During an email conversation with a number of other Bay Area peakbaggers
regarding the
CC list, it was brought to our attention by David Sanger that the
SF Sierra Club had recently released their own peak list, cutely titled the
Nifty Ninety. It was generally agreed that the list was weak, seeming a bit
too easy, but still, it was the first Sierra Club-sanctioned list we'd seen for
our area. Comprised of many popular summits and points around the Bay, most of
us had already done more than half the list. In first place, David had done all
but five of the summits. I was a close second, needing only seven, but I was
in the Southland for the holidays with family and unable to rise to the
challenge. I jokingly cursed David for being unable to exact my revenge, to
which he responded with "do we get a pony at the end?" I watched on PB as David
set out on Dec 26 with a climb of Mt. Madonna to start whittling away at his
remaining five. But I would have my
revenge after all as I returned to the Bay Area with the family that same day
and immediately plotted my strategy. As David was picking them off one by one
over the course of five days, I set off on a two-day blitzkrieg that would land
me all seven summits before David even knew I was home. The pony would be
mine.
My brother and daughter joined me for this first day, knowing in advance that
there would be much driving and hiking. About 18mi of the latter and 4-5hrs of
the former. The total mileage for the seven peaks was around 28mi, far too much
to do in one day with all the ensuing driving that would take me in a circle
around the Bay, first to San Francisco, then to Napa County, then Solano County,
then down the East Bay for the last two. The plan was to do six of the peaks
on the first day and then do the longest hike, to Schlieper Rock, on the last
day. With my two companions in tow, our pace was slower than I would have
liked and it grew dark while we were still in Napa County. I was going to do the
one in Solano County as a night hike by myself while they waited in the car,
but other obstacles presented themselves and in the end two full days would be
needed.
Hayes Hill
Located in the heart of San Francisco, Hayes Hill is a small, rounded bump with
little prominence. is located within Alamo Square, a
, adjacent to the famous on
Steiner St. We spent about an hour driving from San Jose to the City in the
early morning hour - it probably would have taken longer and been more stressful
during regular rush hour traffic but we were saved by the holiday lull between
Christmas and New Years. The city was steeped in heavy fog so we didn't have
much in the way of photos, but still we managed to .
Mt. St. Helena-South Peak
Next up was an hour and a half drive north to Calistoga in Napa Valley. Jim had
never been over the Golden Gate Bridge and was looking forward to the treat,
but it was terribly disappointing with the fog - nothing to see here, move
along... We drove to Fulton, just north of Santa Rosa, before turning east
towards Calistoga on through the hills. We quite suddenly
found ourselves in the midst of from the Tubbs Fire that
swept through the area. There were lots of trucks and workers on task clearing
debris and removing burned out vehicles, but there were dozens of places that
were left as they were since the fire came through, a very
of how much
damage a fire can do in so short a time. From Calistoga, we headed north on
winding SR29 to the top of the pass and the TH for both Mt. St. Helena (to the
west) and Table Rock (to the east). Both are located within Robert Louis
Stevenson State Park. The western half of the park has been officially closed
since early November, also due to the Tubbs Fire. The trails and roads have
been cleared and the towers at the summits re-established, but all was quiet
today. There were half a dozen cars in the parking lot on the east side of the
road. After watching another party enter the closed zone, we decided it wasn't
that closed, and followed after them. By a combination of
and , we hiked 3.5mi while climbing nearly 2,000ft up through
forest to the south summit. In places were absolutely
scorched without a single green leaf remaining while other places were left
untouched and you'd never know there was a fire that burned only a dozen yards
away. There is an FM radio transmitter at with other
towers scattered about the lower slopes . To
rise the higher summits of Mt. St. Helena and the East
Summit (the Napa County HP), but these would remain unvisited today - I had
other places to be. We to the parking lot shortly before 1p,
taking a snack break to recharge our batteries before continuing the quest.
Table Rock - Peak 2,758ft
Just after 1p we on the 2.2mi trail to Table Rock, a popular
destination
it seems, especially when the larger western half of the park is closed. There
were dozens of folks along the trail coming and going. Around the midpoint of
the trail, one comes across a large, flat acreage of ,
with many hundreds
of rocks carefully arranged in mazes and other fanciful pathways, all for some
mystical purpose or perhaps, more likely, just for fun. It took us most of an
hour to find to Table Rock where we found
at the end of a short class 3 scramble that Jackie and I
enjoyed while Jim was content to take photos from below. Volcanic in nature,
Table Rock is a sort-of flat area at the north end of a larger rocky feature
known as The Palisades. It overlooks and Calistoga with a
dramatic drop on its western flank. After
checking out the various views, we returned back over Peak 2,758ft via the same
route we'd taken. I paused to pay a visit to ,
a short class 3
scramble with a bit of brush. Jackie declined to follow since she was in shorts,
but it turned out the approach from the north side of the rock was considerably
easier and less brushy than the south side I first ascended.
Coyote Peak
We returned to the van for the second time shortly before 3p. We spent another
20min driving south through Calistoga to Bothe-Napa Valley State Park. His
feet spent, Jim elected to stay in the van while Jackie and I went off to climb
Coyote Peak. We from the Redwood Trail TH, following this up
along the before eventually climbing about
1,000ft in a little less than two miles to the summit. No views from this one,
but there is where one could have a picnic. On our way
back I got a text
from my wife asking what our ETA for dinner was. I replied that we were hours
away and I would be feeding Jim and Jackie somewhere in Napa Valley. She came
back with, "What happened to 5p? I had a tri tip going." This devolved very
quickly into me getting in hot water. A hasty phone call did little to help,
finishing up with, "I knew something like this was going to happen, so
I didn't start the roast!" before abruptly ending. Jackie was amused by all this
since she's often been the brunt of a mother's wrath and enjoyed the sideline
view of it this time. "Is she just messing with me?" I asked her. "Didn't she
just text me that the tri tip was going?" Though I was acutely aware of it,
Jackie informed me that a woman's scorn can be petty at times. Ah well, such
are the tribulations of marriage. I had hoped to do the Solano County peak on
our way back in the dark, whether or not my two companions planned to join me
since it would save hours of driving the next day. Now I figured getting back
by 7:30p instead of 9p would save me from further wrath-ness, so I punted on
that plan and headed for home. Hopefully I could still get the list finished
off the next day...
Continued...