Taking time to smell the Rose (Peak) !

The weather was perfect. It was mid spring therefore not many of those wild flowers were around by this time. Though I have done the hike to Rose peak few times before but still always looked forward to do it again. Apart from the challenge of undergoing a long hike, the other reason is to enjoy the rolling hills and the serenity of the surroundings. I was little anxious about my fitness for this hike as I was off the grid for more than a month due to an overseas trip and lack of time to hit any training ground. More so because the distance was almost 19 miles.

We started from the Sunol Visitor center which was considerably easier then from the Lake Del Valle, side in Livermore. But thanks to my buddy hiker who helped me keep my pace and I made it without any injury. I was worried due to the lack of enough training required before a long hike. The trails were in perfect condition so no extra effort was needed as in the past, I remember  the messy trails just after the rains. We reached the peak at around 11.30 am and was nice to see a couple of other group of hikers.  The weather was perfect as this trail can be atrocious during summer. Be mindful to take 3-4 litres of water if doing on summer. With the usual lunch snack and few clicks we headed back to the trail head and reached the parking lot around 3.45 pm. Another fulfilling “hikeful” day !