Location: North 37:06.655, West 121:50.657 (GPS on the summit)
Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Difficulty: YDS class 1
Climbed March 26, 2007
Information:
How to get there:
From Stanford University (or anywhere in the Bay Area),
get on 280 south and transfer to 85 south. Exit 85 onto Hwy. 17 towards
Santa Cruz and travel 9.1 miles (14.6 km) as measured from the exit on 85. This road
climbs and you will see signs for Summit Road, as you leave Hwy. 17 in a fairly
sharp right hand side exit which climbs to a highway overpass. Go right, ie. cross above Hwy. 17 and
measure from here.
First, go 4.1 miles (6.6 km) along Summit road, you arrive at an intersection, go straight, Summit
Road has turned into Highland Way. At mile 5.8 (km 9.3), a road named Mount Bache Road bears left
and uphill. Follow this road to mile 6.8 (km 10.9) where the road forks. Go right along Loma Prieta Way.
At mile 9.7 (km 15.6) you are at the trailhead. The last few meter was on dirt, there is room for
parking on your right hand side. This location is N37:05.821, W121:50.808, elevation 931 meter.
Route description:
From the trailhead there are two roads, take the leftmost, this road heads uphill.
You pass through a gate and there are signs that essentially says that you should
not drive any further without special permission. The area is private, but the owners
seem to tolerate a few hikers that just follow the road.
Follow the road as it first climbs, then traverses along a pretty flat section before
reaching the base of the summit part of the mountain. The main road heads downhill on
the right, a dirt road forks left and immediately forks into two separate roads. It is
obvious that the right choice is the rightmost of these two. This road clearly climbs the
hillside and passes through another (open) gate a bit further uphill. Follow this road,
higher up it forks again, take the left turn and pass through yet another (open) gate
with a few (very rusty) no trespassing signs. This road continues to climb the hillside
and contours around the top before reaching the summit plateau. The summit is a ridge, slightly
higher in the north end. The highest point is just where a fence runs across, however certainly
high enough also on the outside of the fence.
Comments:
I made this hike with my wife Heidi. The forecast called for rain, however the morning was
looking good and we figured that a short walk to start off the day, would be just right.
We left the trailhead at 0950 and made the summit in about 30 minutes. We spent 10 minutes
on the top, the view is quite good, however somewhat spoiled by all the antennas that
populate the summit ridge.
The highest point is located in the vicinity of the northernmost antenna facility. There is a
small bump that is halfway inside and halfway outside the fence.
There is a rock just on the inside that possibly
marks the highest point, however, it may very well have been moved into its current position
by the construction activity that has taken place. This rock is still close enough to the
fence that it may be touched, most easily by using a short stick.
See pictures below.
The bad weather moved in as we returned to Stanford. Under the assumption that things would
improve later the next day, I planned a trip to climb San Benito.
Resources:
Images
The trailhead, proceed along the road that runs straight ahead.