My days off are Sunday-Monday these days, which means I get a trails-to-myself day at least once a week if I want it. Today strikes me as perfect one to check out Murietta Falls on the Ohlone Trail: a day…
Alameda County parks
First time I climbed Mission Peak
by tom • January 28, 2008 • 1 Comment
For those who haven’t been reading along since the summer of 2004, here’s a look back at the day I figured out I could be a hiker. About three-quarters of the way up, I’m starting to tire out. I walk…
Latest Hikes column: Mission Peak
by tom • December 20, 2007 • 1 Comment
Posted today at www.mercurynews.com A few hours at Mission Peak Regional Preserve might make you wonder if the United Nations has a West Coast hiking club. Fremont’s signature peak attracts people from everywhere. I’ve chatted with hikers from India, China,…
Mission Peak from Ohlone College
by tom • December 3, 2007 • 9 Comments
I don’t go on many hikes that make me glad I’m done and wished I’d chosen wiser, but this was one of them. I’d hiked Mission Peak Regional preserve from every direction, save one: the parking lot at Ohlone College…
Making a mess of Mission Peak
by tmangan • September 22, 2007 • 3 Comments
I spent about 20 minutes yesterday chatting with a East Bay Parks volunteer cop at Mission Peak, one of a few who carry police radios, report crimes to the real cops and try to keep fools from ruining the hillsides…
History of Mission Peak
by tmangan • September 9, 2007 • 0 Comments
I received an e-mail this morning pointing to a history of the people who’ve lived around Mission Peak since the 1850s. At one point there was a game preserve up there, which produced this anecdote: In approximately 1916 a hiker…
HIKES: Coyote Hills Regional Park
by tmangan • April 19, 2007 • 0 Comments
(This is my new column in the Mercury News Eye section; I’m archiving it here.) An easy oasis amid civilization’s sprawl Fremont will never be mistaken for an outdoors mecca – you either dodge the throngs at Lake Elizabeth or…
Lessons learned while fogged in
by tmangan • April 8, 2007 • 3 Comments
Some of you might be saying to yourselves, “Tom, why do you keep going back to the same ol’ places.” Laziness, mostly, but there are times when knowing the terrain like the back of one’s hand (though, come to think…
The people you meet on the trail
by tmangan • March 19, 2007 • 0 Comments
Kathleen used to work in the research library at the paper. I used to take a shortcut through her office, right past her desk. Probably passed it a thousand times. Yesterday I was at the Sunol Regional Wilderness, sitting on…