started off on foot.
The route is about 3mi each way, the first two miles an easy walk along
a ranch road
that serves as a trail. From the start, it was evident that cows currently
have the run of the park. I had expected tall grasses and an abundance of
wildflowers, but all had been cut short with hardly a flower to be found. The
cattle had made 
a mess of the trails and surrounding hills, and were
mostly 
sitting around looking fat and stupid. I'm guessing the extra
cattle deployed this year are part of a fire management plan to help with the
dangers later in the year.
The ranch road heading north goes around the west side of Peak 2,844ft, so I
had to make a small diversion from the road to take in the bonus summit along
the way. It was partly cloudy today and views somewhat hazy, but there is a
good view of Mt. Hamilton to 
the east and Peak 2,809ft to
the north. I studied
the slopes of the latter to find an open route up from the creek as this would
be the tricky part. I continued on 
the trail for another half mile or
so until it reached a low point at a saddle where it was time for the
cross-country fun.
I had used this route years ago to reach Mt. Day, so I
knew all about the Smith Creek "fun". For one, the slopes into and out of
the canyon are terribly steep. With such a wet winter, I was worried that the
slopes might be a mud-fest. As it turned out, they were indeed saturated, but
they had excellent purchase and my boots would stay relatively dry. Bigger
concerns were watching out for 
poison oak
which is rampant in these parts, a
high and swift-flowing stream, and ticks that are often found down by the
streams in the Diablo Range. I had come prepared with extra clothing for the
drive home should I need to change due to the poison oak, but I found that by
picking my way carefully down and up the slopes, I could avoid the stuff for
the most part. The lower half of the slopes are more 
tree-covered,
with cool, 
moss-covered oaks
that give the place an eerie, old-world look, almost as if
gnomes and elves might pop up from behind a tree at any time. Upon reaching
the creek, I found the water flowing high and fast, much as expected.
Most places
were too deep to consider crossing, but there were some more reasonable spots
where I wouldn't go up past my knees. While looking around I spotted a
convenient 
set of logs that would help me
cross the creek without having to
take my boots off. This was a great find that saved me time and effort. There
was more looking around to find a place to get up out of the creek on the
other side. Most places seemed to have a wall of freshly-leafing poison oak,
but eventually I found suitable means and began making my way up the opposite
side of the canyon.
I came across an old 
barbed-wired fence
that ran vertically up the ridgeline
I was ascending. For the most part it was intact, but there were enough breaks
in it to make it useless to keep cattle on one side or the other. The fence was
so old that it had grown virtually through the center of 
the manzanita
and oaks that it was tied to. No signs indicating No Trespassing found
anywhere - even with no one around for a few miles, I'm always looking for
plausible deniability. Once up a few hundred feet, the ridge/slopes grow
more open, mostly grass but still poison oak to avoid. There is
an old ranch road on this side of the mountain that switchbacks up the
hillside. I used it for a few turns, then abandoned it when it seemed to head
north away from the summit. The final 400ft or so of slopes featured a healthy
collection of 
poison oak bushes that I needed to weave
my way through. The steep gradient finally rolls off only as one
reaches the summit. A transmission line goes over 
the top, one tower
a short
distance to the north. A ranch/utility road can be seen immediately to the east
of the summit - clearly the easiest way to the top, but it made me nervous
looking at, wondering if an ATV or truck was about to rumble by to look after
the cattle grazing on nearby slopes. Antler Pt and Mt Day can be seen to
the north
on either side of Smith Creek, the highest summits in the immediate area.
Having reached the top just before noon, I beat a retreat back down the same
route without staying more than half a minute up there. Not wanting to find
more poison oak than I could handle, I closely followed my ascent route back
down to 
Smith Creek,
crossing at the same logjam I'd used earlier. In climbing
back out of the creek up to the park, I found 
a better line
that had more grass,
less trees and poison oak. I also managed to pick up a few ticks that I flicked
off, hoping there weren't more in hiding (I did a more thorough check for the
buggers back at the TH and again at home).
The cows were still lazily 
hanging out along the park trail on the
crest when I returned there, others resting 
under the oaks or
slowly munching grass - if they only knew what ultimately was in store for them.
I 
finished up
by 1:30p and with everything pretty much going as planned, I took
about 3.5hrs all told.