Closing 2024 Hiking in a Soft Spot at Quarry Lakes Regional Park

Mission Peak, viewed from Quarry Lakes Regional park

Date: December 15, 2024

Place: Quarry Lakes Regional Park, Fremont, California

Coordinates:  37.580088, -122.003964

length: 2.9 miles

Level: easy

 

I was very busy during the three weeks I had between our last family's Thanksgiving vacation in South Carolina and Georgia (a trip I'll write about in the future) and my own personal holiday trip to visit my parents and my sister. I had no time for hikes then, but one of the days I enticed Pappa Quail to go on an impromptu hike at Quarry Lakes Regional park in Fremont. Quarry Lakes Regional park isn't wilderness by any means, but it is a lovely place to go for nice easy hikes and of course - to go birding. 

Quarry Lakes Regional Park has a few human made ponds, converted from old quarry holes that are filled with water from the nearby Alameda Creek. There are many possible routes around these lakes but on that day I went out with Pappa Quail we around just one of them, Horseshoe Lake - the biggest one. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

We parked at the north end of the park near the swim area of the lake and started down the paved path that goes north of the fenced swim area.  

The swim area is open only in the summer, and it was closed to humans. The birds however, filled the place. The beach had an assortment of white pelicans, cormorants  and gulls, and in the water floated some coots as well.  

Past the swim area we had an unfenced, clear view of the pelicans and cormorants that grouped near a boat boundary net. The pelicans kept raising and fluffing up their wings, we did not know why. 

The pelicans kept cruising through the sky, some descending, others taking off. They are pretty impressive birds, for sure.

White Pelican

All the trails in Quarry Lakes Regional Park are packed gravel roads, and walking n them makes a crunchy crunch sound. Most gravel stones look nothing unusual but sometimes something shiny stands out to the eye - Pappa Quail pointed out to me one shiny spot - a glossy golden-colored beetle. 

Jewel Beetle 

The large lake is called Horseshoe Lake because of a long peninsula that extends far into the water, segmenting the lake into two large lobes. Sometimes I skip the peninsula trail but this time I pulled Pappa Quail to go there - the park planted there an orchard of rare cultivars of fruit trees. I didn't think that anything would be in season at the time but I wanted to check it out. 

From the peninsula trail I had a very nice view of the poplar trees on the northeastern lake shore in full fall colors. 

Many other trees were already bare for the winter. Bare - but their buds very much alive, ready to spring forth in spring. Having no foliage made it easier to see the birds, and Pappa Quail captured a chestnut-backed chickadee that was feeding on those quiescent spring buds. 

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

All the birds around Quarry Lakes were well known and familiar to us, and many of them that we saw, Pappa Quail dismissed without taking their photos. Sometimes I took their photos, even though my camera has a wide lens that was better for scenery and close-up shots. 

Anna's Hummingbird

In one place went down toward the water, although not all the way. I remembered there were some avocado trees there but when I checked them out I saw they were all picked clean. 

An osprey flew overhead. This hard working, beautiful raptor feeds on fish, of which there are plenty in the lake, many of them stocked there by people. 

Osprey

We finished our peninsula excursion and resumed walking on the main trail around the Horseshoe Lake. On the other side of the trail was the park's northeastern boundary which was fenced, and behind that fence was another small pond, with a flock of mergansers. They were quite far below us. 

Common Merganser

We were heading southeast on the gravel trail between the Horseshoe Lake and the park's boundary fence. On the horizon ahead of us loomed Mission Peak, a closeup photo of which I selected to head this blogpost.  

Wherever there was a distance between the fence there was vegetation, including trees. Little birds were active in these trees and Pappa Quail paused for a few moments to look at them. Most of them were house finches.

House Finches

We continued on, at a strolling pace. I paid more attention to the plants, only few of which were wild, native California species such as the toyon bush. 

Although the coastal region has probably the longest bloom season of all the regions of California, I still didn't expect to see any wildflowers in mid-December. But then, I saw some buckwheat flowers open still. 

California Buckwheat, Eriogonum facciculatum

We reached the next trail intersection and paused there for a minute, debating whether to go on a longer loop around the next lake on the southeast, Lago de Osos. I noticed a small bird in a nearby bush and I was very proud of myself for identifying this little bush bird. 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

We decided to take the shorted way, between Horseshoe Lake and Lago de Osos and turned onto the levee that separated the two bodies of water. As soon as we had a clear view of Lago de Osos we saw a very exciting sight - the water run of western grebes. Both of us clicked our cameras at once but all I got was two small white dots out in the distance. 

Grebes in Lago de Osos

Pappa Quail did get a nice photo of the pair, though. The water run is a courtship ritual of these grebes. It begins when the pair start twisting their necks and emitting calls, then simultaneously they rise and start running on the water side by side until they run out of steam and fall back into standard swimming. 

