Crowds Overrun Calif. Peak to Shoot Selfies, Medics See Rise in Emergencies

Sept. 15--An obsession with taking selfies atop the rocky, treeless summit of Mission Peak in Fremont is drawing thousands of new visitors to the regional park and leading to severe erosion, medical emergencies and a near-revolt by irate neighbors.

Social media, it seems, have fueled the popularity of the once-serene Mission Peak Regional Preserve, a steep and rugged park near the Santa Clara County line. But the paths are not for novices: The Hidden Valley Trail is a dusty 3-mile hike up 2,000 feet with almost no shade or resting spots. Summer temperatures are regularly in the 90s.

On a busy day, up to 3,000 people clamber up for 360-degree views and cell phone pictures, even though the park was meant to accommodate 500 people, at the most. Often, the hikers are unprepared for the challenge. Calls for paramedics are common on weekends.

"Some days it's like a rock concert," said East Bay Regional Park Supervisor Gordon Willey. "Ten years ago this was just a quiet little park. But now, with social media, for some reason, it's just blowing up."

Neighbors around the Stanford Avenue trailhead complain of near-constant traffic, parking, noise and trash.

"It's bad. It's to the point where people in that neighborhood are trapped in their houses," said Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison, noting that park visitors routinely block driveways. "That park is a tremendous asset to our community, but at this point something has to be done."

Rowdy visitors

Willey said the park users' whooping, barking dogs, radios and loud chatter are disruptive not just to neighbors but to those seeking quiet time in nature.

The Stanford Avenue staging area parking lot is designed for 42 cars, a number intentionally set to keep the number of park visitors to a moderate level. Another trailhead parking lot is at Ohlone College, but parking costs $2, and that trail is much less popular.

"Imagine, if you will, you just spent $2 million on a home in this quiet area, and then you find you're in the middle of the Alameda County Fairgrounds," he said. "It can be a very noisy, crowded scene here."

The biggest problem at Mission Peak, however, is not crowding. It's dehydration, not just among hikers but their dogs. Last summer five dogs died of dehydration on Mission Peak, and this summer has seen numerous dogs require veterinary attention. Among people, park staff and Fremont paramedics respond to four to five medical calls per day on busy weekends, usually from hikers with twisted ankles or symptoms of dehydration or heatstroke.

"There's no shade, and no water, and sometimes people overestimate their abilities. They get halfway up and then we get a phone call," said district police Lt. Lance Brede. "It pulls our resources away from other things."

Many hikers forge shortcuts across the hillside, wearing away grass and causing the ground to slide. The district frequently reseeds and blocks off those areas, but sometimes it's not enough, Willey said.

And some hikers are not exactly friendly to the local wildlife. Occasionally a hiker will kill a rattlesnake, and off-leash dogs often chase deer, park staff said.

Puzzling popularity

Park officials are a little mystified at Mission Peak's popularity. It's not the biggest, most picturesque or highest park in the East Bay. It's nearly treeless, covered with dry grass that's grazed and flattened by cattle.

But it's close to two freeways and offers sweeping views from the summit. At the peak is a graffiti-covered pole affixed with pipes pointing to various landmarks, such as Mount Diablo. Photos of triumphant hikers posing next to the pole are replete on social media.

That's what brought Sidney Salenga, a chef from San Jose, and his friend Alvin Dajano, a flight attendant, to Mission Peak on Wednesday.

"That's why we're here. We want to take Facebook pictures," Salenga said as the pair prepared for the ascent. "I saw some people posted pictures from the very top, and I thought, I want to go there."

District officials have tried nearly everything to discourage overcrowding and medical calamities at Mission Peak. They've cracked down on the park curfew, set up safety info booths at the trailhead, encouraged visitors to use other trailheads and other parks, and posted half a dozen signs advising that hikers bring plenty of water -- 2 liters per person -- and wear good hiking shoes. In July, they even brought in a 15-by-12-foot electronic message board posting the park hours and warning of citations.

"We had that message board there for seven days, and we still had people disregard the rules," Brede said. That month park police issued almost 500 citations, at roughly $300 each, and more than 1,000 warnings, he said. Most of the citations were for violating the park curfew, which is 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Hundreds of hikers sneak into the park at night to watch the full moon or sunrise from the summit, he said.

New hours

The district changed the hours at the Stanford Avenue trailhead, effective Sept. 29, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It's also considering charging parking fees on the weekends, or requiring permits, such as the National Park Service requires for hiking Half Dome in Yosemite.

The city and park district are also considering residential parking permits around Stanford Avenue.

Removing the pole at the summit is also a possibility, Willey said.

None of that is likely to discourage hikers like Phillip Lu, a carpet cleaner from Fremont. He treks up Mission Peak several times a week and doesn't plan to stop.

"It's peaceful, it's nice, it's clean," he said Wednesday. "I always bring a backpack full of water, though. And I don't bring my dog anymore. Last time I had to carry him down. ... I think people just need to practice common sense."

Carolyn Jones is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: carolynjones@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynajones

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