Wow, is what I have to say…

First, can’t believe the kids managed this hike, it was certainly one of our biggest adventures in terms of difficulty. There were no trails marked, and we only found one on our way out at the end.

Second, this is a high hill, mostly ridges which are basically like cliffs that we were not going scale. But we found an area that could be tackled, and it was pretty steep itself. I knew going up that coming down was going to be a problem.

The kids would have been happy just going halfway up, but being halfway there they agreed to keep going. It’s always a gamble when your hiking in a new area because the top might not really be the top, or it might just be not all that great.

We did get to the top, and it was not all that great, though we could see the town of Oakland. Since we had gotten to the top, and the land had leveled off somewhat, we walked along the ridge for awhile since it was pretty cool just being so high up.

That’s when we saw the diner booths. It was amazing. It was great to have some comfortable seats, it was amazing that someone had hauled them up there, and it was totally goofy. We joked around about when the waiter would arrive, and how we would send him back down the hill for ketchup, and then for a soda refill.

Not really interested in identifying the area, because some people might say the diner booths are garbage, that they should be removed — though I doubt anyone that mature has the moxie to make it up the hill, much less get them down.

But still, they are so cool, I’d rather not risk it.

I think there’s an easier path than the one we took, but easier does not necessarily mean less dangerous.

The way we came down the hill was a little tricky, some might say dangerous, but not life threatening. I actually had to go down with the dog first to check it out; then went back up and got my daughter, and we inched it down while the boy waited at the top; and, then I went back up and eased down with him.

After that, it was not so bad.

There was a fair amount of slipping and sliding down the rocky slope, and I told my daughter to just pretend she was ice skating.

“But I never ice skated!”, she told me.

“Now you tell me!”, I replied with fake surprise.

Glad my kids have a sense of humor, and they got to enjoy the best outdoor seating in Oakland.

Below is a picture towards the end of the hike, pretty sweet……