It was pretty darn cold this past weekend, but I still enjoyed a Saturday morning hike at Las Trampas Regional Wilderness with my hiking group. At the start of the hike, the temperature was about 30 degrees, and it heated up all the way to about 36 by the end of the hike. I know for many of you in other parts of the country and around the world, this is actually pretty warm at this time of year. But for us wimpy Californians (at least, those of us who live near the coast), it’s really cold. Of course, as soon as we started to hike, we warmed up quickly and peeled our outer layers off.
On a clear day, the views from Las Trampas Peak are incredible. As stated on the East Bay Regional Parks website… “the view from the ridge affords the sights of the Ygnacio, San Ramon and Amador valleys, Mt. Diablo, Carquinez Straits and other distant points of interest.” Lovely.
Interested in going? This is about a four mile hike, with some strenuous uphill climbs (I’ve seen this hike rated in guide books as moderate, but that may be somewhat deceptive). You’ll find the Staging Area in San Ramon at the very west end of Bollinger Canyon Road. To reach the peak, take the Bollinger Creek Trail to the Las Trampas Ridge Trail. See map for details… www.ebparks.org/parks/las_trampas. Note that there is no potable water within the park… bring your own, especially if hiking here in the summer, when it can get HOT! As for this time of year (winter) be aware that the trails can get extremely muddy.
For more photos from this hike, check out: It’s been icy!
hike.wander.wonder 
In the 50s, I used to hike up to it from the Lafayette side. Is the no public access on that side into the park? On a clear day, back in the 50s at least, I could also see the crest of the Sierra far behind Mt. Diablo. To he west, I could see the peak of Mt. Tamalpais. This is long before it was made into a park and before parents had as much to worry about when it came to their children being off for the day by themselves. When I became a parent, I would never leave my kids out of my sight, from their infancy to five years old or so. When I was 7, 8, and 9 years old, I’d take a canteen and hike up their with my canteen hooked on my belt. For a time we had an assignment from our parents: to look for a cave somewhere in which we might survive a nuclear attack from the U.S.S.R. The good old days! But I don’t know how we ever would have to time to hike there if an attack was imminent. Anyway, just some memories….
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wow…a heat wave! 🙂 it was near 15 below zero this morning..:) stll,it’s all relative! great pictures…I love hiking…..with snowshoes! 🙂
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Haha… well, it truly feels like kind of a heat wave here. Today we had a high of 70 or so! Funny how much the weather can change in a week. 🙂
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Now that it is finally a little warmer, I am ready to expand my outdoor activities. You inspire me to check into some local trails. 🙂
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I look forward to reading about what you find!
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I have never got the hang of Fahrenheit. I use Celsius, and it is minus 4 Celsius here in Colchester today i.e freezing. Britain expects to be buried in snow tomorrow.
Looks like an interesting trail. Do you get lots of mountain bikers on that trail?
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On the Fahrenheit scale, 32 degrees is freezing, so it’s been below freezing most nights here for over a week now. It’s a bit of a crisis for some of our California crops (primarily citrus), as it’s not normally quite this cold. I personally have not seen many mountain bikers on this trail (now that I think about it, I wonder if I’ve even seen one!), but I believe it is popular with them.
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