Rough and Tough Rose
Was feeling the holiday malaise and was going to skip this one but my better half convinced me to finish! It rained yesterday so the…
Category: 2019 NorCal
Rose Peak…Six Down…Zero To Go…Challenge Complete
Challenge Complete!!! I attempted this hike on Christmas morning, but long story short… I couldn’t find the trail and the lack of cell service wouldn’t…
…and he finishes the Sixpack with 3 days to spare!
New Year’s resolution? Don’t save three peaks for late December! I managed to fit this in, with three days left in the year and slightly…
Mt Sizer Summit
It was chilly for our early start. And the 14.5 mile Mt Sizer Loop is a butt kicker. Availability of pit toilets was nice. Lots…
Get me something from Pfizer, I just completed Mt. Sizer (and the 6 pack)!
Beautiful day for a hike, couldn’t ask for a nicer day to complete the 6 pack! The stream was high but passable if you choose…
Mt St Helena and DONE
A clear but chilly day, perfect weather for this trail. Not a difficult hike at all, but just under 10 miles. Great cell reception at…
Winter on Diablo
Final hike. I managed to squeeze it in just before the year has ended. I am feeling rather good about having the discipline to finish…
SIZER do Matter
The most challenging peak !!!!! I have done the 12 SoCal Peaks and all 5 NorCal peaks, but this one… Mt Sizer is incomparable!!!! The…
Nearly a Photo Finish
Weather cooperated for good hiking day. Mostly overcast with temps in the 50s, colder and windy at Rose Peak. Had good hiking partner who pulled…
Mt D #5 for me 😍
This was #5 for me and #6 for my hiking buddy, Sue, who didn’t sign up, but loved the challenge so much she will probably…
Longest Hike on the Shortest Day
The shortest day of the year presented a fantastic, dry day to take on the longest peak of all. Green pastures (already!) and friendly cows…
Rose Peak – longest hike on the shortest day
It was a great day for the 6th and final hike, and I met several other six-packers tackling their last summit as well! The trails…
Best for last! Rose peak!
This was my first solo hike over ten miles! I averaged a 16.30 min/mile pace and finished the hike in 5:06:00 moving and 5:48:00 total.…
Mt Tam’s creeks in the rain and fog
Five down, and one to go! Got up early, and arrived at the trailhead at 7:45AM. Beautiful hike on the Steep Ravine Trail, with the…
Rainy Rose
We hiked to the Sunol Backpackers camp and stayed the night in Eagles Aeyrie. The wind kicked up about midnight and blew hard all night…
Mt Sizer Private Showing
I had a great hike on Mt Sizer Tuesday. It was a “private showing” of Henry Coe State Park – I didn’t see anyone else…
Mt Sizer and Magical Manzanitas
Weather was perfect today. Started the hike clockwise—serious uphills both coming and going. The manzanitas were beautiful with new growth contrasted with old. Didn’t see…
Chilly and blustery on Rose Peak
Rose Peak, from Sunol. 19 miles and 4000 foot vertical. Chilly and blustery hike. 53 weeks after my previous time here, and alot colder! Four…
Last one – bitter sweet, loved the challenge, awesome finish, sad over – will just have to do it again next year!!
My last. Cold, difficult – yet beautiful!!
Arise to Rose 🌹
Started 9am, beautiful sunny sky with the occasional clouds floating by. Perfect hiking weather for such a challenging elevation gain; just a bit cold, but…
Mt Diablo In The Cold
Our final hike of the pack, Mt Diablo, is also the first major hike we did after signing up for the Everest Base Camp trek…
Mt St helena summit
Gorgeous views of the valley, which was socked in with fog. Trail was wet from recent rains but that didn’t affect our hike. Beautiful sunny…
6 of 6: Mt Umunhum, 9.3 miles (1,394′ ascent)
A chilly (but warm at times), overcast (but sunny at times) and gorgeous autumn day with 11 comrades (Great Hikes Plus One – meetup.com), followed…
Piece of cake for the holidays
Took advantage of a break from the rain to get in my final hike of the peak series. In December, it is a no sweat…
Mt. Umunhum Holiday Hike and Last of the 6 Packer Peaks!
