From guy_meredith@we.xerox.com Thu Oct 2 19:17:19 1997 Registered-Mail-Reply-Requested-By: guy_meredith@we.xerox.com Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 19:20:55 -0400 (EDT) From: "Meredith,Guy" Subject: Re: Walk 50 million or 100 million years... To: Jack Cook Cc: xmbcofficers@hesp.es.xerox.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Posting-Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 19:25:47 -0400 Hop-Count: 3 Jack, Subtitle this one "Northern Couch Potato Overdoses" Las Trampas Day Hike Las Trampas Wilderness, Contra Costa County September 27, 1997 This hike was a 'warm-up' for the Hike Through Time on October 4, 1997. The Hike Through Time has two options: moderate hike with altitude gain of 500 feet, and strenuous with altitude gain of 2200 feet. The full hike begins at Rock City campsite and goes to the summit of Contra Costa County's Mt. Diablo, approximately 3500 feet in height. The weather for the hike is normally very hot and sunny Indian Summer. In Contra Costa County a very great part of the trail mileage is very steep--including many 30 degree or better grades. When the sponsors of the Hike Through Time suggest that the full trek requires good physical condition, it is wise to take them seriously. Since I have only been doing mild neighborhood walks and occasional bike rides of less than 15 miles, it seemed like a good idea to get some real pre-hike training. After doing a couple of neighborhood streets with less than 200 feet combined altitude gain, I decided to hit the Elderberry Trail in the Las Trampas Wilderness. Las Trampas is just 6 miles down the road from us and has conditions very similar to Mt. Diablo except that the maximum altitude gain is on the order of 1000 feet. To make the hike even more like the "real thing" I decided to do it during the warmest part of the day. So, after slathering on a greasy layer of Coppertone, I set out at 11:30 in the morning to travel the Elderberry Trail up to the Upper Trail (along the top of the ridge) and back down either the Elderberry or the Ridge Trail. I have always had problems with painful knees while going down hill, so the very steep Ridge Trail did not seem a good candidate. The whole county is extremely dry this time of the year; the few straggling bits of Lupine, Golden Poppy and Paintbrush wore a thick layer of dust from the trail. Ferns with fronds half-burnt by the sun stood in the most unlikely places. One bush I do not recognize stood out in contrast with soft white clusters on the tips of its branches. The stands of sycamores, oaks, buckeyes and others were dry but green and shady. The Buckeye were heavy with fruit, much of it withered before maturity. In the rainy season it is almost impossible to hike many of the trails, even at the higher levels, as water flows from the ground almost everywhere, forming temporary streams and great stretches of adobe mud. However, under the current conditions I was surprised to find one solitary flow from a spring near the summit. A ranger had mentioned it some time back, but I had not been aware the spring is accessible from the trail. Arriving at the top of the Elderberry where it joins the Upper Trail, there are two 30 degree plus grades going the 100 feet or so altitude gain to the top and the junction of the Devil's Hole Trail. From here you can see the several rocky upthrustings on the East side which join the main ridge. Very much like ribs connecting to a spine. Devil's Hole Trail had not been the original plan, but curiosity caused me to pause and consider adding the Devil's Hole/Sycamore loop, an additional 3 miles or so. A gentleman coming up the trail told me that the trip is entirely downhill for 3/4 mile and then meets the Sycamore to begin climbing. Some trails in the area are very broad multiple use trails. Such is the case with the Elderberry, Devil's Hole, Upper and Ridge trails. I decided to give it a go, but began to regret it as 3/4 miles passed in a series of very steep grades. I remembered that it was marked as 1.38 miles on the map and my knees began complaining loudly at the downhill trek. On the other side of the hills (East) the terrain is tree covered soil with large grassy stretches. On the Devil's Hole (West) side, grass and other knee high plants predominate and the stands of trees are fewer. There are many large stone walls with considerable erosion undercutting the surface layer. There is the distinct feeling that great 18 inch thick sheets of granite could slide off the face at any time. Debris indicated that animals had dens in caves formed by the erosion. Approximately 2/3 of the distance down the trail I came upon a party of six persons in their