W6/NC-477 Nesbit Ridge

Nesbit Ridge is a peak on the west edge of Henry Coe State Park, above Coyote Lake. The easiest access is from the Coyote Lake Dam in Coyote Lake Harvey Bear Ranch County Park, probably the park with the longest name. As I was driving into the park I passed a group of wild hogs near the park headquarters. This was the first time I had seen wild pigs. I paid the entrance fee, then drove along the lake to the dam. There is a large parking area here.

Trailhead. Gate is near the porta-potty. Sections of the road were visible too.

The USGS Quad shows a ranch road runs from the dam to very near the summit, and satellite views show that it still exists. The start of the road was behind a locked vehicle gate with a sign saying that fishing was not allowed. Since I wasn't going fishing, I climbed over the gate and headed down the road. The road drops down along and follows the stream until it turns and crosses. On the other side is an open meadow. On my way down I saw a bunch of deer in the meadow.

Deer in the meadow.

 There is an obvious road that continues downhill, along the stream, but the road to the summit goes across the meadow then starts climbing. From the stream crossing, the road climbs over 2100 feet over 4.5 miles, at a constant grade. The hike up was more pleasant than most ranch roads in Henry Coe which don't use switchbacks. After climbing about 200 feet, the lake comes into view again.

First view of the lake.

The road is obviously not used much, I didn't see any tire tracks. There are also some blow downs, washouts, and such that would make wheeled travel very hard. In a few places I thought I saw some fresh human footprints. At home, I discovered that Marcus Sierra had come up the day before to bag the peak. Higher up, in the grassy areas, there were some cows grazing, but they were skiddish and ran away from me as I approached.

Fremont Peak, to the south.

Near the top I left the road to walk up the last spur to the top. There are herd paths that lead to the top. There are some trees on top, much like Wilson Peak or Wasno Ridge, so a pole is not necessary. I had mine, so I setup in an open area with great views. The hardest part was finding an area large enough to sit in that wasn't covered in cow dung. I was not in a hurry, so I started operating on 15 meters and worked my way down to 40, getting contacts on each band.

Loma Prieta, Mt Um, West Twin Peaks, 1509, El Toro, and more were easy to see.

I then went to VHF. I got a few contacts on 2 meters, and one each on 440 and 222 MHz. I was surprised to find someone monitoring 222, but happy to make the contact. The breeze had started to pick up and the sun set, so I packed up and headed down. I cut some switchbacks in the grassy upper section to speed up my descent. It took me just under two hours to hike up, but only 1.25 to get back to the car.

View from the bridge. Would not be passable with high water.

Trailhead: Dam at the north end of Coyote Lake
Website: SOTA Site. Park Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Follow the old ranch road down along the stream, across it, then up to the summit.
Red Tape: None. Note that the map on the park website says the land to the north of the dam is private, but the map I was given when I paid the entrance fee shows it as public land.