Peak 1,700ft P300

Oct 10, 2015

With: Steve Sywyk

Story Photos / Slideshow Map GPX Profile

I had hoped to head up to the Trinity Alps for the weekend but family obligations conspired to keep me home in San Jose instead. Feeling the need to visit someplace, I decided to head to Pacheco State Park to tag an obscure unnamed summit just outside the park boundary that I had run out of time for on a previous visit. Via text, I asked Steve if he wanted to join me on short notice which he did when he found it was a relatively easy outing - about 4mi one-way and no significant elevation gain. It wasn't the greatest of outings, on that we both readily agreed. The state park appears to be somewhat neglected and though there are trail signs, the Whiskey Flat Trail we followed was often little more than a series of cow trails that parallels the dirt Whiskey Flat Rd. There were two state park trucks parked at what appears to be the ranger's homestead and they hadn't moved in the three hours between our coming and going - it would appear to be a very boring position. Ours was the only vehicle when we pulled in and when we left there was only one other car in the dusty dirt lot. Warm temperatures didn't help any. To be fair, summer is probably the worst time to visit as the temperatures can be quite hot, and early fall might be even worse because the grass is all brown, much of it converted to cow patties that litter this half of the park where grazing is allowed. On the other hand, it was an easy hike and we shared a bottle of wine at the summit under the partial shade of an oak tree overlooking Pachecho Peak and a host of others in the surrounding Diablo Range - and as the old saying goes, a bad day hiking is better than the best day sitting on your ass back home.

Submit online comments or corrections about the story.

More of Bob's Trip Reports

This page last updated: Sat Oct 10 21:22:53 2015
For corrections or comments, please send feedback to: snwbord@hotmail.com