With a continuing streak of below-average temperatures across the area, I
decided to head down to Ft. Ord National Monument for some unfinished business
there. I had been through the area on several previous occasions, but had
somehow missed the monument highpoint, the only point within the 14,000+ acre
monument with more than 300ft of prominence. In addition, there was a named
summit on the west edge that I had likewise missed, Artillery Hill. The other
points I visited were a few unnamed, but ranked summits in the Gilroy area and
a few minor points around Artillery Hill. Most of the mileage was done on my
mountain bike, but overall it was a nice combination of biking and hiking that
kept me busy for half the day.
Peak 640ft
Poking around peakbagger.com, I noticed that Laura Newman had tagged this lowly
hill in southern Santa Clara County - practically in my backyard. I'd planned
to stop by on my way back from Ft. Ord if I still had the energy, but veered off
the freeway at the last minute, deciding to do it first. Located in an upscale
neighborhood of Gilroy, a pair of water tanks are found at the summit, the
highpoint somewhere around the periphery of the tanks which sit in a shallow
bowl. There is an exceedingly short approach from
of Periwinkle Dr
that ends at the water tanks. I somehow missed this and ended up on Sunflower
Cir, the longer, but still easy approach (which takes all of 6-7min). A sign
indicated the summit area is all scheduled to be developed by the same LLC that
built the neighborhood lower down. For now, the area is sort of a green space
for the local residents who use the hill for local hikes and morning workouts.
A runs to the summit. It is gated at both ends, but
allows hikers to pass from the Sunflower entrance. At the Periwinkle Dr side,
one simply walks around the fence to the right to gain access to the top. There
are some nice overlooking the Santa Cruz Mtns and the surrounding
countryside.
Peak 886ft
Located 2mi to the northwest of Peak 640ft, Peak 886ft lies just east of
Watsonville Rd and entirely within private property. There is an
running up a ridgeline from the west off Watsonville Rd,
immediately
across the road from a couple of homes facing the peak. From my satellite view
inspection beforehand, I thought the road started further south a couple hundred
yards. That approach worked, but the better route was the more direct start to
the west which I used on the return. The road climbs steadily up the hill,
passing through a gate to a fenced
that was planted in the past
few years but seems to be minimally maintained. The road ends at the top of
the property where a couple of plastic water tanks are found below the
summit. One must cross over a few
here to reach among
a few old oak trees, views rather meager. It took about 40min for the roundtrip
effort.
Peak 950ft
With the preliminaries dispensed with, I was back in the car driving to Ft.
Ord. My drive through Salinas took me by a street-side .
The folks
picketing with Trump "Strong America" and other slogans all looked to be about
my age, all white, both men and women. They may have been the sum total of all
the white people living in town. Ironically, Salinas is the heart of the rich
farmland in the Salinas Valley. If Trump managed to build his wall and deport
all the illegals as he plans, Salinas would become an economic wasteland. I
wondered if they'd still be out there picketing once that happened. But I
digress.
Peak 950ft is located immediately east of the Mazda Raceway (formally the
Laguna Seca Raceway) which itself is a modestly-sized enclave at the edge of
Ft. Ord. Others on Peakbagger.com reported approaching
from the campground at the
raceway, some finding access restricted during events. This approach makes the
hike something like a 5min exercise, easy enough, but dependent on the race
schedule. One can also approach from other directions within the
monument, the nearest alternative being the off SR68.
This makes for a 5mi roundtrip effort, one
made considerably easier by the use of a mountain bike which is allowed access
to pretty much all of the roads and trails in the national monument.
I on my bike from this TH around 11:30a, ascending the
and Skyline Trails, climbing about 800ft in the
process. The weather was mostly overcast, which along with a good breeze kept
temps in the 60s, excellent for riding or hiking. It took about 25min to ride
to , found off a rough spur road from the Skyline Trail. To
reach the actual highpoint, one has to walk through some tall, dry grass (I had
been hoping I was done with picking stickers out of my socks...) and look for it
growing just above a small quarry site. There are
better views from the trail, particularly to Mt. Toro. I
could hear the roar of engines coming from the raceway so I decided to go over
and check it out. Turns out I was able to access over an
ungated bridge, allowing me a close-up view of . It looked
to be amateur day, with folks in BMWs and zooming around the
curvy track at about 60-70mph. It didn't take but
a few minutes before I got bored and headed back out the way I'd come.
Motorsports just isn't my thing. I made a longer return of it by following the
and Oil Well Trails back down, a very enjoyable series of
ridge rides with . I got back to the Badger Hills TH after
12:30p for just over an hour's effort.
Welch Ridge
I drove west on SR68 and north on General Jim Moore Blvd to get myself on the
west side of Ft. Ord. The Chartwell School sits atop Welch Ridge found at the
edge of the monument. The old highpoint has been bulldozed in building the
school, the new highpoint somewhere erected
there. Not a very exciting summit to be sure. There is a
on the north side of the ridge that can be used to
gain access if the gate is closed on the road, the trail starting near the
corner of Normandy Rd and Numa Watson Rd. One can also simply park and go past
the gate like I did, but this may technically be trespassing...
Artillery Hill/Grant Ewing Ridge
I reparked the van at the
of Normandy Rd and got back on the bike to
tackle the last two points. A third of a mile east on the pavement from
where I started is a
a spur use trail partially blocked by a wooden barrier leading to the top of
Artillery Hill. I think they are concerned with unexploded ordnances, but it
appears that bikes regularly make their way up here via several such trails.
Though the summit opens to ,
the views are so-so, like much of
the monument. I rode down one of two trails forking off the east side. At the
bottom I turned left when I should have turned right, making my way to Grant
Ewing Ridge via a roundabout way through Parker Flat and along another road
found to the north. I circled back at
where a ranger station is
located, and eventually back west along the correct road that runs up along
Grant Ewing Ridge. The highpoint and an
are located behind a fenced area protected by a jumble of razor wire. The
proved a weak point where it was easy to breach the
fenceline and visit
found in a line of eucalyptus trees. After my brief visit I returned to the
van after completing about five miles of riding, finishing up around 2p. Time
to head home...