So, what do we local Yosemite/Sierra nuts do when we can't make it to the *real* mountains for the weekend getaway? Sometimes, we just have to be content to stroll around our regional parks... which this weekend meant a 28 mile day hike along the Ohlone - Sunol trail from Del Valle (south of Livermore) to the Mission Peak staging area (near Fremont). This trail has some single-track sections, but mostly follows old fire/ranch roads that meander--sometimes steeply (7600' elevation gain)--through the East Bay hills, connecting several regional parks, two of which are managed in a wilderness-like manner. The trip took us about 13 hours, but the regional park district maintains several backcountry campgrounds for whose who want to do the trip in multiple days.
We encountered only a dozen or so hikers and runners outside of the normal "day use" areas near the "Little Yosemite"/Sunol area and the Mission Peak corridor, which was unusually crowded, presumably with people who wanted to witness the rising of the weekend's "supermoon" from the summit.
Next weekend, back to the real mountains!
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