Saturday, we took our third outing in pursuit of spring wildflowers and Eureka! we found them.  I confess we spend very little time in the East Bay but the reviews on Sunol Regional Wilderness were consistent. There were great wildflowers to be found. So we decided to journey way out to Fremont/Livermore area.

My expectation was that we’d be hiking in dry chapparal surrounded by brown mountains. Instead, after four miles of country road, we arrived at a gorgeous wilderness park offering  mountain and canyon views, a river and breathtaking scenery.  We took the Canyon View Trail to the top, walking a well kept trail which was blooming with wildflowers of many colors, sizes and shapes from wild yellow sunflowers, to purple flowers to orange poppies. Every turn of the trail had new surprises. At the top, we turned down to “little Yosemite” following the siren call of a noisy waterfall and fast-running stream. It was a perfect place to picnic had we known.
For our return route, we took a simpler path back along the river, enjoying the contrast of scenery but also the wildflowers, rock formations and trees all along the trail banks.

Sunol Regional Wilderness is worth a day trip. There are hikers who go back country for days into the Sunol-Ohlone Wilderness but the park also offers easy campgrounds for overnight stays, afternoon barbecues and all that outdoor living we love so much.

Had we gotten an earlier start, we would have gone exploring the Livermore wine trail…but we’ll leave that for another urban expedition. Right now, my soul and my camera are full of wildflower imagery. It was a great day!

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