs in the area but, concerned about driving ut in the dark, we simply continued on with our hike. 

Pictograph Rock

As we got through the first narrow area of the path I got to see one more animal - a colorful insect climbing a ranch of a shrub. I didn't stop long enough for a proper identification but it looked like a nymph of a grasshopper. 

It was more illuminated at the top of the first narrow area, and I even caught one sunny spot before it too faded into the dusk. There was a buckwheat plant in bloom, a nice species that I don't recall seeing before. 

Davidson's Buckwheat, Eriogonum davidsonii

The tiny flat between the narrow and the pass was already under dusk too. The top of the pass was illuminated with direct sunlight still, and I rushed ahead to try and get there before that too, would fade.

I reached the top of the pass in time and looked down to to the trailhead area, and to Blair Valley beyond. The entire valley was till in full daylight. We needn't have rushed outside to avoid driving in the dark. That got me thinking about something, but I kept my mouth shut until the very end of the hike.  

Behind us - the moon was already high in the sky, and looked much smaller. The line of direct light was creeping up steadily. I took a deep breath and followed my family down the trail to the parking area.

The creosote bushes were all in fruit - none of them was blooming. I liked the fairy lantern look of the fruiting creosote, especially when the end of day light shone through the small fuzzballs.

Creosote, Larrea tridentata

When we got to the car I finally let my idea out. I suggested that the elder chika would drive us out to the main road. She's been a fine driver on paved road but had very little experience on dirt roads. Hearing my suggestion, the elder chika immediately jumped into the drivers seat. Pappa Quail turned pale, and moved to the back so he won't have to sit next to her. (I did). The younger chika, who had got her license less than half a year ago protested loudly that she wasn't offered to drive ... I pacified her by promising her an off pavement experience in Moab, where we had planned to go for the winter break. We got in the car and enjoyed a very bumpy but joyful ride back to our lodge. On the morrow we would begin our long drive back home.