Mission Peak Regional Preserve
East Bay Regional Park District
Directions: From 680 in Fremont, CA, take the Mission Blvd exit east. Turn right on Stanford and follow it up to that park entrance.
Parking fee: none
Starting out on the Hidden Valley Trail
The view north early in the hike
Heading up hill
Looking back
A cow! Moo...
A hiker, more cows, and a tree!
You can see to San Francisco! Couldn’t do that last week!
The final segment up the trail to the peak
From the peak, looking down the other side
Yours truly at the top!
Hikers at the peak
Getting a hang glider ready for flight
Off he goes ...
Up, up and away
Heading on down to the Horse Heaven Trail
Descending down the Horse Heaven Trail
Another cow by the trail
A fence picture
I like fence pictures
Into the muck!
Some sort of bird on that rock
This water is going to need some serious filtering before I drink any of it!
View north again
View across to the Hidden Valley Trail
There’s still some fall color out there
Tree on a hill with clouds
And back to the parking lot, this hike is in the bag!
On Sunday, December 17, 2006, I hiked up to Mission Peak for the first time
I have lived in the Bay Area since September 1977 when I got my first job here out of college and until now, I have never hiked Mission Peak. I even lived in Fremont, comparatively near the park entrance for about 3 years and I never hiked it. I knew about it but then I do have a lame excuse in that until this year, I really wasn’t into hiking or even had a clue that I would like it. So I never did it. I was clueless as they say.
Well, this year I got a clue and now I feel I have a lot of lost time and hiking to make up for and I finally got around to hiking up to Mission peak.
Given how much I love my sleep, I set my alarm for 8:00 AM rather than before the crack of dawn. And given how as I’m not much of a morning person, I poked and puttered and sputtered around getting some breakfast, making coffee, and making my hiking preparations before getting out of the house about 10:45 AM. I’m slow.
The drive from my mini-house in San Jose took about 30 minutes and I arrived around 11:15 and the lot was packed. For a moment I thought I was going to have to get inventive for parking when another hiker came back to his car and held the place until I could get into position to claim it. Thank you guy whoever you are!
So I was able to park in short order, make quick use of the outhouse, gear up, and hit the trail. The trail starts out flat enough and offers clear views forward and out over the valley as you climb. And for my hike the weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. The air was clear and the scattered clouds set in the blue sky really made for a nice day.
From what other people had previously told me, I expected the temperatures up on the peak to be rather cold and I dressed for that with a fleece top over another long sleeved top. There wasn’t much of a breeze and hiking up the hill had me sweating like crazy. I considered dumping the fleece top but decided against it and I just sweated it out. And sweat it I did. The Hidden Valley Trail may not be as steep as perhaps the steepest trails and roads in Henry Coe State Park but it just climbs, and climbs, and climbs some more. You just don’t get many level spots to catch your breath on this hike, it’s mostly all uphill.
And after huffing and puffing and leaning over my trekking poles in exhaustion a few times I finally made it to the top where quite a few other hikers had already made the summit and were having lunch while enjoying the view. I think it took me around 90 minutes to make the hike up and once up there, I enjoyed my own lunch while talking to other hikers and enjoying the view.
While I was on the peak, several people hiked up with their hang gliders and set up and took off from the backside of the peak. The bright colors of their hang gliders looked magnificent flying in the thermals and really made for a festive setting that everyone seemed to enjoy.
But on the down side of being on the top of Mission Peak, it was cold up there! I was immediately glad that I had not taken off my fleece top and after I finished eating lunch, I even put on the gloves I had in my pack and I was glad for them. It was so cold up there you could see your breath!
After an hour of hanging around I headed on down opting to link with the Horse Heaven Trail to make for a longer hike while seeing some different views rather than go back the way I came. This route takes you down the hill on a regular trail rather than on a road and the views were very nice. There were also fewer hikers on this route and it all felt very peaceful. Even though you could see all of the hustle and bustle of the valley below, I really felt away from the noise and utterly relaxed. It was almost like a religious experience and I am not a religious person. It was just a perfect day.
That is except that when you climb up a mountain that goes up and up and up, you have to go down and down and down to get back. I have something of a bum left knee and at times this downhill hike was a real toe-jamming knee-buster. My knee was bothering me before I got down and I had one hot spot on the little toe of my right foot. I did not develop any blisters though and by the time I was back at my car, the pain in my knee had settled down, so I can’t really complain.
When I got back to my car I intended to turn off my GPS but I forgot and drove off for a block before realizing my error and so my GPS listed my max hiking speed as 22 mph. I can’t really walk that fast so I lost that bit of data. Oh well, a small loss for spectacular day. All in all, I had a great time, got a great workout, and I will certainly be hiking this one again!
Note date 30-Dec-2006: I hiked up Mission Peak again yesterday, a cold and windy day and as before, it was freezing on top! However, the hike up was protected from the wind and was somewhat warmed by the late afternoon sun on the way down. I have hiked in areas during the past few months that were shaded in the late afternoon and they were cold. Brrrrr. The hike up Mission Peak on the other hand, offers the warmth of the afternoon sun all the way to sunset. For a hike on cold winter days, this is a good option. Just be prepared for the cold wind at the top!
Profile and map generated from the the tracks saved by my GPS as I walked. The statistics below are from my GPS, a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. It’s not exact but it seems to agree pretty well with other sources including the TOPO! topographic maps. I wonder if the total ascent figure from my GPS is more accurate given what I presume is a greater level of integration from my tracks than what is available from the topographic map used in generating the elevation profile. I don’t actually know but either way, I really like both products and the way they work together to give a good idea of the hike!
National Geographic TOPO! software website:
GPS Stats
Distance hiked: 6.73 miles
Total ascent: 2344 ft
Trailhead Elevation: ~ 400 ft
Max Elevation: 2522 ft
Moving time: 3 hrs 11 min
Moving Average: 2.2 mph
Overall average: 1.6 mph
Time stopped: 1 hr 7 min
Personal stats
Dates Hiked:
17-Dec-2006
29-Dec-2006
Start time: 11:12 AM
Weather: High 55, low 31, wind 7 mph, a spectacular day with high visibility, sun and scattered clouds. Very cold on the peak!
Water consumed: 2 liters
plus 600 ml of Gatorade back at my car.
Finish time: 3:30 PM
Total time: 4 hrs 18 min
Beauty: Quite! And it was a great day for a hike and with the high visibility the views were spectacular!
Wildlife seen: Do cows count?
Difficulty: This is offers an almost continuous 2000+ feet climb to the top with few level breaks. There are no doubt steeper trails to climb (Henry Coe comes to mind) but this hike will give you a workout!
