Elizabeth and I hadn’t gone on a hike since our trip to El Corte de Madera Creek over a month ago, and we were both eager to get out again. Sure, we’d gone trail running together when we both had free time on the weekends, but it wasn’t the same. A trail run moves you through scenery quickly. It’s exciting but doesn’t last very long. A hike, on the other hand, gives your eyes and mind time to settle on what’s around you before moving on. It immerses you.
So we took advantage of a free afternoon today by visiting Las Trampas Regional Wilderness. We got to the trailhead at 3. Sunset was at 5. That didn’t leave many options for our hiking route. Three or four miles were all I was willing to commit to. We ended up doing a loop hike on the Chamise and Mahogany trails.
We started up the Chamise Trail, walking past a huge live oak and then uphill through grasslands. The trail followed switchbacks steadily up the hillside, but our recent trail running paid off: the climb felt trivial.
Soon enough, we were in the chaparral, one of my favorite plant communities in the area. There was the ubiquitous chamise. Beside it were buckbrush and shrubby interior live oak. The bush monkeyflowers had lost their flowers, but the coyote brush had started to bloom.
I nearly walked past the Mahogany Trail when we reached it. This was not unusual, since I’ve always walked past it while hiking here—it’s often a whisper of a trail that just disappears into dense brush. But today it looked reasonably wide and well-maintained. I checked my map, saw that we had time to do it, and decided to try it.
The Mahogany Trail dropped down into a canyon. Within a few feet, we left the sunny chaparral and were in a cool, dark forest of shrubs, ferns, and arcing California bay. As we descended farther, the trees got taller. Bigleaf maple, oak, and alder joined in.
We crossed a stream—nearly dry now—on a small wooden footbridge. Elizabeth forced me to stop and listen. There was a slight breeze, not even strong enough to rustle the leaves. The stream trickled. Crickets chirped. From nowhere in particular came the song of a wrentit and the calls from a covey of California quails. Then I started getting impatient and made us start hiking again.
Climbing out of the canyon, we returned to the chaparral. True to its name, the trail offered plenty of birch-leaf mountain-mahogany, along with more chamise and monkeyflower.
The Mahogany Trail ended at the Chamise Trail. We took the latter trail toward Las Trampas Ridge. On the Las Trampas Ridge Trail, we turned right and followed it along the crest.
To our left we got an excellent view of Mount Diablo. The grass on the hills at its base was bright green, but its color faded with elevation. There was a distinct line about halfway up the mountain where the wet season hadn’t quite arrived and the grass was still dark gold.
At a highpoint on the ridge, I checked my clock and saw that it was time to turn back. The sun had set behind Rocky Ridge and the air was getting cooler and moister. Every breeze carried the pungent scent of the chaparral plants.
We got back to the car at dusk, both of us having enjoyed our little hike. On the way home, we stopped by Zachary’s for some fantastic deep-dish pizza with spinach and mushrooms.
