With a few days of fine weather, I decided to head to the Sierra foothills for an overnight trip. Today was mostly a driving exercise, exploring the hills and towns in Gold Rush country around US50. Many of the summits in the lower elevations are located on private property. I looked at the places others had visited, selecting the most promising of those and adding a few others that might be feasible. Some of these I didn't actually reach the highpoint for reasons to be stated, but I included them here in case others want to know what they entail. In the afternoon I moved to higher elevations within the Eldorado NF where access was not an issue.

Ben Bolt Ridge

This is the southwesternmost summit in El Dorado County. Google Maps shows the El Dorado Trail @Latrobe Creek where I parked on Latrobe Rd. The trail follows an old railroad grade through the western part of the county, south of US50. The tracks are still there, but no longer used. Private property is often found on either side of the tracks/trail. Ben Bolt Ridge is private ranchland, actively grazed. I walked about 1/3mi south on the trail along the tracks and past the grazing cattle before going over a barb-wire fence on the right. There was an easy creek crossing, then a steady climb up grassy slopes under an open oak forest, everything a bright green. It took about 40min to make my way to the summit where some modest boulders serve as the highpoint near the benchmark. There are some views through the oaks. I returned the same way.

Sugarloaf

This modest summit is found about 3mi east of Ben Bolt Ridge. The El Dorado trail/tracks goes around the south and east sides of the hill. I parked where the trail crosses Brandon Rd on the north side of the summit, next to a friendly horse in the shade of an oak. I started by hiking a quarter mile SE along the trail until I was away from Brandon Rd, then headed cross-country up to the summit on its NE side under cover of the oak forest. This one has considerable poison oak in the upper half, but it can be reasonably avoided. Not much views from the summit of this one, either. About 30min for the roundtrip effort.

Logtown Ridge

This one shows 11 ascents on PB, none of them likely to have touched the highpoint. I would do no better. Logtown is a rural community along SR49, south of El Dorado. An underground reservoir sits atop Logtown Ridge, surrounded by a formidable fence in plain view of neighbors. I drove up Logtown Ln on the south side of the reservoir, the highest one can get without breaching the fence.

Tombstone Mountain

This is another near-miss, found southeast of El Dorado. The south side is BLM land with access off Church Mine Rd where I parked. An old road climbs partway up, then a use trail gets you to the boundary with the private property at the summit. There is an occupied home at the very top. I approached the home from two angles before spotting a vehicle that told me someone was home. I got as far as I could before I would be visible from the windows on the south and west sides. Too bad, because the short hike was quite pleasant.

Peak 2,582ft

This unnamed summit lies about 3mi SE of Diamond Springs. Paved Victory Mine Rd winds its way off Pleasant Valley Rd to climb to the summit where two homes occupy the high ground. One can drive a bit closer than I did, but there's a high creep factor in getting to the actual top.

Sacramento Hill

This minor summit in Placerville lies just south of US50. An entire neighborhood occupies the hill. Skyline Dr encircles the neighborhood, the south side of the road a bit higher and a bit closer to the highpoint which is on someone's property.

Texas Hill

The Placerville Airport lies atop Texas Hill. Because of the differences in using clean vs. average prominence, LoJ and PB have the highpoint in different locations, though neither is probably correct. The hill has been bulldozed for the runway (where the LoJ point lies) and the PB point has a VOR station there which was also flattened. I drove to the end of Airport Rd and called it good. This was another non-ascent.

Fruit Ridge

East of Placerville and north of US50 is a large touristy area called Apple Hill. It is a surprisingly large collection of orchards, vineyards and Christmas tree farms, replete with bakeries, brew pubs, wineries and the like. The main road through this area, Carson Rd, goes along Fruit Ridge. The actual highpoint is a very short hike off the pavement into an orchard, signed for No Trespassing.

Mt. Danaher

This is the site of a CalFire station and old lookout, purported to be the tallest free-standing lookout tower in the state at 100ft. One can drive to the property and examine the base of the tower. Supposedly you can ask around to get someone to let you climb the stairs, but that didn't seem a worthwhile exercise, so I left after the brief visit.

