High Adventure Crew’s July Backpacking Trip
On July 13, nine HAC members ventured into one of the Bay Area’s great wilderness areas, starting at Sunol Regional Park Visitor’s Center. The crew included a couple new members and a couple first-time backpackers. They managed to beat the highest temperatures of that hot day by starting out late in the afternoon, climbing almost two thousand feet in elevation gain, up the east side of Mission Peak through meadows and an occasional Live Oak grove. They set up for the night at the Eagle Spring Camp which they had to themselves. When time came to prepare dinner, it was discovered that someone had left a stove and the cooking pots at the car! However, with an adventuresome and problem solving spirit, it was found that they did have one stove and a small amount of water could be heated in one of the crew member’s metal bowl! Since the bowl was small, dinner had to be prepared one serving at a time, a tedious process, but the anticipation of dinner made it all the more enjoyable. On the menu was Asian vermicelli with a savory/spicy peanut sauce (vegan), and mini sausages to snack on. Although getting everyone fed took over an hour, running well past sunset, dinner time conversation was excellent.
After dinner, a group headed out for a night hike to the summit, to marvel at the midnight sparkle of the city lights in Fremont and the South Bay.
With clear skies and balmy temperatures, everyone slept out in the open, to enjoy the beautiful night sky. The crew awoke on Sunday morning to the warmth of the sunrise. Due to the inconvenience of heating water, the breakfast plans for hot oatmeal had been anticipated by soaking the rolled oats overnight with coconut milk and water. It was found that this no-cook oatmeal provided a pretty tasty breakfast when combined with brown sugar, cinnamon, and peanut butter!
The hike back down to the cars was much easier, and on the return, a stop for lunch at Cactus Taqueria capped off the trip nicely.
Bridget Bentley, HAC’s VP Administration comments: “I thought it was really neat how we got to have such a great backpacking experience super close to home and in only 24 hours. And I was surprised at how beautiful it was despite being so close to home
The food was actually really yummy! I was expecting like rationed food and not great options considering I’m vegan but the first night I was really surprised when we had noodles and a coconut peanut soy sauce mixture which turned out good! And then I woke up to overnight oats which were delicious. I wish it was longer so I could’ve eaten more good foods like that.
Around 10pm we took a hike to the summit and it was incredible!! We looked out on all of the South Bay and we could see fireworks from different places, it was really crazy. I woke up around 4:30 to the sun rising and it was the best way to wake up!”
