INCH Hike: Mission Peak

65. Mission Peak (05/09/98)

Hikers (10): Analy, Eugene, Jamie, Jinglan, Nanda, Peter, Ram, Russ, Steve, Taylor
Distance: 6 miles
Rating: 4 difficulty, 9 beauty
Park info: Mission Peak Regional Preserve in Fremont

Write-up by Peter

Due to the time limitation of people having to get back quickly for various events, we had to choose a short hike that was close to home. So once again, it was the default hike: Mission Peak.

Taylor originally planned to stay at home, but when I arrived at Intel and found Analy had showed up, I knew what we had to do ... Eugene whipped out the cell phone and we rushed home to pick up Taylor. OK ... let's get the show on the road.

We met up with Nanda and Ram at the trailhead. They had parked right across from one another, but had not seen each other there. Very strange! The good news was that Ram had not brought his dogs this time (the previous time had been quite a disaster!).

The Man had brought his hiking boots, but only one had a lace in it. Looks like it would have to be a sneaker hike for Rusty. High Bone Density!

1, 2, 3, ... INCH!

Due to all the recent rains, I thought that this might be a super-muddy hike, but the footing was actually pretty good. The weather was cloudy and cool .... all the ingredients for a good hike!

Esty jumped out into the lead, followed by Rusty, then Nanda and myself, followed by Eugene, Jamie, and then the rest of the pack. As we worked our way up the hill, I could see Eugene short-cutting his way up. If the shortcut trails were not so steep, that would be good cause for a Black Leaf!

Esty made it to the top in just under an hour. Rusty came in on the hour mark, and Nanda and I were a couple of minutes behind. Even in his sneakers, The Man smoked me up the hill. The Man could probably wear high heels and still kick my butt, but let's not get into that kinky stuff here!

Eugene and Jamie arrived a few minutes later. We sat on the rocks and admired the view while waiting for the others to show up. It was a nice clear day and the views were great in all directions. After a few minutes, the joy of sitting at the top began to fade -- it was cold and very windy (Eugene's watch showed the temperature to be 49 degrees, and that doesn't include the wind chill). Naturally, I had not followed my own advice and had not brought anything warm to wear. Sitting in a cold wind with only a clammy T-shirt and shorts for protection is not fun!

Just as I was about to give up and head down, Ram and Jinglan showed up. They told us that Taylor and Analy were still quite a ways back, so I decided to throw in the towel and head back down.

We caught up with the girls about a half-mile below the peak. They were still working their way up, but Analy was looking a little green. We decided it would be best if they just turned back at that point. Not surprisingly, they didn't argue with that!

The highlight of the trip back down was The Man cursing at the people driving their hang gliders to the top. El Presidente was not amused! If you can't hike to the top, you don't deserve to be on Mission Peak!

Milestones:
Analy's 1^st leaf