Sunol Regional Wilderness
Directions: From I-680 near Sunol just south of Pleasanton, take the Calaveras Road/Highway 84 exit. Turn left onto Calaveras Road and go to Geary Road, which leads directly to the park.
Parking Fee: $5.00 and a $2 permit (includes a great map) required to hike the Ohlone Trail
Facilities: Outhouses at the Visitor Center, free maps and picnic tables and barbeque pits
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On Sunday 15-Jun-2008, I joined in with the Stanford Outing Club in a hike along the Ohlone Trail at the Sunol Regional Wilderness
National Geographic TOPO! software website:
Ave GPS and TOPO! Stats
Distance hiked: 14.4 miles
Total ascent: 4000 ft
Trailhead Elevation: 390 ft
Max Elevation: 2880 ft
Moving time: 6 hrs 30 min
Moving Average: 2.2 mph
Overall average: 1.6 mph
Time stopped: 2 hrs 10 min
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
15-Jun-2008
Start time: 9:45 AM
Weather: Temperatures around 90F, clear, sunny, and warm to hot.
Water consumed: ~4.0 liters
plus 600 ml Gatorade
Finish time: 6:25 PM
Total time: ~ 8 hrs 40 min
Beauty: The hills were golden in that beautiful California way. I am sure it would be spectacular in the spring with the hills green from the winter rains and wildflowers.
Wildlife seen: Rabbits, a snake, squirrels, and birds
Difficulty: This hike was strenuous. I am not the strongest of hikers and especially given the warm weather, I could not finish it. This was the first hike I have done that I could not finish. The full length would have been about 20 miles with (I think) around 5000 feet of elevation gain.
How many times have I said it? I have never been here or I have never been there but finally I went. Well, in all the years I have lived in the Bay Area I have not been to the Sunol Regional Wilderness, that is until now.
On Sunday, June 15, 2008 I attempted to hike with the Stanford Outing Club from the Sunol Regional Wilderness Park Headquarters to Rose Peak as an out and back hike. Our planned route took us from the Indian Joe Trail to the McCorkle Trail to the Ohlone Wilderness Trail and back in a hike led again by “V”.
This hike was billed as a strenuous 19+ mile hike with at least 2800 feet of elevation gain. I think the distance was about right but the elevation gain turned out to be a bit more, and for those who finished the hike I am guessing hit close to 5000 feet of gain.
We began our hike at the parking lot crossing a little bridge to the Indian Joe Trial and after a short distance of walking on flat ground we started climbing into the hills until we reached the McCorkle Trail and then we climbed some more.
And before long we linked up with the Ohlone Wilderness Trail and except for where the trail went downhill giving up precious elevation, we climbed and all we did was climb. And let’s face it, at 56 I am not particularly young anymore. I have a sedentary job, precious little time to exercise, and I just don’t have it in my heart, lungs, and legs to keep up with strong hikers, even though I try. And I tried but the other hikers left me in the dust.
I was the slowest one up the hills all day long and the others were perpetually waiting for me. And the heat didn’t help. I was just dying out there. By the time we got 7 miles in and 2800 feet up (total elevation gain at that point was over 3100 feet) I was just worn out and I had sucked a 3 liter Camelbak dry.
I still had a second full 3 liter Camelback in my backpack to I wasn’t out of water, but my legs were rubber and I was just exhausted. And then knowing that Rose Peak was over 3800 feet high and we were only at 2880 feet and still had almost another thousand feet to climb, I gave up. On this warm day I just didn’t have it in me to finish.
What amazed me though was that on the way up we passed an REI backpacking class of older men and women coming down the hill who had hiked up to Rose Peak the previous day in warmer weather and with heavier backpacks and they did it and I couldn’t!
So at the point I gave up I told “V” he should forge ahead with the rest of the group and I would probably just wait there for them to come back on the return. Another woman decided she had had enough too and so she stayed with me while we sat on a log under a big shady oak and ate our lunches and recovered. After about 45 minutes we both felt good enough to get going and so we headed back down the hill. The time at that point was about 2:30 PM.
On the way down though, the woman I was hiking with ran out of water, having sucked her 3 liter Camelbak dry and she didn’t have anything left to drink. Always prepared, I had a liter bottle of Gatorade in my pack and I gave that to her and it got her through.
About half way back though, another hiker from our main group caught up with us as he was beating feet to finish on time for a family event that night. The guy was super human and flew over the hills like crazy. But he told us that another hiker had made it to Rose Peak and then she hit the wall there and was pretty much out of energy.
Wow, I could relate to that as it was pretty close to how I felt. I didn’t completely hit the wall as I have learned to pace myself to save something to finish a hike on. But worrying that a hiker could be in a bad spot miles from the trailhead, I told the ranger on duty about it when I got back. He was going to go out on the park’s little 4 wheel ATV to see if he could find “V” and this hiker.
I don’t know the outcome of that other than I know that “V” got her out OK. He always does and that is another reason I like hiking with him. He never leaves a hiker behind.
Otherwise, I hate being defeated by a hike and this one defeated me. I guess that happens to a lot of people. And sometimes they persevere and finally conquer their goal. Well, now I have a goal to conquer. I’ll be back!
