We had 10 members attend the hike and we were ready to go by 10:05 from the Proctor Staging Area off of Redwood Road in Castro Valley:
Phillip G, Bertrand T, Laurie S, Barbara M, Philip D, Richard S, Fiona D, Emily T, Sally M, and Gary M pictured above.
The first part of the hike was up to a beautiful rolling trail named Ten Hills Trail, then we picked up Indian Cove Trail where there was a bench and a great spot for pictures above the lake:
then down past much poison oak to the asphalt East Shore Trail and on to the Marina for lunch at the picnic tables there:
We shared cookies Laurie S. brought (so good, Thank You Laurie) and ate our packed lunches.
On the way back to the trail Phillip G. noticed that some blackberries were ripe and reachable, so we grabbed as many as we could find for an added dessert before we continued the hike.
The hike back started along the asphalt East Shore Trail for a mile, then back to the dirt and we stayed right, past the bridge, then up, up, up on the Cameron Loop Trail. Once we got back to the top and met up with the Ten Hills Trail, we saw some goats that were clearing the hills of dry grass:
We then followed the Proctor Trail down and sneaked past the large Oak tree with an active honey bee hive on our way back to the cars:
The complete hike took 3.5 hours (including a couple rest and picture stops and then the lunch break), total distance of 6.75 miles and an elevation of 755′ of climbing. Friday’s weather was a beautiful day for hiking and the trails were not crowded since it was a weekday.
Please keep an eye open for the next hike if the above description interests you; we will keep offering hikes all over the bay area as time and weather allows!
Thank you for reading!
VeloRaptors Gary McCormick & Sally Mudd