Ohlone Wilderness Trail over 3 nights

Enjoy one of the hidden gems of the Diablo Range. The Ohlone Wilderness Trail is 28 miles of beautiful California oak woodland that should be thick with wildflowers in early May. It's a strenuous hike with several thousand feet of elevation gain, including 3,700' on the first day, so this trip is for moderately experienced backpackers with good fitness. That said the point is to enjoy nature so we will take our time, take breaks, and no speed records will be set.

Day 1 (Fri 5/9): We will meet at the trail head in Del Valle Park at 10am. Everybody needs an Ohlone permit which can be purchased at the visitor center for $2 before we start. We will set a slow pace as we climb out of Del Valle towards Schlieper Rock. There is more than 3000' of elevation gain and one section is very steep, it is called the "Big Burn" for what it does to your quads. We will take a short detour to visit Murietta Falls, the tallest falls in the Bay Area - though it only runs for a few days after rain, so it may be just a trickle. Our campsite for the night is Stewart's at 3160' for a total of 6.7 miles.

Day 2 (Sat 5/10): Taking our time we will hike 2.7 miles and climb to 3817' to the summit of Mt. Rose, second highest point in Alameda County where we will take a break for lunch. Then it is mostly downhill 6.9 miles to our campsite at Eagle's Eyrie, generally recognized as one of the most beautiful sites in the East Bay Parks system. Along the way, energy permitting we may drop our packs and do a side quest to the top of Goat Rock.

Day 3 (Sun 5/11): An easy downhill 2.4 miles brings us to Sunol Wilderness Visitor Center where we will take a lunch break before starting the 4.6 mile 1800' climb up the north side of Mission Peak to our last campsite at Eagle Springs. After setting up camp and having a rest, weather and energy permitting, we may climb the last 0.5 miles and 400' to the summit of Mission Peak to eat dinner and watch the sunset.

Day 4 (Mon 5/12): We will hike the last 4 miles down to the Stanford Rd trail head and share an Uber ride back to Del Valle to get our cars.

There are pit toilets and non-potable water at all the campsites. Both Eagle's Eyrie and Eagle Springs also have picnic tables (not sure if there's anything but logs to sit on at Stewart's).

I have 3 parking passes for Del Valle which is the maximum allowed so we may have to carpool.