Monthly Archive: May 2008

Today was the day. The near impossible double traverse of Mission Peak.  Up and down and up and down. The plan was  to hike up the Stanford avenue side, hit the peak, then down to Ohlone College, Drop off the dogs, have lunch, rest, then up the Ohlone trail head and back down the Stanford side. An improbable task for this group of 40 and 50 somethings, but a test that was needed if we were ever to scale Half Dome in September.  We needed a full day of hiking. Team Vandenbusch picked us up early and we were off to the Stanford avenue trail head.  Parking was at a minimum so we dropped all the girls, Barb, Vicky and Vanden Dogs Bella and Maxine. Found some parking and were on the trail by 8am. The Stanford side is a quicker hike to the peak, but harder.  Switchbacks all the way up the face of the mountain.  Some say the hardest hike in the bay area. And we were doing it TWICE!  About half way up we had an accident.

Steve mentioned that when the dogs were on leash, they would almost pull you up the hill.  So true! Those Vandenbusch labs are all go GO GO GO!  Steve gave Barb the double leash and Barb said “this is great!” they do pull you up. Then Barbie made a BIG mistake. She said “GO GIRLS”, or “GIDDIUP”, or “MUSH!!” Whatever she said. those labs took off like a bat out of hell. Barb was holding on to them as long as she could. We could see that she was losing her balance, getting pulled so hard that she was sure to go down.  And go down she did. It was like slow motion and there was nothing we could do. Barb was going down, and going down hard. In the midst of the dust cloud , Barb was hurt.  The wind knocked out of her, scraped up from shoulder to wrist, and maybe a pulled muscle or broken rib.  And this only 2/3 the way up the first time!  I was thinking, “so much for the double traverse”, but Barbie “cowboyed up” or something, got her breath back and struggled her way up to the peak.  Short break, then down the Ohlone side. At the college we dropped off dogs with one of theVandenbusch girls, who also brought us lunch (thanks Erin!!) and a re-supply of water. YAY!! Nice break in the shade then it was up “Chalk Hill” in the heat of the day.  Barb could hardly take a deep breath without hurting, but she toughed it out all the way up up up, past the seasonal pond, whomping willow, pee tree, peanut tree and all the other landmarks that we have named over the years.  We caught the Stanford avenue trailhead at the outhouse and started our final decent.  Feet aching, toes screaming, delarium setting in. Hitting the wall and bonking big time!   Right around 3pm we made it to the parking lot.  Seven hours and around 13 miles of hiking.  At least 4000 of elevation gain!  WE DID IT!!!! 

This hike ranks right up there with a couple of other EXTREME adventures that we have done. In no particular order, the double traverse ranks right up there with the bike ride around Lake Tahoe, and our 100 miler, Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay and back again.  Another step closer to Half Dome.

BRING IT ON!!!

It was to be like any other Mission Peak hike. But it didn’t turn out to be that way. Team Vandenbusch picked us up 7:30am-ish, then over to get John and Michelle who were going to follow us to Ohlone college. We even picked up a couple of free parking passes so we could save the $2 (or a $35 ticket!). Hit the trail somewhere around 8:30. The sun was already starting to beat down on Chalk Hill, Right when we were going to start the big ascent, we realized that we didn’t give John a parking pass. John volunteered to walk allllllll the way back to the car to get the pass and put it in his car. OK, no problem, go with the flow. So we are waiting at the base of Chalk Hill, just chilling (make that baking). We could pretty much see all John’s progress as he trekked down the 1/4 mile back to the parking lot.  The VandenDogs were frolicking happily, awaiting another hike up the peak. During the dog frolic we hear a yelp, then a few minutes later notice fresh blood drops on the trail. Sure enough, poor Maxine had cut her pad on her front paw. No way was she going to hike. Good old Steve volunteered to take Maxine home and come back, and maybe meet us when we were on the way down.  Sounds good. LATER STEVE! Get will soon Maxine!

So we started our way up. Up up up. Not the same without Maxine.  Oh yeah, and Steve.  The vibe just wasn’t a good one. Then we saw the remnants of a pretty big snake that looks like someone had chopped in pieces with a machete. Not good.  So Vicky was the first one to mention that the karma was not good for the hike. We all agreed. I suggested we hike the short distance to the seasonal pond, then take the back, less traveled way back to Ohlone parking lot. The trail back was real overgrown and the snake-phobia was high. Its a beautiful hike back there and down a tree line canyon to the college. As we were just about to come out onto paved road, John shouted “TICK”. Vicky had a tick on the back of her leg.  Not good Karma for us!  Flicked the tick, checked ourselves out (flick, flick, flick) and then thought of poor Bella,  the younger Vandendog.  A quick check showed that she had MANY ticks all over her legs. We tried to get a few then figured, lets get to the car and do an assessment. Ok, maybe not the best idea to take the path less traveled.  I learned my lesson. Sorry Bella!  Steve was waiting for us when we got there, then we proceeded to pick about 50 ticks off Bella. We found more in our socks and shoes. LOVELY! After the tick picking party, we headed over to Pets Mart to get Bella some good shampoo, and then it was home. Still got a bit a workout in and got to spend some quality tick picking time with friends.