The path to the east

I haven’t had a chance to do too much hiking this year.  The weather hasn’t been quite right, I have other plans, it just seems the stars haven’t alined right for me. I still take what chances I get to get on the trail and on a recent trip to the Las Trampas Wilderness I managed to navigate a course along the East Side Loop.

Las Trampas isn’t a popular park, it seems like you can hike for some time and not bump into other soul.  That;’s just the way I like it.  And picking the East Side Loop which is considered one of the hardest hikes in the Tri-Valley  area would be a good test for my plans of some summit hikes at Mount Diablo. With a tough trail I opted against packing my DSLR and just took my Canon Powershot camera along.

The East Side loop trail could best be described as steep, rugged and poorly marked.  Just enough to keep you on your toes on the trail.  Cool temperatures would perfect for the 8-mile hike that climbed in and out of the canyon and gave scenic views of the Bay Area.

Wildflowers and California poppies made their first appearances on the trail along with fire bellied newts that scurried through the piles of leaves strewn across the hiking path.

The summer months will soon be upon the trail and I will try to make some of the more difficult hikes in the next few months before the heat becomes to oppressive and I switch to coastal trails.