Early morning hike - Las Trampas

 

 This is just a visual post.

  Pictures taken at sunrise on the eastern slopes of Las Trampas Wilderness Area just west of Walnut Creek, California  on November 23, 2013.

Las Trampas Spring Hike with Vizslas

The video was shot around 9:30 a.m. overlooking the Diablo Valley from the hills west of the little town of Alamo, California.
 

The crunching sound you hear at the end of the video, as I discovered a minute later, is the remains of a fawn taken maybe two days ago by coyotes or a mountain lion.   Not a fresh kill, but close.

Bailey seeing if there is anything eatable left of the carcass.

The two dogs had just hunted down a ground squirrel about 10 minutes before I shot this video.  It was their first of the season.  They have learned to work together as a hunting team.  There are thousands of ground squirrels in our hills.  They are lucky to get one a season.  But Chloe finds her "huntress" everytime they stalk and chase these quick little rodents.  They do not get to eat these RAW treats.

 

This 11 mile hike added to our 6 month total.

1,124 miles since October 6, 2012 when I got a "smart phone" with an app to count my steps. 2,109,459 as of the end of this walk.

The dogs are the best "gym" I have ever joined. I can safely say that I feel in better shape now at 59 then I did at 49.

Five Pictures from Las Trampas Hike

Thanks Georg for the good shots of happy dogs and happy people enjoying nature.  No better way to spend a Sunday morning. 

20 Miles in a Slice of Heaven

Two weeks ago I posted the following to the Yahoo group Vizsla Walk:

As I prepare for my attempt to do the Tahoe Rim Trail this summer, I want to
start doing regular 20-mile hikes in the local Bay Area Hills where our
Vizslas can run off-leash the whole time. Chloe and Bailey (my Hungarian
Pointers) will be joining me.
My thought is the first Sunday of every month, 1/2 hour before sunrise, a
small group of Vizsla owners (or other athletic breeds) accompany their
humans on a 20-mile hike. The goal is to average 4 miles per hour, so the
5-hour hike would be done before 11:00 a.m. each time.
If anyone is crazy enough to want to join up, let me know.
First hike would be March 3rd. Sunrise is 7:00, so we would meet at 6:30.
Hike to be determined depending on interest.
Happy trails,
Rod aka RBD

Well, four brave souls met me just past the horse stables on Bollinger Canyon Road at 6:30am today, and up into the Las Trampas Wilderness Area we trekked.

Five Vizslas came along:  Kenzie age 2, Bailey age 4, Chloe age 5, Demi age 6, and Cooper age 12.

In the early morning coolness, we headed up Elderberry grade, which climbs into the park.  The climb went on for 45 minutes until we crested a ridge and started back down the next valley.

At about 6 miles in, Penny and her two humans took a shorter route back to the cars than James, Zachi, and I took.  We had been at it for two hours, and the terrain of the wilderness area can be brutal.  We were not half way to our 20-mile goal as the three of us remaining, with our four Vizslas, kept up a brisk pace; 15-minute-miles on fire trails and smaller routes are tough.

The terrain of the wilderness area brought us into the clouds for over an hour.  Cold wind blew from the north as we walked along "Rocky Ridge Trail" before dropping back down into Bollinger Canyon. 

To the east we pulled another 45-minute climb up to Las Trampas Peak and looked out over the Diablo Valley.  By now the sun was out and the green oakstudded countryside was wonderful.  We were three hours in and had a little less than 10 miles covered.  The goal of 5 hours to cover 20 miles was not going to happen.

For the next 90 minutes, we enjoyed some moderate trails with great views.  It was not until we passed the Eugene O'Neil Historical House that we came upon "the killer grade" that takes you from near the valley floor back up to the Las Trampas Ridge;  16 miles in and we had a two-mile tough climb.  My legs were feeling the strain by now, but all our spirits were high.

From the ridge back to the cars, we traveled through sage-brush- covered hills until we followed a creek that took us back to Bollinger Canyon. 

We got back to the cars six hours after beginning.  As I write this the dogs are passed out on the floor.  We humans may have hiked around 20 miles but the dogs had run more than twice that.

Zachi had a GPS unit that calculated 2,497 feet of elevation gain (climbing) and a similar amount of descent.

The soreness will pass in a couple days, but the memories of a good hike on this early March Sunday morning will last for years.

April 7th will be the next 20-mile hike.  We may head deep into the Sunol Wilderness area and head to Del Valle Lake. 

If you are up for an adventure and some great exercise, you can join us.

35,869 steps = 20.38 miles

Memorial Day 2012 was the day I chose to do a 20+  mile hill hike with my dogs.  I have been building up endurance over the last few years and wanted a good challenge.

Had my pedometer set and off we went at 6:30am up Elderberry Trail in The Las Trampas Wilderness Area.  A steep climb for 1.87 miles into the hills before dropping into 1 of 5 valleys we crossed.

35,869 steps later, we were back to the Jeep.

We had covered 20.38 miles in 5 hours and 10 minutes.  A good 4 miles an hour. 

The flag was still there.  First came across it three weeks ago

A great off leash hiking area for those is good physical shape.  The East Bay Regional Park District does a good job on the trails.  This walk covered streams, canyons, peaks, meadows, orchards, thick forest, open grass fields, fire trails, hand made trails, steep climbs and gentle flowing places. 

 Every half hour you would find yourself in a different environment.  The steams in mid spring are still flowing so the dogs had fresh water regularly.  Great time.  Our bodies are paying the price today.  Well worth it.

5 hour hill hike with 3 Vizslas

 Five hours hiking the Las Trampas Wilderness Area with fellow Vizsla owner Dwight, and I am worn out.  We covered over 12 miles of hill terrain this morning.  Bailey, Chloe and Dwight's 7-month-old male, Paxton, started at 7:30 this morning.  It was going to be a 2 1/2 hour walk.

Once we got going, we just kept on going and going and going.  By 10 a.m. (2 1/2 hours in) we were 6 plus miles away from our trucks.

For being in the middle of the San Francisco Bay Area, for many hours we were in a "wilderness."

Dwight is just a few years older than I am.  He admitted near noon that he had never taken a 12 mile hike in his life.  He did well. 

 I love these hikes.  We came across a hiker, who said he has attempted to walk every East Bay trail.  We talked for a while on Las Trampas Peak.  There is a 20-mile hike he told me about that I am excited about doing this summer.  

A morning walk with very few people, absolutely no cars, roads or man made objects.  I liked it!

Vizslas in the Oakland Hills

Every picture tells a story don't it?  I kept singing this lyric as I walked the hills and took pictures.

U.S Flag On Top of a Mountain with Vizsla

 An hour into a mountain trail hike into the Las Trampas Wilderness area this morning, I came across this lone U.S. flag.  

 Thinking that a great photo opportunity should never be wasted, I set up a few shots.

 Trekking poles, water bladder backpack, baseball cap and sun glasses sitting next to this out of place flag.

 Chloe doesn't mind being in pictures.

  She shouldn't.  She has been in hundreds of them.

Photography is not just taking pictures.  I am a student of what the lens catches.  Sometimes it works.  Most of the time it doesn't.