Mt Madonna

I had never been to Mt Madonna, so I figured it was finally time to go. I wanted an interesting hike, so I decided to start at the base of the mountain, at the Sprig day use area, and do a loop over the summit. It was overcast and cool when I pulled into the parking lot and got what seemed to be the last spot.

Still in redwood country on the way up.

 I took the Sprig Trail up the hill. Another runner used "Power Hiking" unironically at me as she seemed impressed I could walk up the hill at the same speed she could run. I didn't have the heart to tell her that running uphill is very inefficient and she shouldn't have been surprised. I could tell I was almost at the top when the smell of campfire smoke got very strong.

Open area on the summit plateau.

 On the summit plateau it got much foggier and wetter, from all the moisture blowing in off the ocean. Every time the breeze blew it would rain a little on me. The GPS in my watch seemed a little off, or maybe the maps were wrong, but it made choosing the correct trail at intersections more fun. Eventually I wound my way up to the summit, which was extremely underwhelming.

View from the summit.

 There is a paved road leading there, and a parking lot. I'm pretty sure I was at the highest point, but it was so flat it was hard to tell. After taking a few pictures, I continued down the other side. As I descended below the clouds, there were a few views through the trees, but nothing spectacular.

The only view I had.

Back at the trailhead the parking lot was just as full, and there were lots of people parked along the road. Seems to be a popular park for some reason.

Church Hill, Mine Hill

Another run, another two peaks from the Nifty Ninety list. This time I went to Almaden Quicksilver park to get Church and Mine Hills. It was forecast for a warm day, so I got to the parking lot at the end of Mockingbird Hill Lane shortly after the gate opened. I wasn't too worried about parking since the lot there is fairly large.

Heading up the hill in the shade.

 I started up the hill, quickly passing a fair number of other groups. There are a lot of trails in this part of the park, and I think I took the most direct route to the col just below the summit of Church Hill. Here there are a number of old buildings from when this area was actively mined.

Looking  towards Mission Peak.

 Behind one of them is a use path that leads up to the summit. It was easy to follow, the peak must get a fair number of visitors.

One of the old mining buildings.

 The high point was in the trees, but just below the top was an open field with views to the south and east. It was excellent. 

An old flag pole at the summit.

 After taking in the views, I retraced my steps back to the main trail in the col and continued up towards Mine Hill. The summit is at the top of a short spur trail, and is well worth the visit. The view is even better than Church Hill. There is a bit of steepness above the flat just below the summit, but nothing crazy.

Looking at Loma Prieta.

 From here it was a long descent back to the parking lot. I took some single track trails in the forest which were much more fun than the big jeep trails the bikes can use.

The powder house, where the gunpowder was stored.

 There were plenty more old mining things to look at on the way down, and I stopped to take pictures of some of the better ones.

I think there was an elevator or lift to one of the mines here.

So far these are the two best peaks from the nifty ninety list I've done since I started trying to finish the list. Someone needs to come up with a better list sometime. The person who put this one together has probably never been hiking in their life.

Flag Hill, Vista Grande

For my long run, I decided to go to Sunol Wilderness and get two more peaks from the Nifty Ninety list. I had mapped out a nice loop over the two, and was looking forward to going back to the park. Its one of my favorites.

Heading up to Flag Hill.

I got to the gate shortly after it opened, and there was still plenty of parking. It was overcast, but that meant it was cooler for the climbs. I crossed the bridge and started up the trail. I made it to the top of Flag Hill pretty quickly. The high point is just off the trail, maybe 10 feet higher. Having tagged the high point, I continued around towards Vista Grande.

Just below the summit of Flag.

It was still fairly early, but I started to see more people on the trail. I headed down the hill towards the old barn, but turned up the hill before I got there.

Looking over at Maguire Peaks, also in the park.

 There were some backpackers heading up the hill that I was surprised to see. I had thought all the backcountry camps were closed during coronavirus. I reached what I thought was the summit and took a small use trail up to the high point, but turning around I could see there was still more climbing. The viewpoint seemed nice though.

Shaded bench at a viewpoint on the way up to Vista Grande.

 After a bit more climbing I reached the summit. The views were grand, as the name implied.

Looking over towards Mt Diablo.

 I stopped to take plenty of pictures before continuing my loop down. I took the Eagle View Trail down across the face of the hill. That had a few sections that were a bit scary at a running pace. Thankfully no one was coming the other direction. Heading down the Injun Joe Trail I passed lots of people coming up. Everyone must have woken up!

The cliffs at Flag Peak from the parking lot.

As I drove out of the park I passed a line of cars waiting to get in. It was at least a quarter mile long, and more people were driving in. I'm glad I got there early.

W6/NS-057 Granite Dome

From the summit of Black Hawk Mountain I continued along the ridge towards this second summit. I dropped down into the col with the small sub-peak, then had to decide how to proceed. I decided to try going around the north side, to avoid some elevation if I could.

