Ohlone Wilderness Trail
Ohlone wilderness trail is a great escape for people in the bay area to enjoy a weekend's solitude. The 28-mile trail starts at Del Valle and ends at Fremont or vice versa. However, hiking from east to west is more favored by hikers as they will face the steepest ascent in the first day while they're still fresh. The ascent is called Big Burn which gains 1,500 ft in elevation in 1.6 miles of trail. Normally thru-hikers will take 3 days to complete the trail. For people who don't have the luxury of time, they will hike the Del Valle - Sunol section for the weekend. The trail climbs Rose Peak (3,817 ft) and Mission Peak (2,517 ft) which provide great views to the bay area. East Bay Regional Park has setup 40 trail markers (OT1 - OT40) at intersections for hikers to follow the right directions. This trail is recommended by Backpacker magazine as one of the best urban escape in US.
I have the opportunities to hike the trail in parts. Below are the details:
4/21/2006 - 4/23/2006 Sunol Backpacking
This was the first backpacking activity hosted by East Bay Regional Park and I was luck to be part of it. The leaders was Joe Staple and two other staff from the park. In total, we had 11 members to join the trip. The trip was for novice who wanted to learn how to backpack so most members were the first-time backpackers. In the trip, we hiked part of Ohlone trail and stayed in one of its camp site (Sunol Backpack Camping Area).
Leader: Joe Staple and two others
Member: Jason, David, Bruce and 8 others
Total: 15 miles
Elevation gain: 3,800 feet
Type: out-and-back group hike
Class 1 hike
Load: 25 lbs
Gears: REI UL 45 pack / TNF Tadpole 23 tent / Valandre Mirage 20 sleeping bag / Therm-A-Rest Prolite 3 pad / Jetboil stove / Leki Super Makalu hiking poles / Garmin GPSMAP 60c
4/21/2006 Sunol Visiter Center - Sunol Backpack Camping Area
In the afternoon, we gathered at the stable near the visiter center for preparation. Hiked the Camp Ohlone road and turned left at trail marker, SO44, to Sunol Backpack Camping Area. Arrived at the Star's Rest (1567 ft - 10 S 606707 4152479) site at 5:50pm and stayed there for the night. The temperature was in the 40s during the night.
4/22/2006 Sunol Backpack Camping Area - Camp Ohlone
In the morning, we headed out for Camp Ohlone. Hiked down the same trail from the camp site and made a left turn at SO44 into Camp Ohlone road. Stayed on the same road until we reached the the end which was the camp site for the night. On the way, we served lunch at Frog Pond (1075 ft - 10 S 608449 4151001). Stayed in Camp Ohlone (1220 ft - 10 S 610754 4149942) for the night. The dinner was served with BBQ. After the dinner, a naturalist came to take us to nearby creek for nature observation. We also lit a big fire ring for the night's entertainment before going to bed.
4/23/2006 Camp Ohlone - Sunol Visiter Center
I hiked back with Bruce, David with backpack on. Other team members had their packs brought back by car. This was a good trip to me.
6/6/2008 - 6/8/2008 Del Valle - Rose Peak (OT28 - OT40)
This backpacking trip was provided by East Bay Regional Park. The park offers simialr backpacking trips each year. I also had the opportunity to attend the trip of year 2006. The year 2008 trip was to hike Ohlone Wilderness Trail from Del Valle to Rose Peak. As no transportation can be arranged, this was a go and back trip.
Departed from Del Valle trailhead at 10:10am 6/6/2008
Stayed the night at Steward camp on 6/6/2008
Stayed the night at Steward camp on 6/7/2008
Returned to Del Valled trailhead at 1:45pm 6/8/2008
Leader: Matt Griffis, James, Daniel
Member: Jason Chiu, Jamie Castro, Gary Philips and six others
Total: 22 miles
Elevation gain: 10,000 feet
Type: out-and-back group hike
Class 1 hike
Load: 30 lbs
Gears: TNF Skareb 40 pack / Big Agnes Savis SL1 tent / Valandre Mirage 20 sleeping bag / Therm-A-Rest prolite 3 pad / Primus Micro stove / Evernew 0.9L titanium pot / Evernew hiking staff / Garmin Colorado 300
Day 1 (6/6/2008 ): Backpacking from Del Valle trailhead to Steward Camp
At 9 am, we gathered at the parking lot near Lichen Bark for self-introduction. We departed for the trip at 10:13 am. I carried a load of 30 pounds. After a slow ascent, we stopped at the sign-in anel (near OT40) to sign in at 10:57 am. At OT39, we took a short break to regroup, then started to hike again. We served the lunch at the spot (2366 ft - 10 S 614708 4157419) near OT38 at 12:40 pm. The lunch took 35 minutes. After the lunch, we continued the trip and stopped at the creek (685 ft - 10 S 614551 4156866) near Williams Gulch at 2:05 pm to refill water as Big Burn was near. The refill took us 15 minutes. Big Burn starts at William Gulch and continues for 1.6 miles to gain 1,500 feet in elevation. It ends somewhere near OT35. This was a streneous hike and a lot of people fell behind. Finally we arrived at Stewart's Camp at around 5:35 pm to pitch our tents and serve dinner. The campsite is equipped with toilet and untreated water but only large enough to accomodate 10 tents. During the night, it was cold (in 40s F) and coyotes were howling really closed.
