INCH Hike: Eagle Peak

309. Eagle Peak (03/15/03)

Hikers (13): Bunny, David, Eugene, Glen, Hoy, Mozhdeh, Nancy, Nanda, Peter, Russ, Sergei, Steve, Sue
Distance: 8 miles
Rating: 3 difficulty, 8 beauty
Park info: Las Trampas Regional Wilderness near San Ramon

Write-up by Sue -- Pictures by Bunny (pictures gone!)

Sergei and I were the first to arrive at the trailhead. We wanted to be there early to make sure we did not miss the re-enactment of the wild bull incident from the previous visit to Las Trampas. On cue, we heard a very loud and agitated bull off in the distance. Suddenly, on the hill in front of us (safely behind a fence) there he was. A HUGE bull was stomping his way down the path and being very vocal. Alright! The anticipation was building.

As the rest of the hikers arrived, we shared the bull story to help build the excitement. The hikers were not as worried about the bull as they were the weather. It had been raining for a couple of days and so everyone had to decide what to wear and bring for the hike.

1, 2, 3, ... INCH!

And we are off. Our usual fast pace was hampered by mud, mud, and more mud. Mud on the trail, mud on our shoes, mud on our legs. There was so much mud, we thought it would be a great idea if Peter got some of those trucking mud flaps for his boots. You know, the ones with a silhouette of a woman on them. He was kicking up mud everywhere. After a light rain, and a steep climb, the trail became firmer and our romp in the mud was done.

Did the hike notice mention 3 peaks?

Peak #1 (Las Trampas Peak): Very nice. The important thing to note about Peak #1 is that Steve had left the trail to find some GeoCache so Bunny was able to take a picture of Steve well below the peak and behind us on the trail. We started back down the trail on our way to the next peak and waved "hello" to Steve on his way to Peak #1. That would be the last we saw of Steve for the rest of the day. He ended up hiking totally different trails, but recovered quite a bit of GeoTreasure along the way.

Peak #2 (Eagle Peak): Very different terrain from Peak #1. We had to climb over fences and up over rocky outcroppings to get to Peak #2. Since there is not a "trail" over rocks, it was tricky at times to make sure we were headed in the correct direction.

Eugene has a Simpsons' watch that says "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?". Usually he plays the watch to see if we are at the top, or nearing the end of a hike. In this case we were all wondering about the location of the famous bull and tree incident. Eugene had volunteered to be the bull, Russ was going to be Jerry, and I would have to try and fill Taylor's shoes for the staged play. We were traversing along a top of a tree covered hill when voila! there was the tree. With some quick direction from Peter we dove full-hearted into the famous re-enactment. Peter continued to coach us: "Taylor was higher up in the tree, and more frightened", "The bull was madder", Jerry was on that tiny branch"....THOMP! What happened? That wasn't part of the play. Jerry (aka Russ) had fallen out of the tree! Oh my. Now we had a new story to tell about the "Mad Bull Reenactment" incident. Russ survived with some nasty looking scrapes down the back of his arm.

[There was once a picture here]
This re-enactment is all wrong -- Jerry didn't fall out of the tree!

Peak #3 (Top of Amigo Trail): Nothing like leaving the hardest, steepest, hottest trail for last. The reward at the top was a well deserved break with some beautiful views of hills and valley. The grass on the hills was emerald green from all the rain, and spring flowers were in full bloom. On the trip down the hill we were inspired to sing songs from "Sound of Music", and rejoice that the cows on the hillside had left us alone.

Steve met us back in the parking lot, and then Peter treated us to Taco Bell in San Ramon.

Life is good.

See more pics on Bunny's page.

Milestones:
David's 1^st leaf