For my long run, I decided to go to Sunol Wilderness and get two more peaks from the Nifty Ninety list. I had mapped out a nice loop over the two, and was looking forward to going back to the park. Its one of my favorites.
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| Heading up to Flag Hill. |
I got to the gate shortly after it opened, and there was still plenty of parking. It was overcast, but that meant it was cooler for the climbs. I crossed the bridge and started up the trail. I made it to the top of Flag Hill pretty quickly. The high point is just off the trail, maybe 10 feet higher. Having tagged the high point, I continued around towards Vista Grande.
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| Just below the summit of Flag. |
It was still fairly early, but I started to see more people on the trail. I headed down the hill towards the old barn, but turned up the hill before I got there.
There were some backpackers heading up the hill that I was surprised to see. I had thought all the backcountry camps were closed during coronavirus. I reached what I thought was the summit and took a small use trail up to the high point, but turning around I could see there was still more climbing. The viewpoint seemed nice though.
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| Shaded bench at a viewpoint on the way up to Vista Grande. |
After a bit more climbing I reached the summit. The views were grand, as the name implied.
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| Looking over towards Mt Diablo. |
I stopped to take plenty of pictures before continuing my loop down. I took the Eagle View Trail down across the face of the hill. That had a few sections that were a bit scary at a running pace. Thankfully no one was coming the other direction. Heading down the Injun Joe Trail I passed lots of people coming up. Everyone must have woken up!
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| The cliffs at Flag Peak from the parking lot. |
As I drove out of the park I passed a line of cars waiting to get in. It was at least a quarter mile long, and more people were driving in. I'm glad I got there early.
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