Today I picked up the towel that I thew in 3 years ago. My first attempt to complete the San Francisco Bay Area Six Pack Peaks challenge was in January 2020. My son who was 15 at the time, full of vim and vigor convinced me to sign up. We climber Mt. Sizer but then a series of events took over, COVID, CZU lightning fires and my own personal fight with cancer. So here I am 3 years later on the other side of things, a little bit older, achier, slower & heavier, picking up and trying to finish something that I started and never finished.
My son has since moved on with the next step in his life but I've been fortunate enough to find a fantastic group of ladies to join me on my adventure. While 4 of us hit the .50 cent mark some time ago, we are in the safe hands of our 21 year EMT who has joined our team.
Today we conquered our first hike. Mt. Umunhum! Sadly one of our team members was down due to a fall a couple of days ago. We left Santa Cruz at 6:00 am in the dark because we heard there was limited parking. After a 60 minute drive, we arrived to find that there was plenty of parking. Maybe it was due to all of the recent rains? The minute we got out of the car we were blown away by the beauty of where we were. It was a sunny but chilly and windy day. The trail was perfectly marked, well kept with a few muddy patches here and there but generally very nice. We crossed 2 bridges with lovely babbling streams. We also spotted an abandoned VW and are very curious as to how it got there. Once we made it to the top, we stopped to have lunch and take in the amazing view of the bay area. It was windy and cold so a windbreaker and beanie were a must. There were a few signs of snow that could be seen here and there but they were almost negligible.
The hike itself was a nice easy hike but with a gradual incline to the top. One biker, a few hikers, and a couple of runners passed us but it was not very busy at all at this time of year. Plenty of shade most of the way but I would suggest a sun coverage for the last mile. Even though the return was downhill by the time we made it back to the car, those of us over the age of 50 were in dire need of a nap and our dogs were barking. One down. Five to go! Overall an amazing way to spend the day with friends.
Note: While there were 2 bathroom locations, there was no toilet paper. Being mom's though, we were prepared!
Responses
Congrats on your first hike in this year’s challenge! Glad to have you back.