Having a Friday to spend in the area, I was actually looking to combining Machesna with another nearby CC-listed peak, Pine Mountain, in a long 25mi+ day taking me around much of the Wilderness area. The route back from Pine Mountain was the only section of the large loop that I could not be sure of beforehand, and there was some apprehension that it might involve trespassing on actively inhabited ranchlands. There was also some uncertainty in just getting to the Forest Service's American Canyon campground as the access goes through private property and visitors outside hunting season are asked to call the Forest Service for the lock combination on the gate. I didn't bother to call ahead of time, figuring I could just hike the extra 4 miles or so to the campground and had already incorporated that as part of the 25mi+ estimate for the day.
It took almost 4hrs of driving from San Jose to get to the trailhead at the
end of the pavement east of the small town of Pozo. As expected,
the gate here
was locked, but I found a small parking area for several vehicles in the grass
on the right side of the road. Starting out just after 6:30a, I hiked for
several miles along a well-graded dirt road running roughly eastward along the
north side of the 
Salinas River.
The La Panza Range is the southern headwaters
of this long river drainage that eventually reaches Monterey Bay near Salinas
more than 100 miles away. At this point the river is less than knee-deep and
would not be difficult to cross were that necessary (needed for access to
Garcia Mtn on the south side of the river). There are some
ranch buildings in
a large clearing on the south side of the large valley, but I saw only a few
cattle and no vehicles or persons on the early morning hike.
Just after 
a bridge across the mouth of American Canyon is the
junction to the
campground. Half a mile up the canyon one passes a gate marking the boundary
between private and public property. A
trail register here showed a number of
more recent visitors, suggesting it a fairly popular location at least for the
local population. 
The road
up American Canyon is not as good as the along the
Salinas River, but still useable by any vehicle.
The campground was empty when
I arrived around 7:45a. There are numerous
campsites, most outfitted with BBQs
and picnic benches, and from all appearances the area is popular for horseback
riding. In 2010 a Scout had made updating
the signage along the trails in the
Wilderness area part of his Eagle Project. As a result, the trails and junctions
were well-marked with durable iron signs, the likes of which can be found all
over the Yosemite backcountry.
The trail out of the campground took only a little bit of searching to find,
and I was soon entering 
the Wilderness.
The lower part of the trail climbs
gradually out of the canyon through 
grassy hillsides,
somewhat overgrown at
times, but generally easy to follow. The first of a number of ticks began to
hitch rides on my pants as I waded through the tall, green grasses. I would stop
every quarter mile or so to flick these off until they stopped being a nuisance.
Over the course of the day I knocked off perhaps 50 ticks, a high number, but
still much less than I had seen earlier in the season elsewhere. Views of the
American Canyon open up as one climbs higher, 
Pine Mtn overlooking the
canyon on the west side. The grasses give way to 
chapparal in the
middle elevations and 
the trail is wider and easier to follow here.
For the most part the ticks become a non-problem in the chaparral. Views of
Garcia Mtn (another CC-listed peak) open up to the south as one gets
higher. I was surprised to find a 
horned toad in the trail and paused
to take its picture. These would become a more 
regular sight during
the day (I saw about six, all told), more common than
ordinary lizards in these parts it would appear. This was more horned toads
than I'd seen previously in the wild, all combined.
Where the trail makes a long, traversing detour around a side canyon, it
crosses over a 
small creek (the only water along the entire route
once out of
the campground). I picked up another dozen of so ticks in a small stretch on
either side and found the first sampling of poison oak that otherwise wasn't
too prevalent along the hiking route. The trail moves back to the main
east-trending canyon where the gradient levels off and more
grassy terrain is
found in the higher elevations, dotted with oaks and younger pines. There is a
small 
manmade pond here and the first evidence of cattle grazing
(lots of poop,
but no cows in sight). The route isn't exactly obvious from this point, but I
knew Machesna Mtn was to the south, 
clearly visible
for much of the hike. I crossed over the dam then
hiked south along the southern edge of the pond until I spotted one of the
newer signs
leading me back to the trail. An 
older sign nearby was lying in
pieces on the ground, ample evidence of the need for the Scout's updating
project.
Reaching another trail junction above the meadow area, the terrain returns to
chaparral and the rougher dirt trails for the remaining mile or so to Machesna.
The summit is a quarter mile 
west of the main trail off a little-used
spur trail that is moderately overgrown in places, but still
serviceable. I reached 
the summit not long after 10a.
Along with a USGS 
benchmark, there was a 
red can register
among the summit
rocks. Some 
loose pages dated back 
to 2000 with a small
book dating 
to 2002.
There are 2-4 parties each year that sign into the register, a collection of
familiar highpointer names (MacLeod/Lilley, Mark Adrian, Richard Carey, Gail
Hanna (the last three from the San Diego area), Evan Rasmussen,
Dingus Milktoast, Vic & Sue Henney, random familiar names (Matthew Holliman,
John Fedak) and the rest unfamilar names, mostly Sierra Club members in the
Central Coast area from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo. The views were not
particularly good due to haze. To 
the northwest
Pine Mtn stands out, with Black Mtn behind it.
I returned to the maintained trail and then back to the last
trail junction I
had seen marked with the newer signs. From looking at the map, this alternate
route heading east looked to avoid losing and regaining altitude as I started
around the crest of the range to Pine Mtn. My GPSr concurred, showing a trail
going along the various bumps in the crest heading east then turning north.
This ended up being somewhat of a mistake. This old route ended after about
15 minutes in a fog of 
brush and downfall.
