Mission Peak

I am almost ashamed to admit this...all these years in the Bay area, and I had never hiked Mission Peak. Many of my more outdoorsy friend talked about Mission Peak being the most strenuous trail in the Bay area and they use this trail to train for hiking to Half Dome, Grand Canyon etc.

H used Mission Peak almost as a "ruler". Several times, I would enquire about how difficult a certain hike would be and she would reply: imaging hiking up and down Mission Peak "X" number of times.

It was after one of these conversations that she suggested hiking Mission Peak. I was a little hesitant at first, worried that I would not be mental strong enough to finish hiking all the way to the top, but H promised she will be there to support me. So, I figured, why not...

We met up after work at the trail head. Started our hike at about 7:40pm. H brought along hiking poles(okay, really ski poles, but they worked!) and a head lamp to make the trip easier for me:)

This is actually our second trip to Mission Peak. The first time was on Dec 31st 2007, but the wind so blowing so strong that day, we felt uncomfortable and decided to turn back early.

This time, the weather was more pleasant. The air was slightly cool, but I had a fleece jacket and a windbreaker on, so temperature was not a concern. The lower 2/3 of the trail was challenging, but manageable for me. All those hours on a StairMaster in the gym sure helps!

The final stretch was fairly steep and rocky. H hiked Mission Peak almost on a weekly basis, so it did not bother her the least bit. However, for someone who is less accustom to hiking, I had to look carefully at the ground to find my footing. The head lamp really helped, since it was fairly dark and there wasn't too much moonlight. The poles were more important than I had imagined too. I was able to find my balance easier with the poles and push off a little on the poles to help get up the steep slope.

We reached the summit at 8:44pm. H turned off the head lamp and I was able to see the city lights from below the peak as well as part of the bay. It was a rather spectacular view! I had only seen this view while flying into San Jose or San Francisco. Seeing it while standing on land felt a little surreal:)

We rested a little atop Mission Peak for me to catch my breath and started heading down. Almost immediately, I got myself into trouble by walking to a stretch of trail where I had very little footing. Sensing I was in trouble, H took the lead and choose a more rocky part of the trail to hike down. That path was more rocky, but had better footing. Chalk one up for her experience!

The walk down the steep stretch of the trail was quite challenging for me too. Again, I took my time looking for good footing before taking each step. Despite my best effort, I still slipped and fell once. Even after coming down the steep summit climb, the next stretch of trail where I did not feel was all that steep while walking up, was making me walked carefully coming down:(

I was somewhat relieved when the steep trail ended and we were back on dirt path. There are many loose gravel on the path and footing can still be suspect when one is not careful, but overall it was much more pleasant going down on the dirt path compared to the steep ascent to the summit.

We walked at a brisk pace and reached the trail head fairly quickly. At about 10pm, we drove away from the parking lot.

I am grateful to H for leading the way on this hike and bringing along hiking pole/head lamp to make the hike easier for me. It was a good workout and I am happy to say I had finally done Mission Peak!

Now, I can tell newcomer to the Bay area: Mission Peak is a great hike, and do not need to add the disclaimer, "but I have never done it myself":)