Adventure Time!: October 2011

Yesterday I went hiking with a couple of friends as it's on my list of things to check out before moving to LA. Mission Peak is infamous among the locals as a tough hike and it's always brought up on facebook. I made it my mission to see if this peak was as intimidating as people made it sound and there's only one way to find out!

I'd say we took too much time looking for the actual entrance and an unlocked bathroom on campus of Ohlone College. We walked around the campus which was pretty big and reminded me of an M.C. Escher drawing with all the stairways and railings. After 30 minutes, we asked someone who knew where he was going and was pointed to a porto-potty. Then we probably took another 30 minutes walking up a paved road into a construction zone then turning around and spotting another friend driving into the wrong road. On the journey back to the parking lot, we found out the entrance was right across the lot entrance next to the cows and horses....

Upon entering a few cattle gates, we were greeted with cow pie and horse crap explosion. Then we started up on a gravel path where we crossed paths with rolly pollies and stink bugs. some stink bugs went up into stink position. We then saw 2 puppies finishing their hike all dirty and dusty. They left brown pawprints on our pants.

Then we spotted a cave! Photo Op!

Forest part means possible ticks and poison oak!

No more trees means no more shade! We also decided to take a shortcut which is steeper yet a more direct route than the actual trail. The trail became more zigzaggy.

Trail became flatter and straight forward until we hit a rest stop with a restroom and a picnic table. We took a break, refueled, and waited for 2 people to catch up.