Mission Peak (from Ohlone College) 2015-05-18

Apollo and I had hiked Mission Peak at the end of January from Stanford Ave. It was time to hike the Bay Area favorite again, but this time from Ohlone College. Plenty of parking is available at the college parking lot (43600 Mission Blvd, Fremont, CA) for a nominal $2 fee.

It was in the mid 50s and cloudy with an occasional light drizzle. From the parking lot, the access to the trails is about a quarter-mile. We chose to stick to the Peak Trail and skip the Panorama & Dry Creek Trails by Ohlone College. Peak Trail climbs steadily right from the get go. You'll see an interesting cave within the first mile in the trail.

A little ahead, the trail opens up to a broader dirt trail and the picturesque hills will unfold in front of you. The trail narrows and gets some shade cover in the section that runs right by Mill Creek Rd. It didn't make a difference today, but on a warmer day, you would welcome the shade. 

Once you are past Mill Creek Rd, the trail again widens to a fire road. Thanks to EBRPD's dog friendly rules, I could leave Apollo off-leash for the better part of the climb. We came across a couple of defiant calves, who stood their ground as Apollo and I made our way past them. Almost 3 miles into the hike, you will see the Hang Gliding launch spot. You should be able to see the peak from here. Unfortunately, in addition to being cloudy, the peak was covered by a stubborn, thick fog. While the cloudy, foggy day made the climb that much easier, it did impact some of the views today. You win some, you lose some!

The home stretch climb to the peak was in a thick fog with a visibility of about 10 feet. Just shy of 4 miles into the hike, we reached Mission Peak. It was a bit cold, making it somewhat uncomfortable to hang around there. Instead of trekking right back, I decided to explore the trails ahead of the peak. 

The descent from the peak is gentle in the other direction. I went ahead on Horse Heaven Trail for a while before retracing my steps and taking the Eagle Trail to loop around the peak and come to the hang gliding spot. It was a steady climb down all the way back to the trail head. I got to see a beautiful yellow billed magpie on the way up and in much closer quarters at the trail head. 

Our ~9 mile hike today took more than 3 hours and involved an ascend of 2100 feet over 4 miles. Hiking Mission peak from this spot is more peaceful - there's a lot less traffic compared to Stanford Ave, it's a slightly easier climb, and there are no parking woes. 

More pictures from the hike.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #MissionPeak #EBRPD











Update 2015-08-15

Celebrated Indian Independence with an early morning hike to Mission Peak from Ohlone College. After back to back hikes, Apollo took the day off, especially since he'd done this hike before. I did this hike with my friend Shubho Nag.

We hit the trail at 6 am, when the park officially opens from Ohlone College entrance. It was cool with a gentle breeze blowing. The sun was just rising in the eastern horizon and we were treated to some really awesome sights of the hillside, sky and the valley. It was as though the brown hillside was getting painted with an orange brush and the valley was getting awash with a orange hue as the sun climbed up.

My friend set a brisk pace and the hike itself was a relentless 2100 feet climb. He was definitely fitter than me and I felt good keeping up with him. Our first break was at the peak, about 75 minutes from the start covering almost 4 miles. The route we followed was exactly the same one I did earlier on 5/18.

We had reached the peak just in time for a well deserved few minutes at the top for ourselves. Today being weekend, I was expecting hordes of hikers at the peak; sure enough, they materialized as we made our way back from the top. There were so many people that it felt like we were at "Mission Peak Mall". I even saw couple of "conducted tours to Mission Peak". The popularity of this peak, especially from Stanford Ave entrance is simply amazing!

We retraced our steps on the way back, making it a 7.7 mile out and back hike shaving about a mile off my earlier hike on 5/18 that included the Eagle trail. This was also my best time hiking Mission peak at a brisk pace of 3.3 mph. 

Few more pictures from the hike.
#Hiking #MissionPeak #EBRPD