Since I’ve been training to hike up to Cloud’s Rest this August I’ve been hiking in the mountains that surround Santa Clara Valley. I’ve hiked to Mission Peak, Mt. Allison, and Black Mountain. I decided that I’d like to conquer Mt. Umunhum too. It is a mountain that lies to the south of me in the Santa Cruz Mountain Range. Its name is from the Ohlone Indians that once called this valley home. It means “Resting place of the Hummingbird.”
It is a peak that has been a landmark, and barring marker to me since I moved to Santa Clara Valley in 1968. On top of Mt. Umunhum Summit sits a 5 story early-warning radar Station. Mt Umunhum was a former site used by Almaden Air Force that operated from 1958 to 1980. Years ago the county acquired the land for Open Space and is in the process of cleaning up the summit so we all can use the space for exercise and leisure. I hoped I would be able to get up there. This was my goal to conquer/summit Mt. Umunhum. I was in good company too. Heman joined me for this hike, and I was hiking it sans hot tea, caffeine of any sort, and with only 4 hours sleep!
Our route started on the Woods Trail which is aptly named. It is shaded by large trees, and the first 3 miles is mostly flat, with some gentle ups and downs. I moved really fast here.
At Barlow Road we turned left. You begin to climb straight-away on this fire road. You climb 800 ft in the space of 1 mile. There are fewer shade trees along this road, but there are views of the canyon, and of the valley looking south. Several Butterflies and I enjoyed the late-blooming Red Maids, and Brittlebush lining the road.
The trail ends at Mt. Umunhum Road. Here I discovered the “No Trespassing” signs and warnings NOT to venture up to Mt. Umunhum’s summit.
Alas, it isn’t open yet, so we hiked up to the summit of Bald Mountain instead.
Turning left on Mt. Umunhum Road we followed it about 0.3 miles to the trail-head of Bald Mountain. This is an easy 0.7 mile trail to the summit. Also aptly named; this mountain has no shade, it’s a grassy summit.
It was a long hike. Best done in the morning during the warmer months. I liked the Woods Trail best for its shade, and the views. Mt. Umunhum is still on my list to conquer. I’ll hike this route again when it’s open which I’ve read since doing this hike could be this fall.
Hike Stats:
11 miles
1800 ft elevation gain
4 hours 40 minutes total time
UPDATE: Reader Steven Christenson sends this KQED report on Mt. Umunhum
It is with a sad heart I update this post. My photography friend Robert (Bob) Bowman has passed away. RIP Bob. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
The last two weeks as Curator for the Bistro Gallery have been a lot fun. I’ve spent more time in the Photo Pool than I normally would have, and found so many beautiful and interesting photos.
The Photographers in the group are talented, creative, and inspiring. Please stop by the The Bistro 4 gallery and look at all the photographs selected for this gallery. Like this one titled “Attitude” by Robert Bowman.
Photograph by Robert Bowman (used with permission)
Alas, all good things come to an end, so tonight I’m passing the Honor of being Curator to a friend and fellow Bistro member. Feel free to stop by the Bistro next week and look at his gallery you’ll find it here:
That’s the front page of the Bistro just scroll down to the Galleries.
If you’re looking for software that will handle your new Nikon camera’s RAW files take a look at Nikon’s very own Capture NX2! It will read your RAW files perfectly.
Choose your region and download the free trial here.
Looking for a free option to convert your RAW files with limited editing options download Nikon’s ViewNX
Update: Reader Andy emails, ” Regarding Capture NX2 — I think it has several unique features worth mentioning.
The noise reduction is excellent.
Also the dust-off and spot healing are very helpful if you forgot to clean your sensor
Reading all camera parameters instead of just a few
Changes are stored in the original RAW file but can be reversed, and you can have several post-processing versions stored in the same file
The downside — no one else but Nikon can read those PP changes made to the NEF file”
Achim Sack a fan of time lapse photography and tinkering has created and revised his Intervalometer. For those who like to hack and tinker this might be right up your street.
Features:
No power supply needed: The circuit “steals” in the operating current (only 10µA at 5V and 2.5µA at 3.3V) from the signal lines of the camera
Interval adjustable from 0.4 seconds to about 18 minutes
No controls, setting of the intervall via “teach-in” from the camera
Ultra-portable: the circuitry fits into the housing of a 2.5mm stereo plug
Update: Reader Stargazer 95050 emails,
The link to that cheap timelapse controller was fascinating. $2 for that !! It sounds too good to be true — tough technically he is right. !!
There is a catch of course : http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharpshutter/5918737334/
“…the glory of our parklands is too precious to be sacrificed…Steps must be taken to protect our dearly won recreation lands…”~ J.D. Grant, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.
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