![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3293.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\nDid those birds really just crash into each other, I wondered? <\/p>\n
I was hiking along the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, hearing the occasional raptor
\nscreeches from high above me, when I saw what appeared to be a midair collision
\nat the edge of my field of vision. This was about 12 miles into an 8-hour, 19.2-miile
\nbeast of a trek I had chosen because, well, the weather was cool and the drive
\nwas short, compared to some of the hikes I’ve undertaken this summer. <\/p>\n
So I stop and stare straight up at these two big, broad-winged beasts — a
\ngolden eagle and a hawk, I’m guessing — soaring in circles on the warm-air
\ncurrents, and I realize they’re trying to maneuver into attack position. Like
\nwarships of the 18th century, they’re big, powerful and hostage to the winds.
\nThey execute impressive twists and turns and sure enough, they collide once
\nagain. After that they resumed soaring, circling and screeching, and I left
\nthem to their aerial combat. <\/p>\n
Awhile later I see another hawk swoop in for a landing in the tall grass near
\nthe trail. I figure a mouse’s day is about to take a terrifying turn for the
\nworse, but the bird sees me and flies off. Along about Mile 17.2, when the soles
\nof my feet are seeking U.N. sanctions against my brain, I take consolation in
\nthe thought that I may have saved a field mouse’s life. <\/p>\n
Scenes like this make me grateful my vision relies on the human eye rather
\nthan, say, a cheap digital camera, which always seems to be turned off and packed
\naway someplace when all the cool stuff happens. As usual I’ve relied on taking
\npictures of things which, being inanimate, are content to stand still while
\nI get the camera focused. <\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Posting this picture of the "W Tree" should not be construed as an
\nendorsement of any political figures currently in the news. <\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3295.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
OK, so more about the hike. I started out at the headquarters of the Sunol
\nRegional Wilderness and hiked east on a gravel road for a couple miles to get
\nwarmed up for the hills to be climbed. I’d end up far higher than the hills
\npictured here. My goal was Rose Peak, which is 10 miles from the park HQ and
\n3,400 feet higher. I trimmed off four-tenths of a mile by starting from the
\nfar eastern edge of the parking lot, then headed down the mostly-flat road past
\nLittle Yosemite (so named because it’s a little bit like Yosemite: it has running
\nwater, a canyon and a few big rocks). <\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3298.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
I got on the Ohlone Wilderness Trail here, at the border of Sunol’s backpacking
\narea. It’s a brutally steep slog up a hillside from here, but it’s over quickly.\n<\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3303.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
The rocks along the trail are impressive, but not particularly photogenic in
\nthe way trees are. <\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3314.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
Here’s one such tree.<\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3320.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
The hike to Rose Peak is mostly uphill, except for one plunge into a valley
\nabout 2.5 miles from peak. From here it’s another thousand feet of uphill drudgery.
\nThe summit is not visible till you’re almost right on top of it, so there’s
\nno goal to keep your mind focused. I just thought back to all the hellish hills
\nI hiked at Henry Coe State Park, which taught me to never think of the top of
\nthe hill until you’re dead certain you’re there. <\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3330.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
A tree stump near the Rose Peak summit, though summit is a bit of a misnomer.
\nIt’s really just the high point on this particular ridge. It’s not a "mountain"
\nlike, say, Mount Diablo. The best time to be here is in late fall, winter or
\nearly spring, when there’s less haze over the flatlands. I camped out near here
\nlast year and could see San Jose, Pleasanton and Mt. Diablo in the distance.\n<\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3344.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
Another picturesque, dearly departed tree, not far from where I interrupted
\nthe hawk’s lunch. <\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3348.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
Goat Rock is one of the more more impressive features along the Ohlone Trail.\n<\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3357.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
The view through a hole in a hollow tree. No elves were sighted. <\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3358.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
Just a garter snake, no reason to be alarmed, folks. <\/p>\n
![](\"\/2006images\/08-07-06-ohlonetrail\/IMG_3367.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
Another big rock formation near the entrance to the Sunol backpackers’ area.<\/p>\n
This was my longest one-day hike to date. I came home tired and footsore, happy
\nto have proved I could handle a near-20-mile distance with 3,000 feet of elevation
\ngain, and thankful for cool ocean breezes that made the whole walk doable in
\nAugust. <\/p>\n
Though the countryside around here has become familiar enough that the wow
\nfactor has worn off, I still get a kick out of walking in these hills. They
\nare not spectacular like the Sierra peaks, but they are, for want of a better
\nadjective, scenic. And addictive, which would explain the urge to hike past
\nthe point of sanity in them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Did those birds really just crash into each other, I wondered? I was hiking along the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, hearing the occasional raptor screeches from high above me, when I saw what appeared to be a midair collision at the…<\/p>\n