Where Bigger is Better: Hiking the Brushy Peak Loop Trail of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve

Buttercup Carpet

 

 

 

Date: March 15, 2024

Place: Brushy Peak Regional Park, Livermore, California 

Coordinates: 37.747115, -121.709157

Length: 4.7 miles

Level: moderate

It was nine years ago when I first hiked at Brushy Peak Regional Park. The second time was two weeks after the first, when I took the Redwood 4-H Hiking project on that same trail - the west side loop trail of the park, which doesn't go by the peak itself. Despite meaning to do so, I didn't go back there for a long while. The optimal hiking season there is fairly short - it is way too hot in the summer, and could be very muddy and unpleasant in the rainy season. Last spring however, I got my chance to go there again. My elder chika works the East Bay Regional Park District, and last March they sent her to help on a naturalist walk there. The walk was in the afternoon and the focus was on the amphibians in the park. It was a short distance walk, to the pond and to the creek crossing behind it, but we saw a lot of interesting things and of course, frogs and toads. Feeling that there was a lot more to see there, I resolved to return as soon as possible for a solo day hike, and so I did.

Brushy Peak

On my first hike at Brushy Peak I was welcomed by numerous meadowlarks that were singing their hearts out. I saw no meadowlarks near the trailhead this time. There were very few cars in the parking lot, and I saw no other people yet. I packed my snack and water and crossed the road to get to the trailhead. 

My hike as captured by my GPS

Right by the trailhead was a small creek feeding into a small pond. A pair of mallards were enjoying themselves in the pond, searching the bottom for edible morsels.  

Mallards

On the short nature walk I participated in a few days before I saw that the fiddlenecks were budding out. Now there were more of them in bloom. Not carpets yet, but small lovely orange clusters.

Common Fiddleneck, Amsinckia menziesii

The beginning of the trail was a wide dirt goad that was partially grass-grown with fresh green grass. The trail was riddled with holes - borrows of ground squirrels. The squirrels were out and about, but all of them dashed right down their holes as I approached.

The sparrows were bolder than the squirrels. Most of the sparrows I saw were pecking at things on the trail. They did fly off the trail when I approached, but only to a short distance away, where they waited until I passed. It was at this point where I finally saw some meadowlarks, but they were too far away for me to take a good photo of them.

White-crowned Sparrow

I was walking along a wide creek. Ahead of me in the north was Brushy Peak, wearing beautiful live oaks on its rocky ridge. The creek looked dry but there was a trickle of a flow on the far side of the valley. On the nature hike we found red-legged frogs hiding in squirrel holes along the trail so I kept peering into every hole on the path, but I saw no frogs there.

Brushy Peak

The ground squirrels were all over the place. The entire hillside seemed to be vibrating, as the little, gray rodents moved about their business. On my first hike in Brushy Peak years ago I saw a golden-furred squirrel so now I kept on the look out to see if there would be another one like it, but all the squirrels that I saw that day were regular gray.

California Ground Squirrel

A large turkey vulture circled above, looking for carrion. Brushy Peak, like many other East Bay Regional Park District lands, leases grazing land to local farmers. I'm pretty sure that the vultures were present when that deal was signed.

Turkey Vulture

There are a couple of ponds in the preserve's area, both human-made to store water for cattle and ranch use. I reached the first one and scanned the surface. A pair of coots were on the water but on the far end of the pond.

Pond

Then I stepped a bit away from the shore and started checking the nearby grass for frogs and toads. On the nature hike I joined a few days before we found there a large toad and many little tree frogs. This time I saw no toads and only a couple of frogs.

Sierran Tree Frog

My trail continued along the pond's shore on the west. The pond had a belt of willows and all of them were already budding out. Spring was here. 

Trail

The trees blocked the full view of the pond but in places I could see the water below them. In one such gap I saw a single American coot standing on a submerged wood, its feet below the water surface. 

American Coot

Soon I left the pond behind as I advanced up the trail. Past the pond the trail did indeed go uphill, at a good workout steepness. I was happy to see that there were more buttercups now by the trail and I stopped to photograph, but also to catch my breath. 

California Buttercup, Ranunculus californicus

Brushy Peak loomed ahead. It isn't a very high peak, certainly not as high as the neighboring peaks that make the Morgan Territory. It does stand alone however, not a clear part of any ridge. It has a distinct look with its rocky make up and live oak forest. It is a preserve rather than a park, because it is home and refuge to some unique East Bay plants and wildlife. 

Brushy Peak

More and more rocks and boulders appeared as I made my way up slope. Some of the rocks were particularly beautiful, painted with a community of lichen and fungi. 

Turning around, I looked back at the pond, now far below me. On the ridge above the pond stretched a line of wind turbine. There was logic in placing them there - strong winds are common on that area - but I'm not happy with the environmental damage they cause and weather it is worth the electricity they produce. Not to mention that they are ugly, in my opinion. 

