by Amy Purdum
It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I was slaving away at my computer, continually looking out the window to the beautiful clear blue sky, wishing I could escape. After days and weeks of unusually wet and cold weather, the perfect warm spring day was calling me. Out of the blue Joe IM's me and types, "Let's do mission peak tonight." I didn't even have to think twice - I was in. The plan was for Brian to meet Joe and I at our place at 6:00 pm. Of course we would be brining the dogs. With Mojo in tow, Brian showed up late at 6:30 pm - at least this time he brought his own power bars. After we filled up our CamelBaks and Nalgene bottles we headed out. We piled Otis and Mojo into the back of Joe's truck and headed out. Traffic on 680 was a breeze, and the next thing we knew we were exiting on Mission Blvd. Although we have never tried the other route, we prefer to park at the back of the Ohlone College parking lot and start at the trailhead across the road. Just to get to the trailhead is a pretty tough climb and it offers a quick little warm up.
The first part of the trail is about the size of a fire road and climbs at a moderate grade for about one mile. Off to the right you can see Ohlone College, and behind that, the entire South Bay. It is spectacular. We began our climb at a steady pace, conserving our energy for the harder parts of the hike. Up ahead a closed gate blocks the trail so that grazing cows do not escape. After passing through, Brian calls for a stretch session, and Joe and I begrudgingly agree. Joe and I HATE to stretch, but we know Brian is right for once, so we stop and follow suit. After a few minutes of stretching we continue our climb. The trail then takes a right turn and flattens out, leading us past a large pond. Two ducks are bathing themselves, but take off as soon as the dogs get close. After we pass the pond the trail narrows and takes us through a wooded area. As usual Joe and Brian are having a ridiculous discussion and making me loose my energy by laughing too hard. The narrow wooded trail soon ends connecting us with another fire road. The fire road is a slow steady climb upwards. About half a mile into it we are high enough to see the other side of the mountains and catch glimpses of Livermore Valley. The rolling green hills look so fresh, so unspoiled. The sun is starting to get lower in the sky which casts a beautiful hazy pink light over everything. There is a slight layer of fog which only enhances the warm colors and reinforces the feeling of serenity and isolation. You really feel on top of the world. The fire road then makes a turn left and offers a perfect glimpse of the mission peak summit. We can see the top which is speckled with small shapes of other hikers. The sun is getting lower in the sky and we know we need to pick up our pace if we are going to make it to the top before sunset. The fire road drops us off at a narrow and rocky trail that climbs straight up to the top of mission peak. It is a very steep climb, with no switchbacks or reprieves of any kind. The rocks and uneven ground are an added element a hiker has to struggle with. We begin our ascent to the top, and out of nowhere Brian and Joe take off. On our first trip to mission peak Brian didn't summit until about 5 minutes after Joe and I. Joe told me that my pace had kicked his butt, and if I recall correctly, he was huffing and puffing. Well on this trip two different men showed up. They sprinted their way up to the top with very little effort. I on the other hand was very tired and winded. Although I held my own, I was breathing heavy when we did finally reach the top. Joe and Brian both felt great; show-offs. It just goes to show that training and hard work pays off. I was fighting to recover from my climb, but when I turned to take in the surrounding scenery, I was suddenly revitalized. I stood there for a long time taking it in. We made it just in time for the beginning of the sunset. All three of us could not stop talking about what an amazing sunset we were experiencing. We began snapping as many photos as possible, in as many combinations as we could. You feel so compelled to capture the images before you, wanting to share with everyone who is not there to experience it themselves. ------>>>
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We made our way down the steep and narrow path, back to the fire road. We followed the fire road down as it gingerly makes its way into the lower hills. About this time all three of us put on our headlamps, which we soon realized were useless. My headlamp was extremely dim and I could barely see the trail in front of me. I could tell the batteries were about to cut out. Joe's headlamp was dying as well. We both use the Princeton Tec Solo headlamp that apparently uses up its 2-AA batteries very quickly (lesson learned, always bring extra batteries.) Brian had complaints about his as well. He wore the Princeton Tec Aurora, which uses 3 LED lamps, and though his batteries last forever, the light output was barely enough to light his feet, much less the trail. We decided that our headlamps are weak; perhaps another model would be better ( the $70 hybrid LED-Halogen Petzl perhaps?) Luckily we still had some evening light, enough to not trip and hurt myself. As we turned off the fire road onto the small path that leads us to the wooded area, all of us were suddenly enveloped in darkness. The trees blocked any of the remaining light and a very weak, very blurry, and very small beam of light was now guiding my vision. Very carefully and slowly I made my way through the darkened section, and came through unscathed. Past the pond, the last of the light guided us through until we descended down to the closed gate. The lights of the city were just peaking through between the gap of two mountains. What was a beautiful moment was quickly squashed by Brian's comparison of the view to that of a certain part of the female anatomy. The daytime had ended, but the moon offered us light, as did the lights from the city that were now in plain view as we descended down the trailhead. We realized that when we do this trip again we should bring warmer clothes and stay at the summit until the city lights emerge. As we made our way down, I was suddenly startled when Otis chased something off the trail into the bushes. "I think it's a frog," Joe proclaimed as he went to investigate. Brian and Joe hovered over the bushes trying to find it. Brian finally discovered the well camouflaged creature and we stood over it in wonder. I guess we don't see frogs that often. Going down the last segment to the trailhead, we were careful to not step on the other twenty or so frogs we came across on the trail. We headed home, ready to hit the sack. What a great way to spend an evening after work, much better than sitting on the couch watching TV. The next day I woke up refreshed and ready to go to work. I felt a little freer and not once did I look out the window wishing I to escape. Instead I thought of the frogs, of the serene pond, and of the high point of mission peak, looking out over the Bay Area in all its vastness.
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