Today was my first time to visit Bishop Ranch Regional Park in San Ramon! I was not quite expecting for my hike to be so steep, so I did not go as far as I had planned, but my daughter and I still had a lot of fun. The park is part of a ranch, so we traversed grazing areas with lots of cows in them, and the cows were calving. There were very young calves everywhere! It was so much fun to see the little cows nursing, playing, and sleeping.
We saw a flock of about twenty or so turkeys here. There were very fancy houses, some of which looked relative new, and an older house that looks like it used to be a ranch house: there were lots of farm animals here, that were of interest to my daughter. Once we crossed the cattle gate we saw all the cows with their calves.
The trail became less steep here, but it was still a steady climb uphill. At this point, the trail alternated between open wind-swept hills (with stunning views of Las Trampas, Mount Diablo, and Morgan Territory), and copses of bay and oak trees. I was surprised to see lupines still blooming late into September. Usually there are almost no wildflowers blooming this late in the year, only thistles. It was lovely to see! By the time we got up to the peak, the landscape was exclusively grassy hillsides, with views extended across the Livermore Valley into Sunol and Del Valle. Even though the distance of the hike to this point was only about 0.5 miles, I was pretty beat from carrying my 30-pound daughter up the steep hill in my carrier backpack. We stopped for a little snack, and then decided to head back instead of doing the loop of the lollipop. I think we will definitely hike that part of the park, but I would rather access that from the Morgan Drive entrance when we do. She hiked the whole way back to the car by herself, and she loved it! It was especially fun to see that flock of turkeys waiting for us at the same place where we saw them on our way in. It was perfect fall hike for the two of us.
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