On this sunny Saturday, I took of once again (metaphorically, of course) and drove to Tilden to hike to the top of Wildcat Peak which is said to be the highest hill (I’m a bit against calling it a mountain after what I’ve already seen in my life) in the East Bay area. I guess Mount Diablo is not considered part of East Bay then… Who knew? Probably all the people who live here but me…

Starting at the Little Farm, I made my way through some shady bushes and under green trees (guys, seriously, it does get green here!) and over a few wooden bridges (one of which seemed to give way any second) to come to a sunlit space filled with eucalyptuses and get caught onto a motion-activated photo-trap.

While trying not to fall down from the narrow trail leading alongside a hillside and crumbling after the recent rains, I found these beauties; my grandma always used to say that my eyes looked like forget-me-nots!

Another hill and once again, I was walking under a grove of eucalyptuses. This time I couldn’t resist and squeezed a leaf of one in my palm to be able to smell the amazing scent of these! I don’t know about you, but I just love the smell of eucalyptuses.

Soon enough (a bit out of breath after the final hill), I made my way to the top of Wildcat Peak. Here, I had my lunch and watched a pair of birds having theirs, hopping around me like if they weren’t scared at all.

I spent about an hour up there. People came and went and I was just sitting there, watching Mount Diablo and… the Sierras! The visibility was excellent, I could really see the mountains! I felt a bit melancholic, longing for my beloved Yosemite… Nobody seemed to care about this beautiful view, everyone was just looking at San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge; I don’t blame them, even that view was beautiful! But… You know, me and cities, we’re not really the best buddies. The Sierras feel more like home than any house or flat in the city! Now I noticed I even didn’t include San Francisco in the picture! Well, there’s an article coming next Friday which will be only about something in the city (can’t spoil it for you, can I?) so hopefully, I’ll be forgiven…

On my way down, the path was disappearing here and there and I ended up trying to de-tangle myself from quite a few bushes but I made it back to the green and shady groves.

At last, I made it to Jewel Lake. It wasn’t as big as I expected it to be (really, every little pond is called a lake here, don’t let it fool you like me) but it was still nice to sit at the shore and just be quiet for a few moments.

Through some trees and onto the wooden path I went, not knowing where it was going to let me out.

Luckily for me, it wasn’t that far from where I begun, not even half a mile, and so I made my way back to the car and gave Tilden goodbye.

Goodbye to you too and see you next week with an adventure from San Francisco! (Even I don’t know what exactly it will be about as I’m going there tomorrow and I don’t really see into the future and what will happen; who knows, maybe it will be about how to survive when BART system collapses… So much for positive thinking! 😀 )