To continue my New Year goal of trying new hikes, I looked at another East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) location: Briones Reservoir

A pretty straight forward hike that circles the entire reservoir via the 10 mile Oursan Trail. Didn’t look like much elevation change, except as it climbed up Oursan Ridge, but even that was only 500-600 feet to climb and descend from.

I started from the Briones Overlook Staging Area. I have driven by this area many time on the way to Briones Regional Park and always wondered what they area was like. Now that I had a EBMUD hiking permit, I could find out.

Heading north, I made my way along the Bear Creek Trail. Some nice glimpses of the water as I snaked along the edge. About half way to where the Bear Creek Trail met the Oursan Trail I realized I made a serious miscalculation.

The info I had that I *thought* showed the entire loop was 10 miles turned out to be wrong. Only the Oursan Trail was 10 miles one way. Adding the Bear Creak Trail that I’d have to use to connect the two ends of the Oursan Trail, it was almost 14 miles.

That was more than I expected and part of me wanted to quit and just go back to the starting point. I could even cheat by going back along the road that connected the two staging areas and save almost a mile of hiking.

I tried not to think of stopping my hike early and continued onto the Oursan trail. One of the big reasons was that there was a huge stream of storms due to come through the Bay Area for the next week and a half, so this may be my last chance to do a big hike in January. And while 14 miles is a long hike, I’ve done longer ones and while I did do a long hike three days earlier, I felt good.

As I hit the 7 mile mark, it was easy to continue forward since it was now the same distance regardless of which way I went. There were a couple spots where I could abort out to a road, but I’d have to call a Uber to get back to my Jeep and tried not to think of those abort options.

Before the 600 foot climb up to Oursan Ridge, I took a long lunch break and enjoyed a Diet Coke and the view. I had to find a mound of dirt that wasn’t covered in cow pies, but it was worth it. There was a lack of big rocks or tree stumps to sit on along this trail.

Climbing up to Oursan Ridge, I realized continuing the hike was worth it. The views along the ridge (which was nearly 2 miles long) were spectacular. I could see Mt Diablo to the east, Mt Tamalpais to the west, and the Delta to the north.

Again, I realized that there was a lot of unexplored area right in my backyard.

The ridge formed a ‘U’ as it slowly descended towards the dam holding the water of the reservoir in place. I had some hawks or vultures fly directly over my head, which was a nice sight.

As I crossed the thankfully flat top of the dam, I saw the parking lot I had started from and smiled to myself. Completing the loop, it came in as 13.6 miles in 6 and a half hours. A long hike, but enjoyable.