The warm weather across the state was continuing, and I had such an enjoyable
evening of driving and hiking the night before that I was looking forward to
more of the same. Having the top down was most enjoyable when I got south of
Hollister. Here the city lights fade behind you as the stars come out in all
their glory, the Milky Way streaking across the sky high overhead. This lasted
until shortly before I reached Pinnacles NM when the
moon rose above the hills
to the east and began to wash out much of the night sky. Highway 25 cuts right
down the San Andreas Rift Zone, forming long, narrow valleys where it slices
through the Diablo Range. The hills on either side are a parched, golden brown
(more of a soft gray by moonlight) so late in the summer when there is very
little water left in any of the creeks and it's been more than six months since
the last rain.
I found 
the gate
for the start of Topo BM (the summit is unnamed officially, the
name here refers to the benchmark installed at the summit) which I had dialed
into the GPS. Dirt roads can be used to reach both of the evening's summits,
though I would use some easy cross-country to make a few shortcuts. After
following just above the highway for a quarter mile, the road turns west and
heads across Dry Lake Valley 
towards the summit.
Ranchlands predominate in the
area and this was no exception, the ground having been grazed close to the dirt
in all directions around the valley. I followed a series of dirt roads I had
marked on the GPS though the higher ones were little more than a plowed strip
running along a fenceline, taking about 40 minutes to cover the one and half
miles to the summit. There was a small solar-powered 
monitoring station
found inside a fence enclosure. A 
reference mark I found outside
pointed to the benchmark that was presumably inside the fence though I couldn't
locate it from without and didn't want to damage the flimsey fence in scaling
it. 
A large oak
grew magestically near the summit which I made an attempt to photograph. There
are few city lights visible, the Gabilan Range blocking most of those from the
Salinas Valley to the west. A faint glow from the lights of Soledad to the west
and King City further south could be seen above the hills. North and South
Chalone Peaks were the most distinguishable summits to the west. To the east
were the highest summits of the Diablo Range around San Benito Mtn, but none
of these were distinguishable, fading together as a series of long ridgelines.
It was again a warm night, probably 70F at the summit at 9:30p, fairly
comfortable with only a slight breeze.
The last several hundred feet had been cross-country up the steep hillside and I was surprised to find a road running across the summit. I followed this initially on the descent but had to abandon it when it began turning north and then west. Turning east, I dropped down the northeast side of Topo BM, then across Dry Lake Valley where I picked up a road near a large barn and a water tank. There were no cattle anywhere in the area that I could discern, possibly there was too little left for them to graze on. Finding my way back to the original road across the valley, I jogged the rest of the way back, returning to the car at 10p.
Fifteen more minutes of driving south got me to the start for Buck Ridge.
A sign
on the gate here indicated the lands were part of a private game bird
club. This usually means a cattle ranch being used for dual purposes. Extra
access roads are provided for hunters to drive their ATVs around the various
ridges
and canyons. Most of the roads I used to drive to the summit were freshly
graded, though not hardpacked. The soft dirt may have been churned by the ATVs
or left by the graders, but it made descending the steepest parts much easier.
It took about an hour to climb some 1,500ft over two miles, about half that
time coming down thanks to the good running characteristics of the roads. The
summit was not all too exciting. 
A fence ran along it's length, a road
on either side. At over 3,000ft, the summit area supported a handful of
scraggily pines which partially block the views. It was high enough to see west
over the Gabilan Range, making the city lights in 
Salinas Valley
visible. A cool breeze had picked up more strongly by this time, but only at the
highest elevations. Before returning to the car I paused in Rabbit Valley near
the highway to photograph 
an old windmill that stood alongside the
road. It was not yet midnight when I finished with the second and last hike of
the night, getting me back to San Jose by 1:30a - an easy but enjoyable evening.