Day 2 (6/7/2008): Day hike from Stewart's Camp to Rose Peak and back
For the next day, the goal was to hike Rose Peak which is the highest publicly accessible peak in Alameda County. Three of the team members decided not to go as too exhausted from previous day's trip. We departed from Stewart's Camp at around 8:00 am. The summit is not too far from the camp site. We summited Rose Peak at 10:25 am. On the top of the summit, there is a box with a hiker's note hidden in it. You can put your name on the note as the summit trophy. After the 28 minutes break, we retreated to Maggie's Half Acre for short break (25 minutes). On the way back, we also found a lot of ladybugs gathering side by side near some small stream. It was interesting. At around 12:20 pm, we returned to the camp site and served lunch. Pretty much that was it for the day.
Day 3 (6/8/2008): Backpacking from Stewart's Camp back to Del Valle trailhead
For the last day, we packed up all stuff and hiked back to Del Valle at 8:15 am following the same trail we came on the first day. It was hot but still comfortable day to hike. After signing off at OT40, we returned to trailhead at around 1:45 pm and finished the trip.
10/18/2008 Mission Peak - Sunol (OT01 - OT12)
Total: 7.8 miles
Elevation gain: 2,015 feet
Time spent: 3:05
Type: point-to-point solo hike
Class 1 hike
Load: 15 lbs
Gear: TNF Electron 25 pack / Evernew hiking staff / Garmin Colorado 300
Departed from Stanford Ave. trailhead (OT01) at 10:10 am
Arrived at Sunol sign-in panel (OT12) at 1:15 pm
10/25/2008 Sunol Hike (OT12 - OT19)
Total: 6.6 miles
Elevation gain: 1,463 feet
Time spent: 3:00
Type: out-and-back group hike (with Jaime)
Class 1 hike
Load: 12 lbs
Gear: TNF Electron 25 pack / Evernew hiking staff / Garmin Rino 130
Departed from visiter center (OT12) at 3:00 pm
Hiked Ohlone trail (OT12 - OT19), Continued to SO44, turned right into Camp Ohlone rd. for all-the-way go back
Back to visitor center (OT12) at 6:00 pm
| Marker | Elevation | GPS Coordinate | Marker | Elevation | GPS Coordinate |
| OT01 | 384 ft | 10 S 596522 4151370 | OT02 | 1454 ft | 10 S 597937 4152293 |
| OT03 | 1771 ft | 10 S 598320 4152439 | OT04 | 1939 ft | 10 S 598193 4152812 |
| OT05 | 2070 ft | 10 S 598595 4152842 | OT06 | 2003 ft | 10 S 598917 4152706 |
| OT07 | 2095 ft | 10 S 599178 4152371 | OT08 | 2024 ft | 10 S 599407 4152302 |
| OT09 | 1848 ft | 10 S 599870 4152597 | OT10* | 1817 ft | 10 S 599911 4152660 |
| OT11 | 831 ft | 10 S 602772 4152298 | OT12* | 413 ft | 10 S 603351 4152680 |
| OT13 | 393 ft | 10 S 603417 4152728 | OT14 | 438 ft | 10 S 603788 4152458 |
| OT15 | 751 ft | 10 S 604179 4152113 | OT16 | 1098 ft | 10 S 604642 4152459 |
| OT17 | 1141 ft | 10 S 605115 4152302 | OT18 | 1417 ft | 10 S 605149 4152706 |
| OT19 | 1135 ft | 10 S 606333 4152359 | OT20 | ? | Not yet explored |
| OT21 | ? | Not yet explored | OT22 | ? | Not yet explored |
| OT23 | ? | Not yet explored | OT24 | ? | Not yet explored |
| OT25 | ? | Not yet explored | OT26 | ? | Not yet explored |
| OT27 | ? | Not yet explored | OT28 | 3590 ft | 10 S 612262 4152459 |
| OT29 | 3605 ft | 10 S 613253 4152568 | OT30 | 3620 ft | 10 S 613642 4152416 |
| OT31 | 3541 ft | 10 10 S 613688 4153569 | OT32 | 3677 ft | 10 10 S 614685 4153340 |
| OT33 | 3519 ft | 10 10 S 614670 4154102 | OT34 | 3477 ft | 10 10 S 615059 4154434 |
| OT35 | 3363 ft | 10 S 614163 4155239 | OT36 | 3280 ft | 10 10 S 613767 4155765 |
| OT37 | 2277 ft | 10 10 S 614774 4157012 | OT38 | 2379 ft | 10 10 S 614664 4157505 |
| OT39 | 1912 ft | 10 10 S 614374 4158079 | OT40* | 1159 ft | 10 S 614877 4158760 |
| Rose Peak | 3817 ft | 10 S 612710 4152344 | Mission Peak | 2517 ft | 10 S 598905 4152307 |
| Stewart's Camp | 3224 ft | 10 S 614163 4154543 | Trailhead (Del Valle) | 750 ft | 10 S 615002 4159815 |
| Trailhead (Mission Peak) | 380 ft | 10 S 596504 4151370 | Maggie's Half Acre | 3481 ft | 10 S 612577 4152572 |
| Sunol Backpack Camp | 1567 ft | 10 S 606707 4152479 | SO44 | 785 ft | 10 S 606086 4151679 |
* denotes location for sign-in panel
Labels: east bay, ohlone, ohlone wilderness trail hike
posted by Jason Chiu at 10:23 AM
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