Palomare Hills
development east of Castro Valley. There are a couple of water tanks located up
a gated (but not fenced) roadway that is not signed for No Trespassing.
Foot traffic is evident going around the fenced tanks to 
a gap in the
barbed-wire fence uphill to the east. From there, a use trail goes
up to the summit, crossing another property boundary just before the
top. The summit features 
a rocky outcrop that makes for a short
scramble. Undeveloped 
ranchlands surround the summit on three
sides with the Palomare Hills to the west. I left a register here among the
summit rocks.
The second summit, The Knife, is located a mile and quarter to
the northeast.
David Naylor had reached this summit from the south, starting at the Donlan
Point staging area, about 3.5mi one-way. That route goes over Wiedemann Hill,
a P1K I had climbed five years earlier, and also crosses onto private property.
I figured I could more easily reach it from Barrett BM since I was already
there, via 
a connecting ridgeline
that drops more than 300ft before climbing
almost 1,000t up to the main crest where The Knife is located near Wiedemann
Hill. There were a number of small herds of cattle grazing on the lands between
the two summits and it was with some caution that I traversed from one to the
other. I weaved around the various herds to minimize disrupting them, all the
while keeping an eye out for any ranchers that might be out tending to the
herds. I was happy to see no one during the entire outing. The entire route
can be made up and down grassy slopes,
sometimes using 
cow paths or old ranch roads that
see little traffic. At one point when I ducked through the adjacent oak forest
to avoid some cattle, I came across some old irrigation tubes that suggested
a marijuana 
grow site
at some time in the past. A low fence had been erected
on the uphill side adjacent to the grazing slopes, presumeably to keep the
cattle from trampling the crops. The fence and tubes were in disarray,
and I guessed the site was at least a decade old.
In a TR found on LoJ, David Naylor describes the location of The Knife as
misplaced and I have to agree with him. The 7.5' topo map shows the feature
further to the north and LoJ has assigned it to 
a grassy knoll nearby,
looking nothing like its namesake. More likely, the name was intended for a
narrow, 
rocky ridge closer to Wiedemann Hill. It was here that he left
a register that I found adjacent to some 
barbed wire art,
placed by another party, years earlier.
I left my signature before heading back. I was going to pay a second visit to
Wiedemann Hill, but I was worried I might get caught up in rush-hour traffic
on my return if I did, ultimately skipping it.