I noticed some movement up slope near the oak trees. There was a single turkey tom there, all puffed up, following three turkey hens that seemed completely uninterested in him. He was particularly interested in one of them, but she didn't pay any attention to the lovesick tom. 

Wild Turkey

I arrived the place where a few days before on the nature walk we saw some frog eggs in the creek. I was about to look in the water but at first I looked at the large live oak on the other side of the creek. The oak was old and majestic as live oaks can get in the East Bay, but what attracted me to this particular tree was that it cracked the rock it grew out of.

It must have sprouted in a crack in the rock and eventually split it completely. Such a mighty force of nature, these trees are.

Turning my attention to the creek I found the frog eggs but my photos of them didn't turn out all that well. I found toad eggs too, which weren't there a few days before. They were freshly laid since.

Western Toad, eggs

I stayed some time near the creek looking for the adult amphibian and having to settle for the eggs only. After that I resumed my hike up the trail, continuing beyond the turn back point of the nature walk. Looking up I saw the moon bright in the sky. It was morning still, but the moon was rising.

Rising Moon

I reached a trail junction. On my first hike here nine years ago I took the left turn, looping back on the West Ridge Trail. This time I stayed on the right, moving onto the Brushy Peak Loop Trail.

The trail was mostly exposed to the sunlight, but there were a few places where the oaks were close enough to cast some shade on the trail. In one of these shaded spots I found some fiesta flowers in bloom.

White Fiesta Flower, Pholistoma membranaceum

A few blue dicks bloomed in the sunny areas. Not many of them, though. The few blue dicks that were blooming attracted many insects - mainly bees and butterflies, that competed over few flowers that were open.

Blue Dicks, Dipterostemon capitatus

I crossed the creek again and was surprise that there was still some water flowing this high. The spring must have been nearby because there wasn't much higher to that creek.

Brushy Peak Loop Trail

I didn't find the spring. I didn't want to look for it - the area where I expected the spring to be was being used by grazing cattle, and I had no wish of going in their midst. The herd did spread on both sides of the trail so I did eventually have to go between the cows, but I stayed on the trail and didn't stray off it.

Trail

I Was pretty high up now. When I looked back southward, I could see the city of Livermore, and south of the city - the mountainous area that was part of the Ohlone Wilderness, where I backpacked with friends three years ago. .

Livermore and the Ohlone Wilderness

I left behind the cows and the valley view and moved on uphill. The day warmed up and soon I broke some sweat. The peak looked much closer now, and I planned to find a place there in the shade to stop for a break.

Brushy Peak

The trail stretched on the west side of the creek, eventually taking a sharp turn eastward on a junction with a short spur trail that was leading northwest outside of the preserve, ending on private property. I continued eastward, still uphill though on a milder slope now.

Brushy Peak Loop Trail

Violets were blooming along that part of the trail. I always find it amusing that violets come in colors other than violet. In California, most violet species are, in fact, yellow.

California Golden Violet, Viola pedunculata

The trail kept going eastward, just below the peak of Brushy Peak, and I kept looking for when the trail would actually go to the peak. I suppose I should have looked better at the map because the Brushy Peak Trail doesn't actually reach the summit but pass it on the south, right below it.

I paused momentarily at he highest point of the trail to drink and to appreciate the lovely scrub Jay that made faces at me from a nearby dead oak branch.

California Scrub Jay

My plan was to take my lunch break at the summit of Brushy Peak. Now that it was clear that I won't get to the summit (I didn't feel like trying to get there off-trail) I was on the lookout for a suitable break spot near the trail.

Brushy Peak Loop Trail

I eventually found that spot and sat on a nicely shaped rock in the shade of an oak tree to rest and eat. I looked above at where the peak was - the oak trees there were nicely cut from below - indicating that cattle did make it up there on a regular basis.

Grazed live oaks

A little fence lizard poked out of a crack in the rock. Seeing that I wasn't moving it started running here and there on the rock face, until it vanished behind it. I saw other lizard on my hike that day, but they were too quick to run and hide.

Western Fence Lizard

Below me, on the southeast, the hills coming down of Brushy Peak rolled gently down all the way to the valley and the City of Livermore. I love this time of year when the East Bay hills are at their greenest.

View Down

From my lunch spot I resumed my descent. That downhill stretch looked endless, but I was making good progress. The trail looked empty from afar, but I saw many little brown birds near it as I walked down.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

I even managed to detect another lizard although it was hiding pretty well in the grass. It was completely motionless while I snapped a photo, only its eyes moving, alert.

Lizard

I looked up at the trail I had walked and realized how far down I have got in a short walking time. Brushy Peak remained there, aloof and unconquered. For now.

