W6/NC-367

This week the rain stopped on Friday, so I headed out to take advantage of the good weather. My original plan was to go to Henry Coe SP, but the road to Hunting Hollow was closed due to a mud slide. Since I was in the area, I decided to go to this unnamed peak instead. It is the high point of Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park (what a mouthful). This park is a mix of open grassland and typical Diablo Range forest. If I had gone a few weeks later, there probably would have been many wildflowers blooming. I parked in a lot at the south end of the park and hiked the length of the park to the summit along some muddy trails.

Looking back at the parking lot.

There are a number of different options from this trailhead, but I took the Coyote Ridge Trail to the north end of the park, then followed the directions described by the other climbers on the SOTA page. Along the way there are excellent views of the southern Santa Clara Valley, and the Gilroy area.

Looking West across the Santa Clara Valley

At the top, the trail makes a small loop around a summit, which is not the true summit, but is well inside the activation zone. It appears the true summit is just outside the park. I set up on this knoll, and got busy making contacts. There is a clump of trees near the top which will provide shade or an antenna support, if you need either. It was very windy, and got cold when the sun was behind clouds. In all I made 17 contacts, all but one on HF. I retraced my steps to get back to the car.

The view from the summit.

Trailhead: I started from the parking lot on Mendoza Ranch Road (no fee). Much shorter hike from the end of Coyote Lake Road (fee).
Website: SOTA Site
Maps: Santa Clara County Parks map. KB1KXL SOTA Hikes map
Route: I took Coyote Ridge Trail to Ed Wilson Trail. Many other trails in park. See the SOTA site for shorter route description.
Red Tape: None