thirties coming up the trail. The three women were not in hiking condition and it is doubtful the men were either. The lady in the lead used the "F" word when I told her she was only 1/3 the way up the 30 degree grade. I don't blame her--my knees felt the same way going down. The lady bringing up the rear probably weighed close to 300 pounds and was managing one step at a time with long pauses in between. I wondered later whether it might not have been a good idea to discourage them, assuming they had come in on an easy trail--the Sycamore--and should return the same way. A couple of years back I did the Sycamore trail for a short distance from the other end and thought it quite an easy, pleasant walk. As it turned out, I am puzzled as to how they DID get there. Just before reaching a stand of Eucalyptus at the bottom of Devil's Hole, a sign directs the hiker onto what seems little more than a game trail--the Sycamore trail. At this point the trail meanders between high brush and under--what else--sycamore trees and oaks. The trail then begins a series of rather abrupt switchbacks with an occasional horizontal stretch of a few yards. The trail remains less than 10 inches wide and often goes over the bases of granite outcroppings and boulders. There are wood ties along some steep stretches which are clearly only good for erosion prevention and definitely not helping steps for the hiker. Frequent steep approaches are covered with gravel and few footholds. Sometimes going on hands and feet was the best (safest) solution for this weary hiker. It just did not seem likely that the party I had met could have passed this way, even going down. The lady so painfully struggling step by step surely would have ended up rolling most of the way. This is not a snide comment, but objective observation. The ridge above seemed to hover just out of reach forever, but a final narrow scramble led to the section of the trail I saw last time. Here it becomes relatively horizontal, still narrow and runs around the top of a large vale formed by one of the rocky upthrustings meeting with the ridge. In the green seasons this is a very pleasant view and I've found pleasure in watching the turkey vultures catch the winds as they come over the ridge at the hiker's eye level. The nearest exit from this point would be the very steep Ridge Trail leading down from the communications antenna and building down to the main picnic grounds. My knees were screaming at the idea of any down slope, so I decided to explore the Cuesta trail, which winds an more horizontal route to a lower portion of the Ridge Trail. This meant backtracking up the Upper Trail half way to the Devil's Hole junction, but the longer distance was definitely the better alternative to another steep grade. The Cuesta trail is on the East side of the ridge, so the terrain was again less rock and more trees. It is a multi-use trail, however, and dirt of the trail had been turned into 4 inch deep dust--like walking on a horizontal sand (er, dust) dune. All along the way I had heard various birds flitting through the brush or singing in the trees. Now a rustle off to the left brought my attention to the largest jackrabbit I have ever seen, running up the hill and out of sight. Further along I heard the sound of quail, but did not see anything but the lizards on the trail. Having noted that the lizards were all fairly small, I became amused with the thought of them trying to feed on the grasshoppers on the same trail. The grasshoppers seemed large enough to drag the lizards off by the tongue if attacked. Finally the Cuesta gave out onto the Ridge Trail. I was disappointed at how little altitude I had lost and realized a painful stretch of the Ridge Trail lay ahead. A runner came past from the summit and I envied his ability to handle the grade. A covey of quail broke cover with the explosive sound of wings and whistling. The thought came that if I were easily able to handle upgrades, then maybe walking backwards would make the descent easier. It did, so I continued walking backward and mussing about how to respond to questions should there be any curious observers. When not walking backward, I used a stiff legged King Kong gait. However, that mode made balance difficult, with the continuing feeling that I would fall flat on my face at any moment. Finally, almost 7 miles and 5 hours after beginning I arrived at the main picnic ground and headed off on the HORIZONTAL .3 mile walk back to the car. All in all a great day despite several surprises and inconveniences. I do believe that out of shape hikers would be better advised not to hike solo, though. Now on to the Walk Through Time. Guy B. Meredith San Ramon, CA