Today with my good friend Winston we completed the Northern California Six-Pack of peaks challenge for 2022 by conquering Mount Sizer at Henry Coe State Park. I led a group of fellow Bay Area Hikers to this park about two weeks ago on a very warm to hot day and we had to turn back because of a few hikers who were not able to make it. So, I vowed to return and finish off this mountain! I created a map on All Trails to follow to maximize the experience (see link below) and hit the trails.
We started off at 830am on the Monument Trail to the Henry Coe Monument. The weather looked bleak with low clouds and drizzle but eventually gave way to partly cloudy skies and sunshine. The air temperature was perfect, and the pace was quick. There was plenty of over from the trees on this part of the hike.
From there we then took the Hobbs Road trail to the Frog Lake trail. We arrived at Frog Lake quickly and by this time the clouds were breaking up and the sun was just starting to peak though. We took a moment to take a picture at the lake and moved on. Unfortunately, the lake was quiet and no frogs were croaking.
We continued on the Frog Lake trail and caught the Middle Ridge trail back to Hobbs Road. We continued down the road and took a break at the Middle Fork Coyote Creak which was about 4.6 miles into the hike. The creak was dry and we ate our snacks. It took us about 90 minutes from the parking lot to this point.
So far the trail was a continuous downhill but now it was time to climb up one of the most steepest parts of the hike on Hobbs Road. This was comparable to Mt. Diablo’s North Peak steepness, but it was continuous for a mile to the top of the ridge.
Winston and I made it to the top of the ridge in about 30 minutes and caught the Blue Ridge Road to Mount Sizer which was about a mile ahead of us. This road had a few ups and downs and was a welcome relief from the climb we just made.
We hit the Mount Sizer summit at about 12pm and took a well deserved break. Pictures were taken and the sun was out. We did encounter two other pairs of hikers who also hit the summit when we were having lunch.
Then we were off again on the Blue Ridge trail. Unfortunately because of the clouds at the coast we could not see the ocean but if we looked East we could see Booze lake and the rest of the Orestinba Wilderness which is part of the park. There were very visible burn scars still recovering from the fire of 2020.
We continued down the trail and caught the Jackass Trail to Poverty Flat Road. These two trails were for the most part downhill and totally exposed with very little cover. This would not be an ideal trail to take in the summer.
On Poverty Flat road I encountered my first Tarantula of 2022! It was very exciting to see this critter walking across the road. We stopped and took a few pictures and Winston so wanted to take the little guy home. I had to step in and play “dad” and told him he could not but if he found a rattlesnake he could take that.
After our spider encounter, we continued on Poverty Flat road and then began to climb again. This was another tough climb back up that did not end for almost two miles.
We connected with Manzanita Point Road and split off on to the Corral Trail back to the Park Headquarters.
In total we hiked 15.3 miles and gained 4114 in elevation in about 6 hours not counting any breaks we took. We took many pictures and had a great time. I will be participating in the 2023 Peak Challenge next year and will most definitely hike Sizer again but in the spring when everything is green. There was no real relief on the trails from the constant up and downs, little cover for the most part, and it was strenuous to say the least.
If you would like to ask more questions about my hike, please feel free to message me and I will share all my info. If you are interested in my hikes, you can follow me on my Facebook page Jason’s Hiking Adventures, Instagram @jasonshikingadventures, and All Trails. Link to the trail we took below!
Thanks for reading!
All Trails Map: https://www.alltrails.com/…/afternoon-hike-77bb14f–339
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Thanks for posting!