EUGENE O’NEIL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
DANVILLE, CA
SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2016

DIFFICULTY:  Easy to Moderate

ELEVATION GAIN:   Total elevation gain is about 375 feet.  The hike is basically flat at the beginning and end with a 350 climb up and down in the middle.  Most of the hike is on sidewalks and/or, paved trails and paths.  There are some dirt paths at the historic site.  The first mile of the hike is  through the back lanes of Danville.  The next 1.50 miles is up to the historic site.  This section is what makes the hike moderate.  After lunch and walking around the grounds, we have another 1.5 miles down.  We finish the last mile of the hike through another section of the back lanes of Danville.

DISTANCE:  The hike up and back to the Eugene O’Neil National Historic Site is about a 5.0 mile loop.  If you decide to explore the site, you will probably walk another mile or so on the grounds.  The 350 foot up and down section to and from the site is what makes it moderate.  This will be broken up by lunch and time to visit the site.

GENERAL LOCATION: Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, Danville, California.

DESCRIPTION:

This will be a fun mix of city walking and mountain hiking.  Eugene Gladstone O’Neill is one of America’s most distinguished playwrights of the 20^th century.  He is the only American playwright to have won the Nobel prize for Literature and the only dramatist to have won four Pulitzer prizes.  He and his wife, Carlotta, built and lived at “Tao House” in the hills above Danville from 1937 to 1944.  Isolated from the world and within the walls of his home, O"Neill wrote his final and most memorable plays; "The Iceman Cometh," "Long Day"s Journey Into Night," and "A Moon For the Misbegotten."  The “Tao House” is now a National Historic Site.

We will start our hike in downtown Danville near the Danville Library and visit the city’s park dedicated to Eugene O’Neil.  On our way to the “Tao House”, we will explore the back lanes of Danville and climb to his estate.  On the way back, we will stop at Mr. O’Neill’s favorite watering hole.  There will be  some challenge to the walk and hike, but you will enjoy the beauty of the Danville neighborhoods that we will walk through and the hills above.

TRAVEL TIME/DISTANCE: 2 hour drive to Danville, CA.  Hiking time between 4-5 hours.  Estimated return to Lincoln between 5:00 and 6:00pm.  The one-way distance is about 107 miles.  Based upon the length of the drive, a per-person monetary contribution for gas would be appreciated: $18.00 to be given to driver at beginning of drive.  Detailed driving directions will be handed out to all drivers.

HIKE LEADER/SWEEP:  Jim Fisher/Denny Fisher

SPECIAL NOTES:

FACILITIES AVAILABLE:  There is a restroom at the Danville Library where we will park our cars.  There will be three restroom stops along the hike.  Two in town and one at the historic site.

PREPARATION FOR HIKE:

1.      Hiking boots and hiking poles, water, layered clothing, bring: lunch.

2.      Copy of your ID (Driver’s License), Health Card, Emergency contact Name and phone number, and credit card.

3.      Bring 2 pairs of shoes along with a plastic bag to store your muddy.dusty hiking boots after the hike.  Please do not get your driver’s car dirty by wearing your dirty boots on the drive home.

RISKS:   Long hike and travel time.  Moderate uphill and downhill sections of trail.  Some dirt (possibly muddy) trails at historic site that must be negotiated.

QUESTIONS:  Call Denny Fisher at 505-4948

MEETING TIME:  7:15AM - LEAVE AT 7:30AM