How do you say goodbye to the worst year in modern history that will always be referred to as “2020” preceded or followed by some sort of expletive. It’s a year that will not be forgotten, even if we badly want to forget it.

I decided I wanted to say goodbye by seeing the last sunset of 2020 from near my new home in Moraga. Mulholland Open Space Preserve is a nice high point that is an easy half mile hike up and has full 360 degree views of Moraga (depending on where you are along the ridge). It also has a what should be a good view of where the sun will set behind the Oakland Hills.

So, I headed up about an hour before sunset just to make sure I made it in time and so I could scope out the best viewpoints.

I settled on a stretch of the Mulholland Ridge Trail that had several spots looking towards the Oakland Hills, but also had some gaps where you could see Mt Diablo.

I settled in and took in the view, took some pictures, and thought about the GOOD things that happened this year.

• I still have a full time job and my company is weathering the COVID-19 shutdowns pretty well.
• I managed to keep active with my hiking and bike rides to stay in shape (mostly).
• I finished hiking EVERY trail at Mt Diablo State Park since I first started hiking them in 2011.
• I enjoyed a nice backpacking trip up Clouds Rest and Half Dome in Yosemite.
• An evil, wannabe dictator was finally overthrown and sent into exile.
• I finished hiking EVERY trail at Mt Diablo State Park in within the first 11 months of 2020!
• I moved, giving me new trails and parks to explore.
• And the highlight of the year for me: I hiked the entire 211 mile John Muir Trail in 24 days in August.

I enjoyed the sunset and relished the good things about 2020.

As I made my way home, I said a silent “F.U. 2020!” for all the bad things that happened this year.

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I always try to do a nice long hike on New Years Day to celebrate the new year and this year I needed to really celebrate the new year so I could forget the old year.

I decided to start the day by watching the sunrise from Mulholland Ridge Trail as sort of a way to say hello to 2021 the same way I cursed out 2020 the night before.

Then I had to decide where to do my main hike. having done Mt Diablo for my last big hike of 2020, I didn’t want to start there. Mt Tamalpais also seemed a bit too routine. I looked at doing a big hike at Las Trampas Regional Park, but decided against it because I’m still trying to find out if there’s any access from the Moraga side of the park. I figured I’d wait until I get more details.

Looking at the map around my new neighborhood, I settled on going to Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland Hills. It’s only 10 miles from my home and I don’t think I’ve ever hiked there before. Being so close I may end up hiking there often, so figured it was a good idea to start the new year with a new park.

As I planned my route up the East Ridge Trail from the Pinehurst Staging Area I started to realize that there could be some good sunrise views from the first mile or so of that trail. Using my various tools I use to determine where the sun will rise (Peak Finder, Sun Calc, Google Earth, etc.) , I determined there was a good chance of some nice spots to see the sunrise.

So instead of seeing the sunrise from behind my home and driving over to Redwood Regional Park, I decided to just do the sunrise and long day hike in one big hike.

Starting an hour before sunrise, I climbed the first steep part and reached the first spot that looked like it could have some clear views of the sunrise. It did have some gaps in the trees, but the hill the sun would rise behind was obscured. I continued upward.

I found a nice spot that had good views of where the sun would rise and (as a bonus) part of the San Leandro Reservoir was visible. But with still a good amount of time before sunrise I decided to try further up the trail to see if there was a better spot.

Nothing looked very promising in the next quarter mile, so I turned around and went back to the first spot and sat down and waited for the sun to rise. My impatience was rewarded when the sun rose over the fog covering the water of the reservoir. Nice beginning to the year.

Then it was time to continue up along the East Ridge Trail. Naturally, not too far after I found a high spot on the trail that had a good view of the sunrise. Ah well… the spot I did see it from was good as well.

Then I found a GREAT spot where the trail curved and seemed to line up perfectly where the sun had risen from. AND it had a bench. Somehow I think that was a popular spot for watching the sunrise during this time of the year. Ah well, some other day.

From there, I reached the northern end of the park where it hits Skyline Blvd. There, I transitioned to the West Ridge Trail which ran along the west ridge of the park (go figure).

Being close to Oakland and Skyline Blvd, this trail was busier than the East Ridge Trail. As the trail looped behind the Chabot Space and Science Center, I realized that I had hiked this trail before. Looking at the map, I know I didn’t do the big loop that I was doing this day, but this corner of the park looked familiar.

Continuing along the West Ridge Trail, I got glimpses of the Bay to the West and a couple glimpses of Mt Diablo to the East. The trail descended down to the Redwood Entrance, which was the main part of the park. Lots of cars and cars waiting for other cars to leave so they could take their spot.

I could have gone out to Pinehurst Road and use it to go back to my Jeep at the starting point.

But I wasn’t sure how much room there was on the shoulder for walking, so decided to take a more picturesque route up Canyon Trail. It did mean climbing up a little more to reach the East Ridge Trail, but was a quick hike and gave me some different views of the area and the route back down to my Jeep.

All in all, a good start to the day and the year.

Then it was back to my new apartment to put in a shelf, organize my backpacking gear, install a new switch to allow me to control my hallway lights from three places, put up another picture on my wall, watch Doctor Who and then the Warrior game.

2021 was starting pretty good (except for that last item). Lets hope it gets better and better.