Visiting Ukraina, at Garin Regional Park

 

Date: March 26, 2025 

Place: Garin Regional Park, Hayward, California

Coordinates: 37.651985, -122.016029

Length: 3.3 miles

Level: easy  

 

Last month I met with a friend of mine, and what a better way for a friendly meeting than a nice hike in the outdoors? For our hike I selected the Ukraina Trail in Garin Regional Park. I've hiked that trail back in 2021 and I thought it would be nice to revisit it. The Ukraina Trail isn't connected with the main trail system in Garin Regional Park. To get to the trailhead we had to drive all around the park and behind Cal State East Bay. There wasn't even a designated parking area there, so we simply parked at the road side and started down the trail. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 The first part of the trail was a paved road, too narrow or car traffic and quite wide, to accommodate plenty of hikers and bike riders. 

I was excited to see California poppies by the side of the trail. The poppies were in bloom but the flowers were closed - it was a cloudy and very windy day, and these poppies like the bright sunshine,

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

After a short distance of pavement the trail changed into a gravel road. The gravel was well packed and had no potholes or puddles. The clouds raced across the sky and the wind blew at our faces.

I found one poppy that braved the wind and the clouds and was open. I didn't see any insects visiting it, but perhaps it was rewarded later.

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

The sky was cloudy but there was no fog below. We had a very nice view to the southwest. My friend asked about the hills at the bay shore. These were Coyote Hills, in Fremont. 

Coyote Hills View

There were more wildflowers along the trail. Miner's lettuce was one of the most common flowers I've seen on that hike. There were carpets of them, mixed in with the grasses.

Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia parviflora

Blue-eyed grass was also blooming. I saw only a few at first, but when I looked further up the slope I could see many more in between the bushes.

Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium bellum

The trail led us to a grove of eucalyptus trees. Eucalyptus, a native of Australia, was introduced in California in the 19th century and established itself all around the Bay Area, altering forever its forests and wildlife niches.

Behind the eucalyptus grove the view to the west opened up. There we could see the northern peninsula peaks of Montara Mountain.

View West

We reached the first historic part of this area, but neither of us felt like exploring the old and crumbling ranch structures. Nearby was a fence behind which was a very lovely, modern estate that looked very much lived-in. I wondered if the people living there were descendants of the people who worked the old ranch before it became a park.

Old Barn

We crossed a little creek that flowed lazily through a pipe below the trail. The willows shadowing the creek were already past their bloom time and were growing their spring foliage.

Behind the creek the trail split and we continued ahead where the Ukraina Trail sign directed us. The trail was now packed dirt, and was flanked on the west by tall eucalyptus and thick oak trees, and on the east with open grassland above which circled a committee of turkey vultures.

In the open grassland, or more like it, in the more exposed areas and the clearings of the grassland, bloomed man primrose plants. They were the most common wildflower on this part of the hike, often covering the trail itself. 

Sun Cup, Taraxia ovata

We got away from the eucalyptus grove and soon the trail delved into a very different grove of trees - the local species combination of oaks and laurels. 

Ukraina Trail

The oaks like growing in rocky places of the round, grassy hills. When oaks sprout and establish themselves in rock cracks they eventually split the rock apart. I've seen the outcome in many places,  and also here, along the Ukraina Trail.

There were a few other wildflowers blooming between the grasses beside the primrose. One of them was the purple sanicle, the same species that I've seen a week before on my backpacking trip in Henry W. Coe State Park. 

Purple Sanicle, Sanicula bipinnatifada 

We reached the historical landmark area where the orthodox priest Agapius Honcharenko and his wife settled and are now buried. We paused by the state landmark sign to read the information. I don't know what is the significance of the pinecones piled on that sign, if there is any. 

Next to the landmark sign was another information sign telling more about Honcharenko and his work. Apprently we weren't the only ones interested in the sign though - a little spider was crawling in it. 

The historic landmark area was fenced but the gate was open, so we walked in and approached the vista point at the edge of the hill. There was a bench there, and a large pine tree fenced with old wood boards. I figured that the fenced are was the grave site. 

The grave site was marked with two orthodox crosses, similar to those I saw near Fort Ross last year. I assumed that the pine tree grew after the priest and his wife were buried there. Perhaps the cones piled on the landmark sign fell from this pine tree. 

