Mission Peak

Another training hike, this time racing to beat some potential rain — a 40-pound pack again, same steep, direct climb up to the summit pole. Rain earlier in the week had turned the fire road into a genuine mud pit in spots, every step a little more work than usual, but it made for a fun, messy kind of hike instead of a grind.

Low clouds and fog were rolling across the summit the whole time, shifting between clear views out over the bay one minute and a wall of gray the next — the light and visibility changed almost by the minute up there. The old weathered summit pole, worn and covered in stickers and carvings from years of visitors, was as good a spot as ever for a photo with the fog doing its thing behind it.

6.4 miles and 2,175 feet of gain, muddy shoes and a loaded pack the whole way — very muddy, very fun, and one more solid training day in the bank before whatever's next this year.

Back on Mission Peak a year and a half after the first climb — same steep, direct fire road up from Stanford Avenue, same crowded summit pole waiting at the top. The dry, late-summer hills had gone completely gold by early September, a big contrast from the deep winter green of the first visit.

One trip up wasn't enough this time, though — right after the first descent it was straight back up for a second lap, no rest day in between. Combined, the two laps came out to 11.6 miles and 4,186 feet of gain for the day, done in just under 3 hours and 46 minutes of total moving time.

Doing Mission Peak twice in one day turns a solid single workout into a genuinely demanding one — the climb doesn't get any easier the second time, but it's a good way to turn a short, popular hike into a real training day.

The second lap of the day, right back up the same hill with no break in between. The crowd at the summit hadn't thinned out much, but the second trip up felt like a genuinely earned reward rather than an inconvenience — the hazy views out over the gold Fremont hills were just as good the second time around.

A good way to turn a short, popular Bay Area classic into a full training day — two full ascents, 11.6 miles, and 4,186 feet of total gain by the time it was done.

Mission Peak became one of my go-to training hikes leading up to Whitney and other bigger peaks. It's only about 6 miles round trip, but it packs over 2,100 feet of gain into a few miles of fire road with almost no shade and no flat sections to recover on — you're either climbing or you're done. That combination makes it one of the best conditioning hikes in the Bay Area for legs and lungs.

The reward at the top is the summit pole everyone takes a photo with, plus a 360-degree view that stretches from the South Bay up toward San Francisco on a clear day. On this particular hike the hills were that deep winter green you only get for a few months a year out here, with clouds rolling over the ridge the whole way up. Short hike, honest workout, great view — hard to beat as a training day.