Western Grebe

We stood there for a long while, hoping to see them go at it again, but they didn't, so we settled for a cute pair of bufflehead ducks.

Bufflehead Ducks

After a while the pair of grebes separated, each of them swimming in a different direction, and we gave up our hope of seeing them do their run once more. We resumed our walk, going southwest now, and I enjoyed the view of the calm lake under the sunny sky and the beautiful, cloud-crowned Mission Peak in the background. 

With Lago de Osos on our left and Horseshoe Lake on our right we strolled lazily on the raised levee. Horseshoe Lake is the only lake in the park where boating and fishing are allowed. We saw a couple of boats in the south lobe of the lake but for the most part, there was fairly little human activity in the water. 

Horseshoe Lake

Human activity however, isn't just recreational. The lakes within the park and also those outside it nearby, are managed by the Alameda County Water District. Far on the southeastern shore of Lago de Osos were large pipes spilling water into the lake - water shifted from the Alameda Creek. On our side, Pappa Quail pointed out, was the little suction vortex caused by the movement of water from Lago de Osos to Horseshoe Lake through an underground pipe. All of the lakes there are thus connected, and humans determine their level. 

Vortex

I took another closeup of Mission Peak. It has been a couple of years since the last time I've ascended it, but I didn't feel too strong of a draw to go back there soon. Mission Peak has become a destination for fitness seekers and its trails and summit get pretty crowded, especially on nice days. From this distance it looked aloof and human free. 

Lago de Osos

Created for recreation, Quarry Lakes Regional Park has plenty of amenities for people enjoyment. Other than toilets, picnic tables, and grills, there were also a few exercise structures, including a pull ups bar that I occasionally try my arms strength on. This time however, I didn't approach the bar. I was interested in the beautiful, bare tree above it. 

Before long we left Lago de Osos behind us. The trail continued circumventing Horseshoe Lake but on our left side was now a land area with vegetation. The taller vegetation was the dry remains of last year's annuals but below it, this year's annual plants were sprouting, greening up the ground. A sleek movement in the grasses caught our attention - it was a cat. Domestic cats, either feral or house cats on the roam are a pretty common sight in some parks in Fremont. This particular cat seemed confident in its actions and movement. I truly hope he has a home to go back to. 

Domestic Cat

Eventually we reached the next trail junction, and once again decided to take the shorter way back, turning northwest on the levee that separated Horseshoe Lake from yet another, much smaller pond called Rainbow Lake. A little farther along the trail there was a fence - a fence that went straight from the trail to the water. Although I've no idea what was the original purpose of having that fence there, I'm pretty sure it wasn't to be a vulture perch. At first there were two vultures there, but one by one others join in, forming a line of vultures along the fence, each keeping a good distance from his neighbors. 

One of the vultures was spreading his feathers, holding them in an arched posture which gave him a funny, sanctimonious look. 

Turkey Vulture

It was afternoon time when we were at the park and the sunlight was getting more golden with each step we took. When we passed the isthmus of the Horseshoe Lake's peninsula I enjoyed the sight of the fall-colored trees on the opposite shore and their pretty reflection in the water.  

West of our path, Rainbow Lake looked dark under the bright afternoon sun, and very, very calm. Pappa Quail kept searching the water surface but saw no waterfowl there at the time. 

Rainbow Lake

PastRainbow Lake we curved back north, now walking through the most recreational part of the park. The lawns on our left were dotted with numerous picnic areas and the lakeshore on our right was lined with anglers. 

This part of our walk was merely a connector leading us back to where we were parked, but we kept looking out for birds. At least, I was. 

Canada Geese

The lawn was populated with many Canada geese and a few human beings. The lake shore was populated with many humans and one domestic goose that tried snagging food from the picnic packs of the people recreating there. 

It wasn't all that late yet, but the blackbirds were already working out their social routine before bedtime, filling the bare branches of one poplar with the noise of theor calls and the flutter of their wings. 

As we curved around the north part of the Horseshoe Lake I gazed a bit longer at the calm lake. Quarry Lakes Regional Park is fairly close to my residence and I go there often - to walk, to jog, and to have events. I have never considered a walk there as a 'hike' not because it is so developed or that the trail is easy, but because I consider this park as my back yard - so familiar that I take it for granted. But when my time was pressed and I needed to go out in nature -this park was there, ready to have me as a hiker as well. 

Pappa Quail and I completed our walk around Horseshoe Lake and as we cut through the lawn to get to where we were parked I took one more photo of the lovely trees near the gates of the swim area - evergreens and deciduous, both in winter wear.