Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Northern California. Exploring Mountains, Valleys, and Seashore онлайн

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The occasional switchback leads you past Mollok Trail on the left (0.9/1,520'). Watch for baseball-sized buckeye seeds littering the ground as the gradient eases in the ever-wider drainage. Mature blue oaks cling to the hillside above you. Recognize these drought-deciduous trees by their smaller leaves and smooth, wavy leaf margins. The mottled trunks of a few sycamore trees appear in the creekbed below as the trail curves right to leave the drainage and crosses through a gate into open fields. The trail initially runs along a barbed wire fence but quickly becomes indistinct—traverse upward toward the right side of the field to reach Stone Corral Trail near the top (1.6/1,480').

Bear right on the wide dirt road and gently rise through blue oak woodlands, soon passing through another gate. You steadily traverse upward, passing numerous sandstone outcrops, before curving left to reach the junction with Volvon Loop Trail (2.3/1,780'). Follow Volvon Loop Trail, which immediately passes Eagle Trail on the left and then a small cattle pond ringed with cattails. The hike now cruises along the fields below Bob Walker Ridge; several use paths branch right to attain its rocky and tree-studded prow. A strong advocate for land protection, Bob Walker was a prolific photographer and played a major role in the expansion of Morgan Territory. He died in 1992 at the age of 40, but his 30,000 images of the East Bay region continue to inspire.