Lake Chabot

Lake Chabot was hike #2 in our challenge for 2010. It's another new park for us. The drive is only about 30 minutes. We got a slightly earlier start this week and arrived at the park at 11AM. The main park by the marina was very crowded. Lots of picnic tables filled up with people and food. It was nice and shady for the most part and there was a nice breeze going through the park.

We started out on the East Shore Trail. It's a paved trail, which neither of us care for, but the views are great. There is a lot of foot and bicycle traffic. The trail has some exposed places, where you walk in complete sun, but quickly there will be some shady spots as well. So you are never in the sun or shade for too long. It curves around the lake for the most part, taking a few jags into the woods away from the shore for little bits here and there. The wooded areas are really shady and there are a lot of ferns and moss around. It's a great place to cool off. The trail is mostly flat with slight up and down hills that are very mild. There are bathrooms (outhouses) all along the trail about every 1/4 of a mile for the fishermen.

The Cameron Loop intersection was the end of the paved trail and where our easy route ended. We decided to go ahead and try part of the moderate trail plan since the first part was so easy. The crowds tapered off a bit at this point and we separated from the lake completely. We took the narrow bridge and headed to the Live Oak Trail. No one else was up the Live Oak Trail. It was pretty steep and very hot. There was not much shade except for a couple of trees every once in a while. We did get a great view of the neighboring golf course. We could even hear the thwack of the clubs hitting the balls. The lake was barely in sight.

We only made it about half way up the hill before we decided to call it quits and head back down. It was starting to get warm and our legs were tired. Maybe next time we'll make it closer to the top.

All in all it was a nice place to walk and hike. The temps were warm, but there was a nice cool breeze blowing most of the time, and the wooded areas were really cool to rest in. The only things we didnt like much were the paved roads and the crowds. It'll be a good easy walk for us during the hot summer months...except for going up Live Oak Trail. We'll probably just keep heading around the lake until we are tired.

Diablo Foothills

This was our first hike for the 2010 Trail Challenge.  We need to try 5 trails from the list of 30 featured trails or do 26.2 miles.  I imagine we'll do both since we are going for a hike 2-3 times a month.

Having never been to Diablo Foothills, we got lost. Apparently there is a Walnut Blvd and a Walnut Ave exit from Ygnacio Valley Road.  Who knew?  I do...now.  That mistake wont happen again. 

We got a late start to the day and it was nearly an hour away.  We didnt arrive until about noon and it was already about 80 degrees.  This place will probably be too hot to hike in the summer.  We may have to make this a fall/winter hiking spot.  We had a nice breeze, but you had to be in just the right spots to feel it.  I imagine this place will tend to be stuffy in the middle of summer.

The terrain is nice.  Lots of meadows and oak clusters with some rocky areas.  There is a very small stream that runs through the park.  It'll probably be gone in the height of summer. We were on the lower part of the Castle Rock and Stage Road trails.  There was minimal elevation changes. They were both fire roads, so they were nice and wide and relatively flat.  We shared the road with a number of horses and bike riders as well as hikers. There is no water or bathrooms along the trails, but there is a recreational area next to the Castle Rock trail that has plenty of full service bathrooms and water fountains.

Brad's allergies were really bad here.  Not sure if it was because he had skipped a few days of his allergy meds or if there is something there he's really allergic to.  We'd like to try this park again, and make our way into Mt. Diablo State Park and up to see Castle Rock.