Peak 2,956ft ^2x P300
Mariposa Point ^2x
Antler Point ^2x P300 NN

This was a training hike in Joseph Grant Park, in the Diablo Range foothills below Mt. Hamilton. It had been nearly a decade since I last hiked in this part of the park and it soon came back to me as to why. The park map shows the Washburn Trail starting at Mt. Hamilton Rd and climbing to Peak 2,956ft in about 3mi. I had parked at this starting point on my previous visit, coming back to find I had a parking ticket. Seems there is No Parking along much of Mt. Hamilton Rd, making access to this and several other trailheads rather inconvenient. This time, I parked at the Grant Lake parking spot and hiked the mile+ distance along Mt. Hamilton Rd to the start of the Washburn Trail. Making things worse, they don't really want you using the trail, as there's a locked gate with no pederstrian access. Sigh. Over the gate I went. It appears this road/trail is primarily used to access the UC Berkeley Blue Oak Ranch Reserve to the north and sees little foot traffic. The trail runs flat across a broad meadow before dropping a short distance to Arroyo Aguague that drains Grant Lake. It then begins a steady climb to the northern boundary of the park, eventually going over Peak 2,956ft (with a nice view bench near the top) before descending to a trail junction with the Canada de Pala Trail. I followed this latter trail to the north, past the old line shack (now just its concrete foundation remaining), then another climb up to Mariposa Point and the slightly higher Antler Point. Making a loop of things, I finished up by descending the Halls Valley Trail back down to Grant Lake. Signs at the top and bottom of this segment marked the trail as closed "until can be made safe." As suspected there was a deep washout down near the bottom of the trail, but it was not much effort to descend into and then out of the washout. The biggest hazard was the poison oak crowding the exit point. The only other folks I saw on the whole outing were a few folks milling about Grant Lake upon my return. I managed the 12mi and 2,400ft of gain in a little over 4.5hrs.

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