Solo backpacking at Ohlone Wilderness Trail

I never did solo backpacking before - so wanted to have that experience. I didn't have luxury to take a few days off and go to some wilderness far away - but I am fortunate to live close to some of the wild and well preserved large open space / wilderness to have solo backpack experience. So, I chose Ohlone Wilderness Trail in Livermore / Fremont area in California. It's not too far from where I live, and I visited some part of it (although, almost a decade ago).

So, on Saturday July 10th 2010 - I started my little expedition. Priya dropped me off at Del Valle Regional Park at Livermore. I started a little later than I expected - at 8:00 am. Plan was to backpack 15 miles to Sunol Backpack Camp, have over night camping there, and complete remaining 4.5 miles on the following day and come out at Sunol Visitor Center. My backpack weighed about 30 lbs. I started fresh with lots of energy and had a pretty good pace.

Proximity to nature and good oxygen flow was inspiring lots of creative thoughts - ranging from Gandhi's Dandi march to my potential future endeavors in India (one of the really wild idea is to traverse Gir forest from North to South). Sky was completely clear and Sun was bright with temperature in high 70's in the morning. Soon, I crossed the Ohlone Trail sign-in panel. After that, I arrived at Boyd Campus at expected time and then reached Williams Gulch after traversing some downhills. Small amount of water was flowing, I didn't bother to fill my water bag.

After Williams Gulch, there was a grueling steep uphill. And it was relentless - no time for break. Temperature was rising, trail was quite steep and 30 lbs of backpack was being felt - pretty heavily! All of these were taking toll on the water supply too. That forced me to take a closer look at the map, and I realized that there was no water available on the trail for a long long time, except Johny's pond near post 35. Other alternative would be Stewart's camp, but that would add 1.2 miles to my planned 15 miles of backpacking.

Heat, steep climbing, weight, and water scarcity were forcing me to evaluate my other options. All of the adverse conditions were also slowing me down considerably. After what felt like a long time - even though it was just 3 hours from start - I reached near Johny's pond. However, the water condition was very bad - it was a small, shrinking pond, with lot of mud and cow dung all around. I was left with Stewart camp option - and so, I will now need to change the plan. Cell phone signals were not available a few times when I checked - now I need to inform Priya about my new pick up location.

From Johny's pond, I left Ohlone trail, and went towards Murietta falls. I saw three day hikers for the first time on the trail - and asked them about Stewart's camp. They didn't go that far, however, they informed me that cell phone reception was available just above the fall. That was a good news, at least.

Murietta fall had no water, which was expected; and I continued towards Stewart's camp. I came across another small pond on the way - and that surprised me - because according to map, the camp site should be just before the pond. So, I left my backpack near the pond, went back to make sure that I didn't miss the camp site. Turned out that I indeed didn't miss it. With the camp site "gone", my only option was the pond. This one was even smaller. I circle around it to check the water out. Lots of bushes, mud, bugs and also saw a water snake in it. I was ready to filter the water and use it for cooking - as boiling would make it safe. However, I thought about searching the camp site on the other side of the lake - continuing on the trail. I was patient enough to go couple of switchbacks further, and to my happy surprise, I found the camp site. It had one water faucet with "untreated water" label, porta-potty, and leveled ground for one camp. Much better than the pond though! By this time, it clocked almost 1:00 PM and temperature soared 90+. Going to Sunol Backpack camp was out of question. So, I laid my tent, prepared and had lunch, went to the spot where cell phone reception was available and informed Priya about change in plan. After that, filtering the water turned out to be a time consuming project!

By 2:15, I was done with all the chores. I decided to go to Rose Peak - the highest peak in this area - and it was about 4 miles from where I was. I emptied most of my backpack, although kept all the food items with me -- didn't want squirrels to feast on it while I was gone. Water, backpack and food must have weighed about 10 to 14 lbs. However, I was recharged with carbs, and I continued the journey forward. Temperature almost reached 100 F by this time.

At 3200+ feet elevation, there were quite a few trees, and it felt like Sierra range - cone shaped trees and such. Soon I was back on Ohlone trail, and reached the southern boundaries of the park, turned right towards West. After coming out of one small valley, I had stunning view of bay area from the 3400+ feet elevation. Soon, I reached Rose Peak - at about 4:00 PM. Mission peak was monumental on West with Santa Cruz mountains in back ground. On South, two domes of Lick Observatory were clearly separated apart - a view of Mt. Hamilton which is not common from Bay Area. Mt. Diablo is impossible to miss on NE. Surprizingly, no cell phone reception at Rose Peak (3817 feet from mean sea level), even though multiple towers were visible in different directions. They don't broadcast the signal upwards, I guess.

Even though views were stunning, I didn't stay long enough at the peak, as there was no shade, it was quite hot, and surprisingly, there was no wind on the top. So, I headed back after treating myself with a power bar. 13th and 14th miles of the day were feeling tiring - but I was back to camp site by 6:00 PM. First thing first, had some hot chocolate. Took "shower" at the water faucet, prepared dinner and organized the tent a bit. Only food left now was breakfast for next day, and some munching along the way. Put that all in the backpack and hung it on a tree branch - to protect it from raccoons and squirrels at night. Just before it was dark, I was sleepy. Night was completely event-less.

Total miles of the day: 14
Elevation gain: about 3000'
Moral of the story: Even in adverse conditions, with strategy, adaptation and determination, same height can be achieved that was initially planned :)

Next Day

Woke up with birds' chirp and sunlight at 6 AM. Took my sweet time to have breakfast, hot chocolate and wrapping up the tent, and by 8 AM, I was heading back. Ensured that "I leave only foot prints and take only pictures", called Priya to inform about my timings, and I was on the way back. It was 6 miles to the Del Valle Regional Park.

While coming back, I realized how steep and relentless most of the trail was. Especially, the part from Boyd Camps to parking lot was also going from 750' to 2200' -- which I didn't realize yesterday as I was fresh in the morning. By 11 AM, I was back to civilization. This time around, didn't meet a single person during the whole hike.

It was quite an experience - mainly a realization that I can push my limits and maintain my sanity while alone and in not-so-perfect circumstances. However, I also realized that solo backpacking is not my cup of tea - I need people to talk! Besides, I missed Priya and Ved the night before too!

Here are the pics