Hiking Flag Hill
We knew we were going to go somewhere this weekend. Hiking somewhere, that is. With Spring-like temperatures and clear skies forecast all weekend we knew we had to. Plus, spring, especially early spring in this area, means hillsides that are swathed in brown 10 months out of the year are currently bathed in green. Heck, we'd even try to get out hiking both days!
We got a bit of a late start Saturday morning. Because of that we thought we might want to pick a shorter/easier hike. But then we figured since (a) so many options are relatively close by and (b) Daylight Saving Time ( we switched last weekend) means it won't be dark until 7pm, we'd do something a bit more ambitious. What a great time for a Flag Hill hike!
Flag Hill is one of several worthwhile hikes at the Sunol Regional Wilderness in... uh... kind of the middle of nowhere on the backside of the Bay Area. We drove I-680 out toward Livermore but exited the highway in the Sunol Valley, along a stretch of road that seems to have only a concrete factory and a perennial purge of vultures perching on the pylons of high voltage lines nearby. Then, as if that wasn't nowheresville enough, we drove about 10 miles south, deeper into the hills.
Our sense of timing was amply rewarded. It is green out here. Like, ridiculously green. And on a beautiful day like today the park was busy. They had a ranger collecting fees at the entry kiosk- often it's left unstaffed, and entry is free- and we got one of the last parking spots near this trailhead.
The trail up to Flag Hill starts with crossing a creek. There's a steel and concrete footbridge, so that's no issue. Then the trail starts climbing- up, up, up- through a scraggly forest of Live Oak. It takes a while before you can actually see Flag Hill. But when it breaks into view.... Oh, my.
Did I mention how it's so green out here? Ridiculously green? Well, it is. And that fact kept triggering our "Wow" reflex over and over.
Another thing that got triggered was my lingering upper respiratory infection. Yes, the one I boasted about finally being over after 28 days. Nope, not over! It's only subsided well enough that I don't cough or experience bronchitis in the course of my normal, sedentary daily life. Out here on the trail, though, climbing steeply toward a gain of of 1,000', the struggle for breath comes back. D'oh!
I was determined not to let the breathing problems stop me. They would only slow me. I measured myself walking at about two-thirds my normal pace. And maybe taking longer rests than usual.
The good news/bad news about taking frequent rest breaks on the way up to Flag Hill is that there's so much worth pausing to see. As the trail breaks out of the forest about a third of the way up there are views everywhere. And right now they're ridiculously green. I did mention that already, right? And as the trail winds around the hills and ravines below the rocky summit Flag Hill the views are ever changing- views to the ridges to the west (as above), views to the ridges to the east, even views to Calaveras Reservoir to the south would soon appear.
Update: Keep reading in part 2!
We got a bit of a late start Saturday morning. Because of that we thought we might want to pick a shorter/easier hike. But then we figured since (a) so many options are relatively close by and (b) Daylight Saving Time ( we switched last weekend) means it won't be dark until 7pm, we'd do something a bit more ambitious. What a great time for a Flag Hill hike!
Flag Hill is one of several worthwhile hikes at the Sunol Regional Wilderness in... uh... kind of the middle of nowhere on the backside of the Bay Area. We drove I-680 out toward Livermore but exited the highway in the Sunol Valley, along a stretch of road that seems to have only a concrete factory and a perennial purge of vultures perching on the pylons of high voltage lines nearby. Then, as if that wasn't nowheresville enough, we drove about 10 miles south, deeper into the hills.
Our sense of timing was amply rewarded. It is green out here. Like, ridiculously green. And on a beautiful day like today the park was busy. They had a ranger collecting fees at the entry kiosk- often it's left unstaffed, and entry is free- and we got one of the last parking spots near this trailhead.
The trail up to Flag Hill starts with crossing a creek. There's a steel and concrete footbridge, so that's no issue. Then the trail starts climbing- up, up, up- through a scraggly forest of Live Oak. It takes a while before you can actually see Flag Hill. But when it breaks into view.... Oh, my.
Did I mention how it's so green out here? Ridiculously green? Well, it is. And that fact kept triggering our "Wow" reflex over and over.
Another thing that got triggered was my lingering upper respiratory infection. Yes, the one I boasted about finally being over after 28 days. Nope, not over! It's only subsided well enough that I don't cough or experience bronchitis in the course of my normal, sedentary daily life. Out here on the trail, though, climbing steeply toward a gain of of 1,000', the struggle for breath comes back. D'oh!
I was determined not to let the breathing problems stop me. They would only slow me. I measured myself walking at about two-thirds my normal pace. And maybe taking longer rests than usual.
The good news/bad news about taking frequent rest breaks on the way up to Flag Hill is that there's so much worth pausing to see. As the trail breaks out of the forest about a third of the way up there are views everywhere. And right now they're ridiculously green. I did mention that already, right? And as the trail winds around the hills and ravines below the rocky summit Flag Hill the views are ever changing- views to the ridges to the west (as above), views to the ridges to the east, even views to Calaveras Reservoir to the south would soon appear.
Update: Keep reading in part 2!