On the wood fence of the grave site were little ornaments and trinkets painted in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. 

My friend and I sat down on the bench. We chatted, snacked, and enjoyed the view. We could see San Francisco from that view point. 

San Francisco View

My friend spotted a bumblebee below us, in the grasses. The bee flew heavily between the few stork's bill flowers that bloomed there. Stork's bill are highly invasive plants but the bee didn't discriminate. Besides, there weren't many other options nearby at the time. 

Bumblebee

My friend also asked about the far away trail that run along the exposed green hills before the big drop to the city below. The city was Hayward, of course, and those hills were the more accessible and certainly more visited part of Garin Regional Park. 

Hayward View

After a while it was time to get going again. The wind was still pretty strong and chilly, but the clouds separated and we were treated to lovely sunshine. 

Ukraina Trail

We continued south after exiting the historical landmark area, on the Ukraina Trail loop. I identified some more wildflowers in the grasses, such as the miniature lupine. 

Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor

A few oaks decorated the ridge top but for the most part the hills were exposed to the elements, covered with only open grassland, like the soft down that covers newborn babies' skin. 

Ukraina Trail

There were lots of mushrooms in the grass. Occasionally I stopped and took a photo, but for the most part I settled for simply pointing them out. They all looked very fresh, as if sprouted right after the most recent rains. 

My friend pointed out to me a long straight line of rocks and asked if they were the remains of a human-made hedge. I pondered her question - these certainly could have been the remains of a human-made structure. Roughly constructed stone hedges were a common practice in the old world farms. 

Most of the rocks we've seen looked completely naturally placed, though. And there were little clamps of poppies around and between the rocks, too.  

The trail curved east and then north. Suddenly my friend exclaimed - she nearly stepped on a snake that was lying across the trail. The snake was motionless and my friend thought it might be dead. When I approached the animal I saw that it was a little garter snake, and that it was definitely alive. I took a few photos with my camera and moved away. A few steps further I thought it would be nice to take a photo with my phone too but when I returned to where the snake was, I saw it slithering into the grass at the edge of the trail. 

Garter Snake

From the easter side of the Ukraina Loop Trail we had a wonderful view of the wide plateau that was the height of the coastal range in this area. With the fluffy white clouds and the rocks below the view reminded me of a Georgia O'Keefe painting. 

More mushrooms in the grass seasoned our hike. My friend and I had a good time and we were catching up with each other on a number of topics. 

For some distance the trail neared a fence that marked the park's boundary. Looking ahead I thouight I saw a slight movement. I stopped and looked through my camera lens. Sure enough - there was an animal - a rabbit - in the grass close to the bushes by the fence. 

We approached slowly, little by little, taking photos with each step. Eventually the rabbit did run off to the bushes. The photo of the bunny running was the best of my rabbit photo series. 

Cottontail Rabbit

A few steps later we found more mushrooms. These mushrooms were growing on the best possible nutrition a mushroom can have - a good size cow pie. 

A small puddle remained from the most recent rains. The puddle shone like a little jewel embedded in the grass, reflecting the sky. Thankfully it wasn't warm enough yet for mosquitoes. 

We followed the trail onward to the north. On the horizon on the northeast were large, beautiful houses. The houses looked relatively new. The city was growing on the expense of the open farmland. The farmland too, was worked where was wilderness before. At leased the parks were keeping open spaces from the urban sprawl. 

Ukraina Trail

We completed the Ukraina Loop Trail. The way back was the same we came in on - that packed gravel trail that cut through the old farm area. 

A few dark-eyed juncos foraged on the trail before us. With some patience and with the unexpected cooperation I got a nice photo of one of these little, hyperactive birds. 

Dark-eyed Junco

The rest of the hike passed quickly. The wind never ceased blowing, neither did it ease, and the clouds were returning. Both of us were sorry that the hike was over so quickly, so we decided to go on another trail at the Hayward Shorline. 

I did note that the poppies that were closed at the beginning of our hike were now open. That hour of sunlight must have convinced the poppies to open up. 

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

Ukraina Trail was a lovely, easy hike in a very peaceful part of Garin Park, away from all the city hassle. It was certainly worth the round about drive to get there, and I hope to check it out again in the future.