I had hoped to head up to the Trinity Alps for the weekend but family
obligations conspired to keep me home in San Jose instead. Feeling the need to
visit someplace, I decided to head to Pacheco State Park to tag an
obscure unnamed summit just outside the park boundary that I had run out of
time for on a previous visit. Via text, I asked Steve if he wanted to join me
on short notice which he did when he found it was a relatively easy outing -
about 4mi one-way and no significant elevation gain. It wasn't the greatest of
outings, on that we both readily agreed. The state park appears to be somewhat
neglected and though there are trail signs, the Whiskey Flat Trail we
followed was often
little more than a series of cow trails that parallels the dirt
Whiskey Flat Rd.
There were two state park trucks parked at what appears to be the
ranger's homestead and they hadn't moved in the three hours between our coming
and going - it would appear to be a very boring position. Ours was the only
vehicle when we pulled in and when we left there was only one other car in the
dusty dirt lot. Warm temperatures didn't help any.
To be fair, summer is probably the worst time to visit as the
temperatures can be quite hot, and early fall might be even worse because the
grass is all brown, much of it converted to cow patties that litter this half
of the park where grazing is allowed. On the other hand, it was an easy
hike and we shared a bottle of wine
at the summit under the partial shade of
an oak tree overlooking Pachecho Peak and a host of others
in the surrounding
Diablo Range - and as the old saying goes, a bad day hiking is better than the
best day sitting on your ass back home.