Sean had sent out an email regarding a
CC-listed peak in Mendocino County that
lies on private property. Through tenacious detective work he had found the
owner of the property on Facebook and contacted him. It took the owner a year
to respond, but he seemed happy to give his permission. Of the large group of
like-minded peakbaggers he'd sent it to, only Dean and I were able to join
Sean and Asaka for a visit on short notice. I was supposed to pick up my wife at
the airport that day but hastily made alternate plans (it's not as bad as it
sounds - our kids were home from college for the holidays and she'd much rather
see them than me). I made the 3hr drive up to Boonville the night before and
camped in the back of the van along Mountain View Rd a few miles from the
property entrance. It was a chilly 34F that night, but I slept comfortably
enough and it would be a fine day weather-wise soon after the sun came up. We
made plans to meet at the entrance at 8a and afterwards would drive together
to Cold Spring Mtn, a P1K in the area.
Peak 2,305ft
I was up at 6:30a with the intention of tagging this P900 before the others
arrived. It's located about 6mi west along Mtn View Rd, a few hundred yards
from the pavement. The trick is that it's a rounded hillock located in a
vineyard. I found a place to park off the pavement and after scaling the
perimeter fence along the roadway, walked though for
100yds to the edge of the vineyard. From there I played the silly game of
finding the likely highpoint among the rows of dormant vines, eventually
settling on I reached just before sunrise. There's a fine
home found a few hundred yards further east down the hill, so an early morning
visit seemed prudent. I was in and out in less than 10min.
Peak 1,815ft
On my way towards Buck Mtn, I noticed a bonus peak just off
the north side of the road less than a quarter mile away and stopped to pay it a
visit since I still had some time. The area is laced with
and there is that the slopes used
to have some rather large redwood specimens though only much smaller versions
can be found now. The summit is located
deep in the woods with nary a view, but the short, steep climb to reach it got
my heart pumping and my legs working. There are no fences or signs indicating
private property, though it likely is. I returned after about 20min. Almost
immediately after I had
gotten in the car, Sean came driving by, slowed, and stopped
to let me know I was a few miles from the meeting spot. He had driven in from
an AirBnB in Manchester at the coast where he and Asaka had spent the night. I
sheepishly told him I'd just stopped by for the bonus peak which didn't surprise
him much and provided some amusement.
Buck Peak
We continued the drive east to for the Hanes Ranch (Ward
Hanes is the gentleman Sean had contacted), a private hunting club that includes
a collection of homes that are occupied year-round. Dean joined us right at the
appointed hour and together we drove in about half a mile to
where we parked. From there our hike was less than 2mi
with only modest gain along . This was the first
time Dean and I had met, so we had lots to talk about under clear skies and a
warm sun, with overlooking the blue and green folded
ridgelines of Mendocino County that define this part of the coastal ranges.
There is a short, branching off the dirt road that leads
conveniently to the summit where one finds a
(though there is no USFS lands anywhere nearby) and a short but stout
that has been wrapped in metal casing for protection
(possibly a survey tower, but who knows). The summit is open to
in three directions, fairly decent, too. We ,
scrounging together the makings of a summit register that we left under the
rocks surrounding the pole. Afterwards, we set off on another road intending to
visit Cambell Ridge, about a mile across Larmour Creek. We
followed the road down until we encountered one of the occupied homes with smoke
coming from a chimney
and a dog barking in the yard. We stopped short and retreated some to consider
our situation. Though we had gotten permission, we weren't sure we'd want to
deal with unleashed dogs and other owners who we'd have to explain ourselves
to. We thought we could bypass this first home by cutting steeply down a slope
to our right to pick up the road further below past a turn, but there were more
homes below and at least one dog that I could see looking up at us. We decided
to head back the way we came to the north, avoiding
the residences and leaving Campbell Ridge unfinished. We were to
the gate just after 10a, having seen nary a soul and making for a rather casual
two hour hike.
Cold Spring Mountain
We drove our vehicles Mountain View Rd to Boonville where we
left two
of them and piled into Dean's car for the drive up to Cold Springs Mtn. Google
Maps will do a good job of getting you there and we had the route dialed into
my GPSr for backup. Approaching from the north off Greenwood Rd, we followed
Signal Ridge Rd for a number of miles as it winds its way uphill with dozens of
private roads branching off to the various isolated residences. The pavement
eventually gives out, turning to good road which can be followed to the summit.
The last mile appears to be signed for No Trespassing, but that seems to be the
trick of the adjacent property owner trying to keep the riffraff from using the
public roadway. A formidible fence surrounds at the summit
which includes several telecom towers, and the large
. Three
of us were able to squeeze through the narrow gap at the locked chainlink gate
to reach the summit rock where the is located. Dean
before finding where the fence had been compromised, allowing him
to visit it as well. This one takes all of about two minutes, car-to-car, unless
you need to find the opening in the fence on the backside. Afterwards we made
a few half-hearted attempts to visit a bonus peak in the area, but the area is
pretty much all private property and our efforts went for naught as we hit one
dead end after another. Eventually we drove back to Boonville to go our separate
ways. It would take another three hours to
to San Jose, making for
far more driving than hiking, but I'd had a fine time regardless...