Small lake on the way.

This seemed like a decent decision. The going was pretty good, with only a few snowfields to cross. Nothing super dangerous. There were a lot more cliffs heading this way though. I was able to find ways around all of them, but some of them looked worrying from a distance.

Passage around one of the cliffs.

After one set of cliffs, I thought I saw the summit ahead, but it turned out to be a false summit. The real summit was still a half mile away, with some more rocks to walk up. I was surprised to see another party get to the summit a few minutes after I did. And a second group came up a while later.

Looking down at Long Lake and the rest of the Emigrant Wilderness.

There was no cell service on this peak, so I had to rely on RBNHole for spotting. The bands were not in good shape, I only got three contacts on HF. Luckily there were plenty of people on 2m and 70cm, and I had no problem activating the peak on those bands. Being up high makes VHF a lot more fun.

Heading down.

I wasn't in a hurry, and it was pretty nice up there, so I hung out for a while. Once I started getting bored, I packed up and headed down to Upper Relief Valley. There was one more set of cliffs to navigate on the way, then smooth sailing. I was able to avoid all the dense brush lower down, and made my way past a few ponds.

Still going down.

In the valley I found a nice campsite near one of the lakes, and set up. There was a nice breeze that kept the mosquitoes away all afternoon. Once it died down in the evening I just got into the tent. The next morning I packed up and headed down the trail back to Kennedy Meadows for the drive home.

The only difficult stream crossing on the trip, behind me.

Trailhead: Kennedy Meadows, CA 108. Then hike up to Upper Relief Valley.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: From Black Hawk Mountain, follow the ridge over. Or from Upper Relief Valley, head up from the west, staying south of the steep sections.
Red Tape: Permit needed for overnight camping. No quotas.

W6/NS-056 Black Hawk Mountain

I decided to take some time over the July 4th weekend to go to the Sierra to get some more peaks. I decided on the Emigrant Wilderness, since there were a number of unactivated peaks there just waiting to be done. I started at the Kennedy Meadows trailhead. The hiker parking is about a half mile from the pack station and store, but I didn't want to pay to park closer.

Gorge near the start of the trail.

I hiked up the road, then the gorge, then past Relief Reservoir, and up to Lunch Meadow, where I found a nice camping spot and spent the night. After breakfast the next morning I began to climb up to Black Hawk Mountain. Like most Sierra peaks, there is no trail up on the ridges or over summits, so I had to pick my way up.

Heading up.

There were lots of small cliffs that I had to find my way around, but nothing that was impossible. There were great views across the valley towards Relief Peak and Molo Pinnacle. Sometime I'll have to come back and get those peaks. I was feeling a lot better than the previous day, sleeping high seems to have helped.

One of the small ponds on the way up.

I was surprised how many small streams and ponds and marshy areas there were on the way up. If I had known, I could have carried less water up with me. Below the summit, the granite ended and turned to loose stone and dirt. This was a bit harder to walk up, but I was soon at the summit.

Looking north from the summit. Mokelumne Peak was easy to pick out, and I think I could see Round Top too.

It was quite windy on top. I found and signed the register, then got my radio stuff set up. I sat on the lee side of the summit pile, and discovered I had some cell service. I put out a spot and soon had a small pileup on 20m. I made a few contacts on 30 as well, but didn't have any luck on 40. VHF worked well as well.

Looking back at the peak while heading over to Granite Dome.

I was starting to get cool in the wind, so I packed up and continued on my way. I had a ridge walk over to Granite Dome. From the summit of Black Hawk it looked ok, but I could see some places where it might be tricky. The first part was along a ridge made of the loose rock like at the summit, and was quick going.

Trailhead: Kennedy Meadows, CA 108. Then hike up to Lunch Meadow.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: From Lunch Meadow, pick your way up the slope to the summit. My route was all class 1/1+.
Red Tape: Permit needed for overnight camping. No quotas.

Gossip Rock

While browsing the lists on Peakbagger, I discovered I was nearly halfway done with the Nifty Ninety list of peak and points in the Bay Area. I decided that this was an interesting new goal to work on. My first outing was to Gossip Rock, in Dry Creek Pioneer park in Union City. I got there near the published opening time, and the lot was nearly full already.

In the canyon on the way up

I took a roundabout route, since I was looking to get a five mile run in. The hike up to the top was nice, not too difficult. The rock itself was pretty underwhelming. I have no idea why someone decided it was a good place to add to the nifty ninety list. There are so many great places to go hiking in the bay area, why got to a sad little rock?

The rock in under the copse.

Close up of the rocks.

Thoroughly unimpressed, I continued on my run. There are some nice views over the bay as you head down the hill.

Looking west.

Back at the parking lot, every space was full and there were cars driving around looking for a spot. I left and let them have their fun.