I wasn't very enthusiastic about this outing when it was conceived. My daughter
was playing in her first HS Varsity Volleyball match in the Santa Cruz area so
I was going to be in the area that evening. My wife suggested I might go
hiking beforehand, but I had been battling homeowner landscaping issues the
past three days and was frustrated. What started out as "I'll trim a few
shrubs this morning" soon devolved into plumbing hell. I happen to look in the
sprinkler valve box next to the shrub I was trimming and noticed a small leak.
Just a few drops, really, but enough to attract all manner of roots to wrap
themselves around the valve to suck up the precious liquid - something that
had undoubtedly gone on for many years and probably would for many more if I
had just left it alone. But one thing led to another and I was soon cutting
roots, digging trenches and puncturing several water lines in the process.
More digging, more accidental punctures, a severing of the buried low voltage
electrical line, a broken main sprinker gate valve, more digging, installing a
new ball valve on copper lines, shutting off of the water main to the house and
more general mayhem than I've managed at home in a long time. Perhaps secretly
I'm trying to teach my wife to send me off hiking more often. In any event,
with all this going on (the backyard still looks like a WWI entrenchment as I
await delivery of plastic root barriers) I had a hard time motiviating myself
to find something to climb in the Santa Cruz Mtns. There is plenty of fine
hiking to be found in numerous State and County Parks, but I'd cleaned out all
of the publicly accessible summits. What were left were a few dozen small bumps
on private property. I picked out a handful on either side of SR17 cutting
through the mountains and actually had a pretty good time of it. If you're
strongly offended by my trespassing ways, I suggest you stop reading and go
immediately to the bottom of this page to add your comments reminding me of
this.
Cuesta de Los Gatos
This little summit lies at the center of a small mountain community, one of the
newer ones with well-manicured landscaping and well-to-do owners. The highpoint
has been bulldozed for one of these homes, currently for sale, that
doesn't look to have been fully completed. There's a pool in
the backyard, but the rest of the landscaping has yet to be done. The
view from this smallish home
overlooks the Santa Cruz Mtns to the south, with a view of Monterey Bay and
the Santa Lucia Range on a clear day. Only about 20ft of "hiking" required.
Peak 1,540ft
This unnamed summit, sporting just over 350ft of prominence, is located near
the junction of SR17 and Glenwood Cutoff Rd. This is an older, scarier part of
the Santa Cruz Mountains, where residents seem to live on the fringe of society
on the down-low. Many yards are littered with decades-worth of debris and junk.
I drove up a private road off Glenwood Cutoff just west of its junction with
SR17, serving a few homes. Just before reaching the end of the right fork home,
I noted a dirt road spurring off. I parked here and started up the road,
just above the aforementioned home and out of sight. This old logging road led
to a water tank, an old parked RV and then some steep slopes
leading up to the summit from the north. I spied another home through the trees,
kept my distance, and soon came upon a small abandoned encampment. It looked
like 2-3 individuals had at one time been living in tents. The tents
were partially
collapsed, apparently abandoned. I was afraid to look inside them least I
should find decomposed bodies. Outside were collections of stuff also abandoned.
One of the tent "residents" appeared to have been studying to be a
chiropractor judging by the books and CDs I found nearby. It was really kinda
creepy. It didn't do anything to improve my respect for chiropractic either.
I tiptoed through the forest, avoiding more homes and the cars I could see
parked nearby. How one drives to these homes was lost on me, but probably
somewhere from the east side of the peak. I eventually reached
the highpoint after about 1/3mi effort, with a partial view looking to
the southeast. Yay.
But I was two for two when I thought I might be prevented from reaching any of
these, so my spirits were rising. Back to the car I went, quietly driving back
out of the neighborhood.
Mt. Roberta
There is no Mt. Bob, Mt. Burd or Mt. Robert in CA, so my
closest chance of climbing a namesake peak might be Mt. Roberta. This one is
located about a mile SE of Peak 1,540ft and after more backroad driving I found
myself on Northridge Dr. off Glenwood Dr.
A newer area of development and decidedly
less creepy, it nonetheless was not possible for me to find a way to drive to
the summit from the north side. But some exploration found another unused
dirt road
that I managed to use to reach my target. The dirt road winds its
way west, traversing the north side of the mountain, though the topo map shows
it eventually winds back up to the top from the west. As the distance was short,
I simply clambered up the steep north slopes through dense forest to reach the
top. I was happy to find no poison oak in the understory. There is a large,
wooden water tank
occupying the summit, with a good road present as well.
Looking west down the road I could see a home with some landscape construction
going on - it may or may not have worked had I stayed on the road. There were
no views due to the redwoods covering the terrain, but at least I had found
the summit. I went back down the same way. More backroad driving ensued. The
roads are in poor shape, probably only driven on by the local residents, the
mailman, and the delivery guys from UPS and FedEx. The UPS guy gave me
a dirty stare as I paused to take his picture. I then realized he was about to
leave a package at the entrance to an open security gate. My observation was
going to make him have to do more work to deliver it to the house.
Skyland Ridge
I had to drive SR17 back up to Summit Rd and then east for about three miles
to find Skyland Ridge. The area is home to more development, both new and
somewhat old, a collection of ranch homes, some with horses. The top can be
seen in the satellite view as a scattering of brown lumps. These turn out to be
heaps of old tree bark, what may have been a failed attempt at a landscape
supply business. It was a short walk of a maybe 50yds off Adams Rd just to the
north. More homes surround the area, so I didn't stay longer than to
snap a photo
and beat a retreat. No views on this one.
Sugarloaf Mtn
The best summit of the day turned out to the lowest at under 1,300ft elevation
and less than 300ft prominence. The summit is part of an active quarry that
occupies the eastern side of the mountain. Sand and gravel extraction have cut
deeply into the face, creating a huge, open cliff. As it was 5p by the time I
reached it, the quarry was closed for the day with nary a watchman on duty. I
parked outside the gated entrance and walked up the road
through the quarry grounds, to the main excavation site. Here I hiked
up the steep roads leading across the open gash in the earth and up the left
side to the summit from the southeast. The top was open to views for
more than 180 degrees, with fine views overlooking Soquel and the
Santa Cruz beach areas
and off into the Pacific. I found a safer route back down leading off
the north side and back around the mountain in a clockwise fashion - this
is the route that the workers take to reach the diesel equipment resting
at the summit. The ascent route I had taken wasn't particularly dangerous,
but it was little used with steep, poorly compacted soil to deal with. The
descent route was well-traveled and easily used to jog back down. Adjacent
to the quarry on its north side is the Soquel Demonstration State Forest, with
signs
indicating non-public access routes to reach it. It might be possible to
reach the summit more discreetly from these lands and nearby Niscene Marks
State Park, but I'll leave that as an exercise for another visitor. My
more direct route was about a mile each way. It was nearly 6p by the time
I had finished and time for me to head to Aptos High School for the
volleyball match. I was happy to manage five for five in a little over
three hours time.