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.