Peak 675ft P300
Cement Hill
Peak 350ft P300
Rockville Hills

Continued...

On my way back from the Sierra foothills, I was camped off Interstate 80 in Solano County with plans to do a handful of easy summits before the day warmed too much. I was up by sunrise and ready to head out to the first summit by 6:30a.

Peak 675ft

This summit is easily seen from I-80, on the west end of Lagoon Valley. To the northeast of the summit, near where I camped, is a new housing development billed as "The Bay Area's first conservation community." If it's anything like it sounds, it seems like, in the words of Patrick, complete bullshit . So they bulldoze hundreds acres, build homes, a golf course shops and more, then put a fence around it all. What exactly are we conserving? I looked at the development plans online and it pretty much consumes the entire valley south of I-80. Sadness.

I started from paved Neslon Rd, going over a fence signed for No Entry, part of the Lagoon Valley OSP not open to the public. The grass was very green, very tall, and somewhat wet with early morning dew. It was also a bit swampy crossing the first hundred yards until I started climbing the north slopes under some shady oaks to the summit. It would take about 15min to reach the summit where a single dead oak stands overlooking the landscape. Open views in all directions, and green everywhere one looks. Very pretty. Back down the same way.

Cement Hill

This minor summit lies at the south end of Lagoon Valley. The summit was once Nike Missle site T-86, charged with defending Travis AFB from russian bomber attacks. There is a service road going to the summit from the south, but my route would be from the east, starting at the end of Clyde Jean Pl in a suburban neighborhood. There is a use trail that starts at the end of the cul-de-sac and climbs to Pt. 381ft to the north. The trail cuts nicely through the very tall grass where cattle aren't allowed to graze. One then turns NW to a fenceline where the trail ends. The grass isn't so tall on the other side where cattle are allowed to munch. After going over the fence, I followed the ridge west to the highpoint. There is an old, but still formidable fence surrounding the summit property, left over from the military days. I found the gate open and the guard station unmanned, probably 50yrs since someone had the job of sitting in that small cramped booth to vet visitors to the site which was decommissioned in 1971. The buildings are intact but gutted, and are now owned by American Tower and adorned with cell towers and other telecom equipment. I found the highpoint to be just above and east of the entrance, not at the spot elevation point to the south. Some concrete pads suggest a tower once stood at the highpoint. About an hour for this one.

Peak 350ft

This is a small hill east of the I-80/680 interchange, sandwiched between suburban development on the west and farmlands to the east. It is the site of an old quarry that does not appear to be active any longer. Access is easy from the neighborhood on the west side, utilizing a trail starting at the end of Dawson Creek Dr. Snobbishly signed for OHA residents only, the trail follows north along the east bank of Dawson Creek. Shortly past a basketball court, a use trail heads uphill, following old roads with tall grasses and downed trees, eventually reaching to the summit ridge where driveable roads are encountered. It appears one could probably drive nearly to the summit using the old quarry road from the south, off Cordelia Rd. The highpoint as depicted on the topo has been quarried away long ago. A point just to the west is the highest in the area, though it appears Pt. 324ft to the south may in fact be the highest point remaining. There is much poison oak along the route, though not hard to avoid. Just under 40min for the roundtrip effort.

Rockville Hills

This is the highpoint of a small collection of hills on the north side of the I-80/680 junction, part of the Rockville Hills Regional Park. The main entrance is on the northeast side of the hills, while the southern portion has been overrun with suburban development. I used David Sanger's PB track, starting from the southwest side in the residential area. The Bay Area Ridge Trail goes through this development, up a slice of land under a transmission line. There is a concrete walking/biking path that takes you up to the regional park in about a third of a mile, marked by a pedestrian bridge. There is a solar-powered fee kiosk at the boundary between the two, asking for $3/person to enter the park. I continued on the Bay Area Ridge Trail nearly to the summit, forking off to the east when just west of the highpoint. There were some cows hiding in the shade of some oaks nearby. The summit is large and rounded, blocking views below the hill. The transmission line runs right across the top. I took a little over 45min for this last one. It was getting too warm by now, so when I returned to the Jeep at 10:45a I decided to head for home...

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