I had the pleasure of hiking with the “Wednesday Hiking Group” today. I haven’t hiked with them in a really long time due to work. Today I didn’t have work scheduled so I met them.
The group split into two groups at 3.25miles. The Rabbits took a shorter route that would loop them back and give them a 6.5mile hike, and the Big Dogs continued on to complete a 10.85mile hike.
There were 5 Big Dogs, and I’m happy to say I was one of them. On the way back we took the Bayview Trail for a bit and there beside it was some wild Foxglove. I’ve never seen it in the wild before. It was a lovely surprise.
Foxglove Photograph by Deborah M. Zajac
Foxglove’
Foxglove Photograph by Deborah M. Zajac
A little later we saw some pretty Pacific Pea.
Pacific Pea Photography by Deborah M. Zajac
The fog hung thick in the Santa Cruz Mountain Range today, and several times we got rained on. It was definitely the place to hike on hot sunny day in the valley.
It was great seeing some old friends, and meeting new people today. I hope it’s not long before I can hike with the group again. There was another neat surprise during this hike I’ll share soon!
I’ve made my Hike Stats public if you’d like to see them, and the route map go here.
7/10-11 mi, 1800 ft, 4h40m– Woods Trail,Barlow Rd,Mt Umunhum Rd, Bald Mt trail- Out and Back
7/15- 7.90mi, 1,896ft 3h 00m – Vista Point Out & Back
7/15-3.6,mi ft.not much, time not long– Mirror Lake, Yosemite Nat. Pk
7/17- 3.35mi, 250ft, 1h– PG&E trail to Wildcat Loop-PG&E trail
7/21- 9.77mi, 1200ft, 5h– Iceberg-Ptarmigan Trail, Many Glacier,Glacier Nat Park
7/23-7.8mi, 2,853ft, 4h40m– Scenic Point, Two Medicine,Glacier Nat Park
7/23- GPS coordinates at Trail-head 48.480005-113.361676
Total miles hiked-
56.2 miles
Total ft climbed-
10,821ft- does not include any guesstimate for Mirror lake hike.
19 days to Cloud’s Rest!
Photo information
This is Scenic Point. I am on a ledge which is about 5ft wide seeking shelter from the wind along with my fellow hikers, and Pat Hagan our guide.
Looking this direction you can see the road into Two Medicine and above that Hwy 49 I believe. Looking further out toward the plains is where you’d find the towns of Kiowa, and Browning… I think.
I sat on this ledge and had a quick lunch. A Hairy Marmot peeked out of the rocks on the ledge and was hoping for his lunch too. I’m sure many people feed them, or just happen to leave big crumbs behind.
I want to come up here again. Hopefully, next summer. The deeper I hike into this park the more I fall in love with it.
This is a ledge that I was sitting on just under the point up at Scenic Point in Two Medicine Glacier Nat. Park. I’ve cropped off the tip of my boot from this photo. The ledge was only about 5 feet wide. The trees you see down there…that’s 7,000+ foot drop!
While having lunch and resting from the climb up this Hoary Marmot popped out.
He didn’t seem too shy. I’m sure he’s quite used to people.
It was the first time I’d ever seen a Hairy Marmot or any other for that matter. He’s cute!
The trail has 16 switchbacks getting longer the higher you climb. Every 4th switchback or so Pat had a story. Most were about bears. Bear management, behavior, and safety which I found interesting, and educational.
I turned around to look back here. I’m about halfway to the top at this point. It’s windy up here, and worth the effort to get here. Look at this view! That’s Two Medicine Lake, and way down there by the waters edge is a campground where many of my hiking companions were camping, and about half inch above the Z in my signature in the right corner is the parking lot my Va-Va is parked in under a shady pine tree.
Hike details
7.80 miles rd trip
2,853ft elevation gain
5h57m total time
The trail is steep, but the switchbacks help make the going easier.
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
Photograph by Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved. Fawn
Descending Vista Point one morning I rounded a bend in the trail and stopped dead in my tracks. There 25ft away was this little fawn (see photo above). It’s mother was on the other side of the trail in the trees waiting for the fawn to cross the trail. Startled by hikers coming up the trail it had stopped then I happened along. It looked at me and headed in the opposite direction of its mother. Then timidly it crept up to this tree and watched me and its mother. It’s mother was not happy; she pranced and paced back and forth with worry. I wasn’t sure what I should do…wait and hope the mother crossed, or the fawn crossed, or just move on. I took a few quick photos. We hikers looked at each other wondering what would happen next then the Mother bounded up the hill the wrong way! Then the fawn sped down the hill into the bushes the wrong way! I continued down the mountain all the while hoping they’d reunite.
An anxious Doe!
Photography By Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
I hiked a lot of miles in June. My elevation gained totals are incredible. The total floored me again when I added it up. I took a lot of neat wildlife and flower photographs while hiking in this park during the month of June, but these two photos are my favorites.
Just seven more weeks until the big hike to Yosemite’s Cloud’s Rest. I still am on track for successfully completing that hike.
*6/2/2011- 8.15 miles, 2,170ft, 3h10m PG&E trail out & back
6/7/2011- 10 miles, 2,549 ft, 4h 33m Rhus Ridge to Black Mt Trail out & Back
6/10-12/2011- about 11 miles, at various parks and site around Sonoma Coastal area. Many parks were closed due to budget cuts so we had to drive to other locations to do any hiking.
6/16/2011- 8.15miles, 1,962ft, 3h 5m, PG&E out & back to Vista Point
I bought the Garmin Edge 500 GPS unit to use while hiking. I like knowing all the details, and how far I’ve hiked. This little unit tells me everything I want to know. I doubt I’ll use all the features of this unit. It’s packed with them! I used it for the first time this morning. I plugged it into my Garmin Connect account a few minutes ago, et Voila! Look at all these details, and a map of my hike!
My husband whom I call Heman has been hiking a lot with me these last 2 months. We’ve hiked to Black Mountain 2 times, and up and down the PG&E trail quite a few times so I thought he might like to hike up to Mission Peak. He’s never done it before after-all.
Today he asked me if I wanted to hike up to Vista Point this afternoon, and I said how about Mission Peak instead. He hesitated a moment then said, “Why not.”
I took him up Horse Heaven Trail, and we descended via the Peak Trail.
He felt great. I didn’t. Horse Heaven nearly beat me today. I kept going and made it up to take this photo of Heman. I call him Heman because he can open jars with his bare hands! He doesn’t have to bang the lid with a knife, or some other blunt object, and he can do anything that requires muscles and strength, and he can lift me up over his head! Yes, both he and my son have on more than one occasion lifted me up as if I were a bar bell to the ceiling. I think the name suits him to a T. 🙂
Hike details:
My time to the Top- 2h4m
Total hike time- 3h24m
started at 328ft
Total ft gained- 2,236ft
Total Miles- 6.45
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