I returned to the Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County to visit more
summits that had been burned in the 2020 Dolan Fire. The three I had in mind
were off the Cone Peak Rd, a dirt road that has been closed in conjunction
with the paved Ferguson-Nacimiento Rd for almost two years now. Though not open
to motor vehicles, they were open for foot and bike traffic. The three peaks
would require more than 20mi for the roundtrip, an effort that can be done more
efficiently with a bike. I had hoped to spend two nights out this week, but I
haven't yet figured out how to bring both bike and camping gear, so this would
be just a day trip. A fast-moving storm had brought heavy rains to the state
only two days earlier, unusual weather for October. It had made
of Nacimiento Rd, which still hasn't been repaired from storms two seasons ago.
In places, there was 8-12 inches of on the road,
washed out from the various
gullies that feed into the Nacimiento River. I had given it two days to allow
the ground to dry some, but things were still pretty damp on my visit.
Peak 3,464ft
Starting around 9:45a from near the (I'd already
found that you'll be asked to pay $10 for day use if you park in the campground)
where the road is , I spent 40min riding to of
Nacimiento Rd and another 50min . I found only one
place with across Cone Peak Rd, otherwise the entire
route was rideable, gaining about 1,600ft in elevation. is
found about a mile and a quarter east of Cone Peak Rd, along a ridgeline that
forms the northern boundary of the Nacimiento River drainage. I had hiked two
other peaks further east on this same ridge two weeks earlier. My starting point
on foot was . This drops to
on the ridge before descending to the north into the San
Antonio River drainage. I found the trail lacking any sort of maintenance (not
surprising considering the continuing road closures), but still useable. I used
it for less than 15min until I had reached the saddle where my cross-country
route would simply . I spent more than an hour on
foot to reach Peak 3,464ft, going up and over a number of
. The chaparral had burned off much as I'd expected,
though there were densely covered in charred sticks that I
dared not traverse. itself seemed to offer the easiest
travel, dropping slightly on the sunnier south sides in a few places.
has a nice rocky perch (perfect for holding one of the
registers I forgot to bring with me) from which one can take in
around both of the major river drainages in the area. Cone Peak dominates
the view to , as Junipero Serra does to the north. It would
take another hour to to along the same route.
Peak 3,761ft
This was both the highest and most prominent summit of the day, found along the
main crest of the range, a few miles south of Cone Peak. I had initially planned
to climb this from the east where I could see the Dolan Fire had cleared
off the heavy brush. But as I was returning from the previous peak, I noted I
could climb it from the north, starting at the .
This would be longer, but I hoped would have coastal views along much
of it. The 3/4mi-long route worked better than expected thanks to a firebreak
that was forged over the summit during the Dolan Fire. It didn't stop the
fire from getting across, but it made foot travel easier. The Vincente Flat
Trail climbs the ridge for a short distance before dropping to the west towards
Vincente Flat. I left the trail at its highpoint where
has been installed across the slope (presumeably to
keep vehicles from trying to drive/ride up the firebreak?). I walked around this
fence and then upslope, where I could see manzanita had been .
It was nice to see new popping up in many places.
Towards the summit, where the slope lessens, the firebreak had been
, unlike the lower slopes that had been done by hand. A
, burned in the fire, served as the highpoint. The
weren't as good as I'd hoped - a portion of the coast
near Limekiln State Park is visible, but most of it is blocked by the many
folds and ridgelines of the range. It was a nice day along the coast to be sure
- no fog, clear skies, lovely temperatures. the same way, I
spent just under an hour on the roundtrip effort.
Peak 3,205ft
I rode back down Cone Peak Rd nearly to its junction with Nacimiento Rd. Peak
3,205ft is the easiest of the trio, less than half a mile from
where I left the bike. An old firebreak along the ridge provides reasonable
access, though the brush piled up on it to discourage vehicles proved annoying.
This one, too, featured installed near the bottom.
There are two summits, about 15ft higher. I spent
about 40min on the roundtrip effort.
After riding back down to the junction with Nacimiento Rd, I was surprised to
see four hanging out at the summit. They had just ridden up
from Hwy 1 along the coast, reporting conditions similar to those I'd found on
the east side (driveable, but closed, debris on roadway). They were a friendly
bunch and we spoke for about five minutes before I continued
. It took only about 20min to ride back down to
and my just below it.
Peak 1,550ft
I had some extra time and energy, so I thought I'd try to tag one of the minor
summits within the Hunter-Liggett reservation. Technically, one is only
supposed to drive through the base to reach forest lands unless one has a
hunting permit. I hoped would be short enough to not draw
attention to my vehicle parked along the roadway. The Dolan Fire burned over
the peak , so route choice helps in avoiding
brush. My descent route to the west was better than the ascent route, but both
worked. include one to of the base that is
Fort Hunter-Liggett. 23min was sufficient for the roundtrip effort. No military
vehicles stopped to check on me, and no note on my windshield, so all good this
time...