Mission Peak is a wild ride into the sunset...

This is really an excerpt from my Yelp.com review.  Dont think that im being lazy ... i love this place, but no sense in writing about a place more than once hahahaha.  Ill continue to update it as i go:

 

Mission Peak is a lovely local sunset spot.  If you need some practice climbing steep grades, or just want to shed a little sweat before you watch the blazing egg of the sun set along the pacific horizon, ur in for a treat.

The bottom half is conducive to a light jog to the first "gate," but beyond that you'll have trouble unless ur a champion, and you eat mountains for breakfast.  I do see people jogging up, but im sure they sweat pure adrenaline.  Most people drivel up a bit, stop and rest, drivel and rest, drivel and rest.  There are benches along the trail for you to sit and take in the view, although they are best served on the way down, rather than for taking 5 on the way up.

If you are relatively inexperianced, i would suggest you pick a relatively comfortable pace, and stick with it however slowly.  Stopping will definitely kill ur momentum, but water breaks are a must if ur not cut for it.  If you are a champion, then this climb is more like light excercise before breakfast, and you wont really notice other people as much more than a blur as you warp up the trails hahahaha.

When i peaked, there were monks in orange robes coming down from the top, offering words of encouragement.  I have a history with monks and mountains (when i summited Mt Fuji, there were a hundred monks at the top chanting and blowing conch shells).  CLimbing Mission Peak definitely took me back to some awesome memories.  Likewise your mind will probably wander as you hit the trail.  The landscape is breathtaking, as is the trail itself, that is, it WILL take your breath away hahahaha.  After you hit the halfway mark, the breeze begins to caress your back, and ease your shoulders, it feels good up there.  The final assent is rocky, and you may have to use ur hands at this point.  If you do this at low light hours, definitely bring a head lamp.

There is a post at the top, and a grand view of the urban sprall to the west, and the untouched wilderness to the east, the grandious of mother nature herself.  You find and feel the juxtoposition of the existence of both sides, stradling the line that separates them.  I cannot describe the feelings that welled up within me as i made my descent.  I would definitely return...stronger each time.  "Just you wait and see," i said to the mountain.

Bring ur own water.  Dress in layers, as if you bring a pack, you will most likely be wet by the time you peak and the wind does blow at the top...you may be chilly.  Head lamp would be prudent if you start late in the day.

This is not your parent's after dinner stroll around the block, but its no where close to a holy mountain either.  Its good practice and good times.

See you out on the dusty trails ^^.

 

[Edit 2008.09.05 - As i am starting from the front gate to the first gate, i notice a flock of turkeys on the small hill to my left.  Its dangerous for them to be in plain sight...so close to Thanksgiving hahahaha.  The wildlife includes ground chipmunks, turkeys, hawks, airplanes, cows ... lots of cows.  Ive even seen a fox peering over a hill in the evening shadows.]