Not exactly impenetrable (which
probably would have been better since I would have gone back the maintained
route), I could see that a firebreak had once gone up the ridge and I plunged
into the mess to fight my way through,
thinking it would soon break into a clearing. It
didn't of course. I found my way to the top of Pt. 3,930ft, then down the
other side. In places I was scrambling down big blocks and slabs in between the
fun with the brush. By now my mistake had been made quite obvious, but it seemed
the shortest way back to sanity was to continue forging ahead. Luckily things
got easier and I eventually got back to grassy slopes and almost immediately
found the trail. I'd spent half an hour on half a mile and had many miles to
go - hopefully this wouldn't become a trend.
Thankfully, it didn't. 
The trail continued north along the crest,
almost in a straight line for two miles 
to Castle Crags.
It was a very pleasant stroll
along this section of single track with fine views to the east into the
Carrizo Plain. 
Castle Crags
has almost no prominence, 
a collection of rock
outcroppings off the northeast side of the crest. A good use trail leads from
the maintained trail a short distance to the rocks above, and from there it
is a class 2 scramble east to 
the highpoint,
though at first glance it
looks harder. It was shortly before 12:30p at this point and it seemed I was
finally making good time.
Back on the main trail, it was less than fifteen minutes to the
trail's end at the 
Wilderness boundary
where it meets a forest service road. This road would
take me most of the remaining distance to Pine Mtn. I spent the next hour
hiking this 4x4 dirt road (not an easy drive) up and down along the crest
heading mostly west. I found a 
tow hook and chain
that had been lost or abandoned along with a 
license plate
that had come off an unfortunate vehicle in
some sort of mishap. The most interesting find was some
squiggly lines made in
the soft dirt at one point, undoubtedly done by a snake crossing the road.
There was a picnic bench and 
campsite
just off the road at a scenic location
with a fine view looking north. Ten minutes past this point the road starts a
gradual descent down to Pozo summit. My route 
turned southwest
here, along an overgrown fireroad that would serve as 
a trail.
I was happy to find that though overgrown, it was not difficult to navigate
along this portion of the route, unlike what I had encountered earlier. In a
few minutes I was atop Pt. 3,737ft 
looking south
to the higher Pt. 3,777ft. It
is not clear which is the true Pine Mtn as the USGS has given the designation
to the broad swath of ridgeline I was now on. Google Maps shows the summit as
Pt. 3,611ft to the northeast, but this seems almost certainly auto-generated
based on the location of the text on the 7.5' topo map. The California Mtn
Atlas and the CC-list designate Pt. 3,777ft, with the SAN JOSE benchmark as the
highpoint. Yet the highest point shown on the map in the area is Pt. 3,782ft
which is just southeast of Pt. 3,777ft. In order to cover my bases, I would
simply plan to visit them all.
On my way south to Pt. 3,777ft I found an old 
survey sign
along the route with
some evidence of damage from the fire that swept through the area in 1996. I
found 
the benchmark
atop Pt. 3,777ft easily enough, and looking 
southeast it
certainly seemed that Pt. 3,782ft could be higher (I've learned by now that you
can't always trust the elevations given on the map). Luckily the firebreak
continued to the highpoint where 
I arrived
shortly before 2:30p. 
The views were
so-so at the flattish summit, partially blocked by young pines, now 10ft tall.
Haze continued to mar the distance views, but there was a good survey of the
American Canyon to the south. More interesting, I could make out a use trail
of sorts descending a ridgeline to 
the south in the direction of the
campground. This offered a more promising return route than the one I had
expected to use through the private property to the west and southwest, keeping
me within the confines of the Wilderness area.
The route turned out to be good, but challenging. From what I could tell, it
appears to be a hunter's trail used to reach Pine Mtn directly from the
campground. The steep ridgeline offers excellent views east and west during
the ascent/descent, good for monitoring the wildlife over a broad area. Much
of route was easy enough to negotiate, with a 
few sections
of heavier brush to contend with. A small 
fire pit
was found about halfway down in a rough clearing.
In all I dropped 2,000ft in about two miles before ending by the creek north
of the campground. Walking alongside the creek on my way back to camp I was
shaken from my calm, relaxed mood by the sudden rattling in the
tall grass I
was walking through. I jumped back as I spotted a coiled rattlesnake just as
I was about to step on it. Unhappy to be disturbed, it quickly slithered off
into the bushes before I could catch my breath or think to pull out a camera.
The literature on snakebite treatment is a bit shaky and changes from time to
time. Current approaches suggest immobilizing the limb and getting treatment
as soon as possible. Walking is highly discouraged. Running is a real no-no,
as are tournequets and trying to suck the blood out. Practically, I don't have
much choice if I'm out on my own, but one treatment suggestion says to lie
still for 20-30 minutes first to allow the venom to "localize". I think that
would give the snake an opportunity to sneak up and finish me off. In any case,
I'm glad it ran off without striking as that might have ruined my day.
It was 3:30p when I got back to 
the campground. Walking down the road
now, I noticed a large white pavilion-style 
tent that I hadn't noticed
in the
morning. There were also a number of portable toilets set up around the area
that I didn't recall from earlier, either. Although there was no one around,
no sounds and no vehicles,
I had to conclude that someone had come up while I was
off hiking to set up for a get-together of some sort, perhaps scheduled for
the next day. When I got back down to
the 
main road by the Salinas River, I found a recent, small
pink sign attached to the
larger sign indicating an AMC function. Would they mind that I had hopped the
fence and gone hiking here, I wondered? I wasn't too concerned as the worst I
expected was a scolding. When two pickup trucks came rumbling down the
road a short time later, I moved to the side and waved as they approached. They
simply waved back without stopping. Apparently they didn't mind, or didn't care
all that much. It was 4:45p before I got back to the
entrance gate at the pavement,
making for a bit over 10hrs for the hike. Though it had taken some two hours
longer than I had planned, I considered it a great success overall, and a very
enjoyable outing despite the ticks. Thankfully none of them had a chance to
bite.