Our 1st time up the Green Valley Trail was Sunday (7/6/08). Donna and I went up on a warm morning without much breeze, but what appeared to be a promisingly hot day turned out to be benign. Since it was our 1st time up this way, I spent a little time trying to find the trail head; there are two points of entry. The first is on Green Valley Road and is easily miss-able if you don't look carefully. The other is past the Whitegate subdivision where Bryan Ranch begins in Alamo. In fact, it is also miss-able: look for the Bryan Ranch subdivision sign and park.
So, after some time looking for the Bryan Ranch entrance, and having wasted about 20 minutes looking for the trail head, I decided to just head back to the Green Valley Road trail head entrance that I had noticed on previous runs. Well, it was exactly where I thought it would be, and just happened to intersect the previously mentioned Bryan Ranch trail head entrance; yes, I wasn't feeling too smart!
Let's get to the trail and the work before us: This trail skirts past many homes on its way up to intersect The Summit trail. In fact, in one segment of the trail a gate opens to a backyard of a beautiful home and then closes as you leave the trail. The ground on this trail is not well worn, and this makes the ground a bit softer. Except for the signs indicating that your on the trail, a hiker might wonder whether they are trespassing because of the proximity to homes passed. Once we neared the Summit trail, the ground surfaced hardened, and then we intersected the Bridge that leads to the south gate entrance of Mt. Diablo.
I commented to Donna that it appeared that the Green Valley Trail was a bit longer and more arduous than the South gate Trail to this point, and at first, she disagreed. Later however, it became evident that it was about 15 minutes longer and with a couple of steep but short rises in elevation; it added to our work load for the day.
Once we got to the bridge, our regular climb up to Rock City ensued. I started to concentrate on the rock surfaces my shoes grazed against while sneaking the occasional glance at the ascending trail. And, I actually felt pretty good though knowledgeable about the running ahead of us once we got past Rock City; I was concerned a bit because of the heat.
I managed the last segment up to Rock City rather well. Donna grumbled something about the temporary difficulty of the trail, but once we got to the main trail, we started our run. We both managed to run well across to Macedo Ranch, and at one point, I took on the longest and most significant portion of this trail; a steep and rugged incline. I ran up the hill with youthful vigor, and was pleased to have conquered it as breathless as I was. Shortly thereafter, Donna came along, cheery and enthusiastic to be on the trail; her usual countenance. As we left the park and entered Macedo Ranch; there is one single ascent left, we ran it with enthusiasm: I was pleased to be nearly back to the trail head on Green Valley Road.
Though I didn't particularly care for the initial part of the trail (Homes), I like the fact that we can park one car and return to it without having to drive back to the south gate entrance of Mt. Diablo. Also, the ground surface is not well worn initially, but may change as the trail is used more often. Perhaps, during rainy periods, this trail would be quite difficult because of the terrain. The trail hike/run is about 8 miles.
