W6/NC-366 Peak 1509

This peak is the high point of a ridge north of Twin Peaks. Andrew Kirmse had invited me to do a hike with him, and we chose this peak. We met at a Peets Coffee in Morgan Hill, then carpooled to the start. We parked at the corner of Llagas and Oak Creek Roads, then walked up Rockwood Ranch Road. At the water tank we left the road and started bushwhacking up the hill.

Looking back towards Morgan Hill.

The spur we had chosen to go up was easy to follow, mostly open forest. There were some animal trails that we followed for some sections. Near the top the brush got denser and we started seeing lots of poison oak. There is a barbed wire fence running along the top of the ridge, and an old ranch road on the other side. We found a place to cross, then started following the road.

Looking towards the summit.

The road was generally easy to follow, but there were a few sections that were extremely overgrown and difficult to push through. We thought about following the ridge on the other side of the fence in the forest, but that would have involved pushing through lots of poison oak. Neither option was great. Near the summit the road starts to go downhill, and then there is another old road that leads up to the high point.

Operating in the brush.

Having tagged the summit we found a small clearing on the west side of the hill, and I set up my gear. I sent out a spot, and quickly got four contacts on 30 meters. I then switched to sideband so Andrew could understand what was going on, but despite my spot I only got one contact. We still had a dense bushwhack back down, so I packed up and we hit the trail again.

Fighting through the brush.

We retraced our steps back to the fence crossing, then started down. However, we started down the wrong spur, too far to the south. This required some extra bushwhacking and contouring to get back to the correct spur. Eventually we made it back to the car, and drove back to Morgan Hill. I then drove up to Mt Umunhum to activate it.

Trailhead: Corner of Llagas and Oak Glen Roads.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Walk up to the water tank at the top of Rockwood Ranch Road. Follow the spur up to the top of the ridge. Cross the fence, then walk along the old ranch road to the summit.