I had a day to kill and needed to get out of the house, so I decided to make a
tour of Alameda and Contra Costa counties tagging a collection on LoJ summits
that all have little prominence and had been neglected on previous visits. It
was a lovely day with partial sunshine, clear air, and cool temps. I didn't get
started with the driving until 9a to allow rush hour traffic to subside.
Pill Hill
This small hill is located in Oakland, near the I-980/I-580 interchange. A
Sutter Health hospital occupies the highground on the east side of
Summit St, making for a drive-by.
This one is on private property at the end of Thors Bay Rd. I drove up the
driveway a short distance past a watertank to a small rise where
the home comes
into view. This is atop an equal contour to the one PB and LoJ depict as the
highpoint. I called it good and backed down.
San Pablo Ridge
Ok, an actual hike here. This point is not the highest nor most prominent one
along the length of San Pablo Ridge, but it got marked as such on LoJ
and then David Sanger added it to PB. The obscure Rifle Range Rd TH is
conveniently located near the previous summit. My route to the top was fairly
direct, but it might be shorter from one of several other trailheads on the
northeast side of the ridge. My route followed old ranch roads down to,
and across Wildcat Creek, then up grassy slopes to the crest
of San Pablo Ridge, finally reaching the summit from the southeast. It
took nearly an hour to reach the summit at a casual pace, collecting the PB-only
Peak 1030 along the way. The grass slopes are a healthy green with
poppies and other flowers in the mix. Most of the
San Francisco Bay can be seen from the summit, including the City,
Angel Island, and the major bridges.
Nob Hill
This is another drive-up on the southeast side of San Pablo Bay in the Gateley
neighborhood. The highpoint appears to be at the junction of Sunnyview
Dr and Bay View Farm Rd, north of Interstate 80.
Suribachi Hill
This is an interesting summit on private ranchland, the northernmost summit in
Contra Costa County. The name was officially adopted by the BGN in 2017, for
the replica statue of the USMC Iwo Jima Memorial found at the summit.
David Sanger approached this from the northeast at the end of Bayview St where
he found a hole in the fencing. I chose a shorter route
from the southwest at the Cummings Skyway exit off Interstate 80. There
is a wide-open, no-signage gate found under some trees along the
southbound exit ramp, then a steep climb up the hill to the summit.
This route has the additional advantage of being out of view from the ranch
buildings on the north side. Up close, the human figures are crudely
represented, but the effect from below is quite good.
Bush Hill
This is a pleasant half mile stroll in Crocker Hills Regional Park. The
shortest access is from the north at the end of Duperu Dr. There were
lots of cattle grazing about today, and even the young ones
showed little fear. The summit is found just above and east of
a water tank with a fence around it. I spent just over 20min on the
roundtrip.
Martinez Ridge
This is a minor ridge on the hills south of Martinez and the SR4 freeway. A
home sits at the highpoint along Venner Rd, so a drive-by is the best
you can do without things getting creepy.
Shell Ridge
This point is found in the Shell Ridge Open Space Preserve west of Mt. Diablo
State Park. The shortest approach is from the Patrick Hannah Grove
Picnic Area. A trail goes northwest from the parking area to
the Ridge Top Trail, which can be followed south and southwest to the
summit, with a bit of cross-country at the end. I chose a more direct
route up from the east which wasn't all that great with two barb-wire fence
crossings. There's not much to the summit, but the slightly lower
northwest summit has a nice view bench. I took
the trail system
on the way down, much nicer. A little over half an hour for the roundtrip.