A crispy, late Fall hike marking the last of my 6-pack peaks. The drama of cloud and fog with a gauzey ball of sun attempting…
Hell Did Indeed Freeze Over
Bundle up! The weather was VERY cold and windy, but we sucked it up and got on the mountain over the last weekend before we…
Mount sizer
Beautiful hike with my fellow Ironman! We stopped for two lunches and had a great time. Mount sizer doesn’t seem to have a specific “peak”…
There and back again
I knew this hike was hard having done the Ohlone trail 2 years ago and it was just as hard as I remember. Not a lot…
Mt. Tam
Today was a great hike day for Mt. Tam. There was a little bit of everything: sun, overcast, fog, lush green, and fall colors. Overall…
St Helena Day Trip
It was kind of eerie hiking here. There was fog on the way up and no animals were around anywhere. Trees were burned and black…
Borg Cube
Foggy most of the way up with breaks in the clouds along the way, but fogged in at the top. No wind and temps in…
Rain on Rose
Hiking Rose was something I wasn’t quite looking forward to. Last year I hiked it on Christmas Eve and it was a miserable rainy day…
Slick Madrones
Beautiful madrones and manzanitas on the way up during a partly cloudy, foggy, & rainy hike up to the Radar Station. A short but sweet…
Final Peak in the Challenge
I hiked this with two of my friends. We saved the longest hike for the grand finale. In retrospect, we should have made it an…
Quiet solitude to finish
I chose to do this last hike solo. It was by far the most challenging, but it was serene, and needed. I asked several friends,…
Turkey Burn Tam
Started at 8:30am, made it to Pantoll by 10am. This was the hardest part of the hike but also the most beautiful! All the ferns,…
Surprise Snow on Mt. St. Helena
Great trail for the first ~1+mile before getting onto the fireroads. Intermittent snow until the last mile to the summit, then fairly consistent snow/ice on…
Snowy at the Top of Rose peak
It was a beautiful hike, great views the entire way. While it took longer then sizer to complete (total time of 8hr, 5 min including…
Mt. Sizer…Five Down, 1 To Go
What a wonderful way to spend my Thanksgiving. I woke up early and headed to Henry W. Coe Park to tackle my fifth mountain for…
Double Diablo Hike
I hiked this Mtn last October and was able to conquer Twin peak and eagle peak but had to turn around because my hiking buddy…
Winterland of Helena
What a beautiful hike after the first snow fall winter. I had 3 layers. It was cold but warm enough when I kept moving. It…
Family Sizer hike!
My family hiked this peak with me! We knew it would be hard, and it was one one of the furthest away for us, so…
Day at Diablo
Gorgeous hike today—brisk with Fall in full bloom. Definitely a challenge but the vistas made it all worthwhile.
Up, Down, Up, Down…repeat, repeat
No matter which way you hike this, it’s brutal! My legs are so sore! We went counterclockwise, so we started with a down hill then…
Thanksgiving week hike of Mt. Tam
Great weather for a hike in Marin. Started around 8 and wrapped up in time to see the sunset.
The long road
Trail was good. Open without any cover. Ran into a baby rattler. The wind at the top was welcome relief. Long, long road of not…
Rose Peak……Long, long road and a snake
Pretty dry out there. Went off trail just a tad here and there. Not many people out hiking today. Long long open exposed hike. Views…
Fun Sizer Finale
Fun Sizer is what we call this beautiful State Park hike. And my final hike on the challenge. I was prepared for an all out…
ROSE PEAK
I wanted to set a challenge for myself on this trek. I had only hiked as far as 16 miles in one day in my…
Mt. Sizer Death March
So I knew this hike was gonna be hard and I think subconsciously I was avoiding it even though I want to complete the challenge.…
Mt. Sizer: Butt Kicker
We hiked into Sada Springs for the night, then got up early to peak hike up to Sizer. For all the great signage at this…
Comarades
Rolling hills upon rolling hills! Mount Rose seems to be eluding us. But with shear determination and grit we conquered this Beast together with some…
Steeped in it…Sea to summit
Stretch it out and leave some in the tank for the descent…emerge from the bath of trees to be rewarded with beautiful views.
Rose peak – rosey?? Hmm, tough one. Loved it, though!!
Lots of ups and downs, great accomplishment – tough.
RLS
Unseasonably warm and beautiful hike with great friends. Shorts still the best for hiking this late in the year!
#5 of 6: Mt St Helena, 10.8 miles (2,195′ ascent)
A beautiful day with 15 mates (Great Hikes Plus One – meetup.com), followed by yummy fare at Yeti (Indian/Nepalese) in Glen Ellen. Compared to Rose Peak,…
Mount Saint Helena
This was our final of the 6 peaks. Unfortunately we have gone down to two from our original group of four due to injury, so…
Saint Helena of Troy
Beautiful day and views all the way to the top. Somehow wandered off the trail near the bottom and bushwacked down some steep slopes, but…
Mt St Helena
This was a wonderful way to cap off our 6-hike challenge. We drive out to Santa Rosa and stayed in an AirBNB the night before.…
Wine Country Cardio
I previously logged this hike but it displayed as “Umunhum” and I was unable to edit it.
Mt. Saint Helena-lapalooza
A beautiful day with fellow hikers, followed by wine tasting and uber delicious fare at Yeti (Indian/Nepalese) in Glen Ellen. 10.8 miles with 2,195…
Helena
Saved the easiest for last. Wanted to do it in snow, but didn’t happen. Nice easy stroll up fireroad with pleasant view at end.
