Dan taking shots, originally uploaded by Tom Clifton.
I spent the predawn hours hiking to the top of Mission Peak with Dan Mitchell, in the photo above; Tom Clifton, who took this picture; John Fedak, who joined me at Mount Shasta in October; and a hiker named Randy who reads my hiking blog.
Details of the hike posted at Two-Heel Drive.
To the Crepuscular Crew:
Great one! I’m sorry I missed it.
I did make it later in the day, though, because the idea of climbing one of the Bay Area’s “most underrated summits” – and having never before accomplished said (sore) feat in all my gambolin’ days! — and because the air was extraordinarily crisp and clear for unprecedented, amazing views — I felt now was the time! . . . Of course, camera batteries died in the parking lot. I was blown away, literally, by and atop Mission Peak! The howling winds you wrote about in the morning kept on wailing through the big, open country well into the afternoon. They nearly blew my 105 pound wife over the cliff edge on the Horse Heaven Trail approach. We were only able to gawk for about ten minutes due to the severity of aeolean forces whipping through. I think what stunned me most about the views atop the peak is how close Livermore / Ohlone range is — waaaaaaaay out there east of Oakland / Berkeley — to the Fremont / San Jose area — waaaay down there in the southern reaches of the east side of San Francisco Bay. . . yet separated only by a quirk of local topography – the massive ridge / mountain that is Mission Peak. Without it, we’d have endless LA-type sprawl to the Tri-Valley. Goodness abounds! We’re blessed to live in Bay Area Wild!