Our East Bay springtime is ephemeral and utterly amazing, and the emerald greens, flowers, flowing waters, and overall gestalt are an antidote to our daily responsibilities.  This weekend, we drove 45 minutes to the Sunol Regional Wilderness and it delivered on all spring fronts.

The Waters

Our travels took us to “Little Yosemite,” and this gorge definitely reminded us of that little national park on a 1:500 scale.  If you haven’t been to Sunol before, then you must put this on your to-do list.  The water shots, above, are low resolution video freeze-frames we took by mobile phone.

It’s quite easy to get there!  The walk down Camp Ohlone Road lasted around 15-45 minutes, depending on your propulsion speed.  There were a couple dozen walkers and families with the same idea, and plenty of room for everyone.

As you parallel Alameda Creek, it eventually transitions into a beautiful, rocky gorge that continues for a good distance.  We climbed down and around the rocks, finding suitable perches.  Then we simply sat quietly, listening and letting the river run.

The Hills

Eventually the emerald hills and comfortable weather beckoned, and we decided to head up a couple thousand feet through the adjacent Ohlone Regional Wilderness.  This part of the visit is for heartier hikers, and you need to decide how many vertical feet and miles to travel.

We headed straight up, down and across the ridges on this picture-perfect weekend.  With a single, cross-country trail running through Ohlone, views like the one snapped above reveal San Francisco Water District no-man’s land.  At this point, we were a couple miles from Rose Peak, known as Alameda County’s high point.

En route, we noticed prodigious white, purple, and yellow wildflower carpets which won’t be around much longer.  That feeling of spring, with few signs of civilization in the watershed, had worked liked a charm.  Ohlone and Sunol both hit the spot – and felt just right on this weekend celebrating Earth Day.