Iowa Hill

The next two are located in the Eldorado NF, north of Mt. Danaher. Cable Rd winds through more Apple Hill country, through rural neighborhoods and then into the NF south of Slab Creek Reservoir. From Mt. Danaher, it's an 8mi+ drive to the end of the road atop Iowa Hill. It has little prominence, but is an open clearing that makes for a nice campsite.

Badger Hill

This one is located about 3mi east of Iowa Hill. I drove back along Cable Rd, then up a very rough Forest road labeled Badger Hill Rd on Google Maps. The road was quite muddy, requiring 4WD to make it up the rutted incline. The highpoint is found amongst the heavy brush located on the north side of the road, rather forgettable. Google Maps may try to route you through the Ghost Mtn RV Campground from the southeast - however, you may not be able to drive through the campground to reach Badger Hill and Iowa Hill.

Independence Point

Indepence Point lies less than 2mi NE of Badger Hill, across Long Canyon, but there is no easy way between them. I had to drive back out to US50, through Pollock Pines, and then northwest on paved FR14, also called Forebay Rd. This winds its way through more rural neighborhoods. LoJ's semi-random location for the highpoint is on private property, the last home before NF lands. I walked a dirt road in the NF on the backside of the house, hoping to get close to the highpoint. When I spotted a dog patroling the home's perimeter, I backed off before it spotted me. It eventually caught wind of me as I was hiking away and came over to give me a good barking to. Another dumb summit anyway.

Poho Ridge

Finally done with all the private property, I continued on Forebay Rd down to South Fork American River at Slab Creek Reservoir. Once across the bridge, the Forest Road winds its way steeply up the north side of the canyon which forms Poho Ridge. Nicely, the entire uphill portion is paved, albeit narrow, turning to dirt/gravel at the crest of the ridge. The LoJ point is about a mile and a half to the east. There is a small private inholding just west of the point signed for no trespassing. The old gate is left open, the place appearing abandoned, now used occasionally for a campsite and shooting practice. There are no structures. It's a short walk south to the point, views partially obscured by tall manzanita. One can't see the river below to the south, but you can see the canyon walls south of the river.

Chaix Mountain

I drove higher into the NF on decent roads that most cars could navigate. Chaix Mtn is about 2mi NNE of Poho Ridge and 1,000ft higher. I parked SE of the summit and went up cross-country through mostly open forest understory to reach the highpoint in less than 15min. There were a few rocks collected there to mark the highpoint with limited views. Winter snows can be seen in the higher elevations to the east.

Saddle Mountain

This was the highest summit of the day at a little over 5,000ft. I was concerned I might run into snow, and did indeed have to drive through some remnants on the shady northeast side of Chaix Mtn, but nothing serious. Saddle Mtn is located on private forest lands owned by Sierra Pacific Industries, and the road on the east side of Saddle Mtn was gated and locked at the forest boundary. I parked on the SE side of Saddle Mtn where there is a clearing at the end of a spur road that I would use to camp for the night. It's a short hike up to the summit, again taking less than 15min. The huge 2014 King Fire burned through the area a decade ago, though not completely. In the NF areas around Chaix Mtn, the forest is recovering nicely. On the Sierra Pacific lands, they have chosen to log a huge portion of their lands nearly completely, comprising about 20sq miles. New trees are popping up through the brush, but it will be a long while before it looks like a forest again. The clear cut did leave open views at the summit, most notably of the Crystal Range to the east within Desolation Wilderness, with Pyramid Peak standing out as the highest summit in the area.

It was nearly 6:30p when I returned to the Jeep, and at first I attempted to drive into the Sierra Pacific lands where I planned to camp for the night. This is when I discovered the locked gate already mentioned, so I drove back to the clearing on the south side of Saddle Mtn and settled in there for the night. It was a pretty neat location with views of both the snowy Sierra to the east and the lights of the Central Valley to the west.

Continued...

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