Mission Peak

Tramping upwards from the Ohlone College parkinglot in Fremont.


Ruddy windchapped faces.

Somehow Anthony managed to eat sandwiches through his wind protection devices.

Kimi, Anthony, Oliver and I braved arctic winds and climbed to the top of Mission Peak, one of the most underrated summits in the East Bay. The determined hikers who make it to the top can see Mt. Hamiilton to the south, the Santa Cruz Mountain range to the west, Mt. Tamalpais to the north, and Mt. Diablo and the Sierra Nevadas to the northeast. Sights along the route included lots of turkey vultures and hawks, feral cows and cow pies the two boys delighted in dropping heavy rocks into (it is their favorite thing to do in the world apparently).

Kimi and I high tailed it to a guided tour of the current Asian American art show, "One Way Or Another", up at the Berkeley Art Museum straight from the hike, so if you can imagine us, cow mud splattered and sweaty amidst the elegant donors and museum patrons, you can just guess what a warm reception we got, especially since we stuck around for the wine and elegant snacks reception. Classy.