Las Trampas Regional Wilderness

The plan: an 8.25 mile loop in the northern part of this East Bay Regional Park.  The starting point: Ringtail Cat Staging Area, in Alamo, a quick 20-minute drive from our house.  The loop followed Ringtail Cat Trail, Madrone Trail, Las Trampas Ridge Trail, and then Corduroy Hills Trail before ending on another segment of Madrone Trail and doubling back on Ringtail Cat Trail for the last mile.  Unfortunately, we missed a key left turn early and instead followed a casual trail that snaked along a nicely flowing creek.  Casual was the key word here -- the trail wove along the creek bed with crossings every few hundred feet.  Ingrid managed to keep her feet dry; I didn't.  Numerous downed trees along the way added to the navigational challenges.  As we continued along the creek, the terrain became steeper and the trail less certain.  Once we realized that we were not on the right trail, we maintained hope that we could reconnect as the map showed our intended trail crossing the creek about a straight-shot mile and 500 feet of elevation gain from where we missed our turn.  However, finally the path we were following faded to nothing and the canyon walls were too steep to safely climb out.  So, we gave up and returned the way we came.  Total time on the ground: 4 hours.  Total distance covered: 3.5 miles.  Although the pace was slow, the scenery was beautiful.  We'll go back another day to hike the loop we intended.