Brushy Peak, view back

I continued onward downhill. On my way my ears picked up the last sound I want to hear on a hike in nature - the sound of a blaring boombox. Around the turn I could also see the noise's origin - a small group of fitness hikers were standing by the side of the trail, having a conversation with a couple of dog walkers. I don't know how they could have even hear one another, the boombox noise was so loud. I passed them as quickly as I could, trying to put as much distance between myself and that noise. The loud music they played was actually the kind I like to listen too, but not while in nature. When hiking, I prefer listening to the wind and the birds and the grasshoppers, and yes, even to the occasional rattlesnake. I understand that some people like to hike with music, but that's what headphones were invented for. No one else needs to be subjected to this kind of noise pollution.

Brushy Peak Loop Trail

I came across another aspect of humanity - a memorial cross, indicating someone might have found his or her demise in that place. Sombre and peaceful, I nodded to the cross, wondering what might have happened to the person that died there. A heat stroke on a summer hike came to my mind when I came across a sweaty biker who was making his way slowly up the hill. He asked me how long was it to the top and I told him. Seeing that he looked really worn out and that he only had one water bottle with him I also added that the trail is exposed nearly all the way and that the trail gets steeper near the top. He did try to continue but later on he passed me on his way beck - he was not prepared for the head and the exertion. Next time, he told me, he would start much earlier and bring more water. I hope he did make it back another time and completed biking the loop trail.

The soil was more wet even before before I reached the creek at the bottom of the trail. Lovely little red maid flowers were blooming there by the trail side. 

Red Maids Calandrinia menziesii

When I reached the creek crossing I found that it was flooded and muddy. I had to go a bit up the creek before finding a suitable place to cross, with the aid of an old wood plank that someone placed there.

Past the creek crossing the trail joined a dirt road, which I took south to return to the trailhead. The dirt road followed the creek on the east side. The creek was flowing, but for the most part I couldn't see the water because vegetation grew near and above it, blocking my view.

The flowing, relatively flat creek, supported a number of riparian trees such as eucalyptus, willows, and cottonwood. These trees were particularly thick in places where the creek widened, swelling into small, narrow ponds. 

Brushy Peak Loop Trail

I noticed some more wildflowers on this part of the trail as well. The gumweed, for example, that had just started its bloom season. 

Hairy Gumweed, Grindelia hirsutula

Some of the riparian trees were deciduous and were just at the beginning phase of spring budding. I loved seeing the small group of trees growing out of the shallow pond. This pond was likely to dry off later in summer, but for the time being, it was hydrating well these water loving trees. 

A crow flew by, circling around me a couple of times before settling on a far away rock. I like crows - they are very smart and playful birds. I usually see them in murders though, but this one was solitary. 

American Crow

Farther down the trail there were trees that were further along with their spring budding, and had already a coat of fully expanded leaves. The young leaves were light green - fully expanded but not yet mature. 

Below the trees I found the California State flower - the California golden poppy. I never get tired of seeing these gorgeous flowers, and the poppies I saw on that hike were some of the most beautiful I've ever seen. 

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

I moved onward, going south on the dirt road trail. Soon I left the trees behind me, snd the flow of water thinned and disappeared under a blanket of sedges and rushes. I passed a flat area that clearly was flooded up until fairly recently. The dry pond turned into a lovely bog. 

Bog

The hills around m were well into their spring display, wearing a cover of yellow California buttercups. It is worth clicking on the photo to see an enlarged view of the lovely, buttercup-painted hill. 

A few trail curves more and a blue pond came into view. This pond had no trees growing near it. Perhaps it was newer than the first pond I passed on this hike. The blue water and the green backdrop of the hills gave the pond a gem's looks. I scanned the water surface from afar but saw no waterfowl.

A movement in the dead shrubs near the trail caught my attention. Turning there, I managed to get a glimpse of a rabbit diving into the dry vegetation right by the trail. I did my best to take a photo of the rabbit and only at home I found that a fully visible squirrel got himself into the frame. The squirrel got the photo-s focus but the rabbit is in there also.

Squirrel and Rabbit

When I reached the pond I saw a few bufflehead ducks floating on the water. They were on the farthest end of the pond , and seemed very peaceful and relaxed, some of them asleep with their bills tucked under their wings.

Bufflehead Ducks

I walked all the way to the south end of the pond and sat down there for a short break. I was actually very close to the end of the loop trail now, perhaps five minutes away from the parking area, but I didn't want to leave yet. I sat there, enjoying the peaceful scene of the green hills, the calm water and the ducks.

The final bit of trail was short and uneventful. This area used to be a ranch before becoming a regional park, and the impact of ranching activity there was all over the area, from the invasive grasses, to the dammed ponds and the dirt roads. The area is still used for grazing cattle, and the farming done these days is of wind energy.

Brushy Peak Loop Trail

Despite all the human activity that was and still is happening there, Brushy Peak Regional Preserve is a little jewel of the East Bay Nature. Beautiful and fairly remote, it feels spacious and wild still. A great place to escape to for a respite from daily life.