Los Buellis Hills are a minor subrange of the Diablo Range, so minor that it
is hard to reconcile how they got the title "Hills" at all. Still, with 285ft
of prominence, the highpoint was the nearest unclimbed
summit to my home in San Jose. It
had been on my radar for years, though at a very low level that never got much
attention. I finally decided to pay it a visit one evening with half a moon to
illuminate the scene. The problem is that there is a home within a few hundred
feet of the summit and its hard to find parking in the area since parking on
Sierra Rd is forbidden and the Sierra Vista OSP closes just after sunset. I
ended
up taking some advice from Sean Casserly who suggested an approach from the
north allows one to reach the summit without passing in front of any homes. It's
more like a northeast approach and the parking alongside Felter Rd is sketchy
and almost non-existent, but it worked, so props to Sean. That side of the hill
is used for grazing cattle and there were a few that silently watched me go
up and down the slopes, though they didn't budge even when I passed within 100ft
or so. The hike was barely more than 1/3mi and took little time. I crept up on
the summit from the north, peered over enough to see the lights of the house
just to the south, then beat a hasty retreat. The only dog barking came from
the east side of Felter Rd, high on an adjacent hill and not really a problem. I
was happy to get out of there and back down to civilization without anyone
discovering my oddly parked vehicle on the side of the road...