Fabulous Fall Day on Mt Diablo
Wow! What a great day with perfect weather, good trails and amazing views. Got there early hoping the gates would open before 8am and sure…
Wine Country Cardio
While spared by the recent and very close Kincaid fire, there is ample evidence of past fire fighting efforts along the route. With a wide…
Tam from Mill Valley
Parked near Mill Valley center, walked up Summit Ave to Temelpa Trailhead, Temelpa to the east peak. Fun trail that goes rather directly up to…
Mt Tam gives me all the feels
Mount Tamalpais is definitely one of the most beautiful hikes of all the six pack and maybe in the Bay Area. It just has so…
Not Rosey
This was a long hike and definitely not a rosey hike. Encountered numerous cows and a lot of cow wastes on the ground, so literally…
Mt. Tam…4 down, 2 to go
What a wonderful train run/hike. I was feeling like I might not get this challenge done, but when I saw the Mt. Tam Trail Run…I…
Mystical Terran
Feeling stronger as the list gets smaller. I think this is my favorite one of all on the list so far. You get sand, fog,…
Mount What’s it Called
Where the hell is this place? And what is it called again and how do you pronounce it? U-mun-hum? Amunhum? Umuhumn? Ahmumum? Hummus? Does that…
Mt Sizer Sizzler
All day hike, the loop of mt sizer. Gorgeous sunny day fall day, a little warm but totally doable. Great views along blue ridge –…
Gorgeous Views from Rose Peak
Not going to kid you, this is a tough vertical hike! We did it over two days and stayed at Maggie’s Half Acre Camp summiting…
Long Rose Peak
We got a little delayed with rental car hang ups, but hit the trail early enough at 8:40am. We weren’t sure what to expect for…
Relaxing 20 Miler
This is a really fun hike. With a trek this long, we zoned out for miles at a time and it felt meditative at times.…
Mt. Sizer is a BEAST
This was a hell of a hike—-gorgeous, breathtaking and very hard. The oak trees are majestic. The trails are well kept and easy to traverse.…
Sunrise on Rose Peak
Final peak for our team “Dusty Hiking Boots”! This was a tough hike with steep verticals. We enjoyed stopping for lunch at Schleipper Rock and…
Whistling cat of Maggies 1/2 Acre
This was the toughest of the 6 – and since the last, I had experienced all the others. Maybe about same vertical as Mount Sizer…
Bobcat! and so much scat!!
Warm day and a intense hike!! What a difference from the third peak to the fourth. Serious inclines and descents. Not a lot of flats.…
Mt. Umunhum
Decided to make a long day of it and parked at Hicks parking lot. Started on the Woods trail then to Barlow Road trail, to…
Rose Peak Quads Buster
Probably the toughest hike of all the peaks, mainly due to the distance involved – approx. 20 miles! A group of 10 started at 8…
Take the Stairs to Tam
Beautiful hike with varying terrain and views— ocean, redwood trees, streams…just gorgeous! The day was perfect; we had to postpone this hike due to the…
Best weather ever at Mt Tam!
Been quite a few years since I hiked at/near Mt Tam, and as always I loved it. Weather was wonderful. Make sure you take the…
Diablo on a perfect day
Mount Diablo was amazing, as usual. A friend asked to go on a challenging hike and I decided Diablo would be a good one. We…
Sweet victory at scaling Mt Rose!
This was the final peak of the challenge and my friend and I decided to do it on the day before daylight saving time ended…
Rose Peak Quad Burner
The group of 11 took just under 10 hours to complete the 20 miles and 4500 feet elevation gain + loss round trip. This route…
Oops! We did it again!
So, Mount Umunhum is suppose to be a moderate 8-mile loop tops! However, we discovered midway through our hike that we had parked at the…
Some Umunhum Yummana
Mt Umunhum is a long and peaceful hike. I was in the company of some seasoned 2019 Nor Cal Six Pack Peak Challenge finishers. And…
Finished with Rose Peak
We started off early at the trailhead and planned to go uphill for 5-6 hours and return. We set out with a goal to head…
Golden Hour Run on Mt Tam
I’ve hiked up Mt Tam several times this year – all the way from Stinson Beach or from Mill Valley. But I chose to log…
#4 of 6: Rose Peak, 20.0 miles (4,501′ ascent)
Slogged thru this with 9 mates (Great Hikes Plus One – meetup.com), followed by well-deserved beers and bites at La Casita in nearby Fremont, CA.…
Sunol Slog
A quite chilly morning turned into a warm Autumn day and beautiful evening. Landscape is now bleak. Discovered praying mantis’ and a tarantula enjoying the…
Sized up Sizer
What a beautiful awe inspiring hike! We didn’t see anyone until the end when we approached headquarters. There is so much wildlife in this park;…
Rose (by any other name would smell as sweet) Peak
The long and winding trail that finally lead to Rose Peak, which is a little knob in the middle of Ohlone Wilderness. It doesn’t have…
A Peaceful Day on Mt Sizer
This was quite a hike, a lot of steep elevation gain. For the first 10-12 miles of the loop I did not see another human…
Rising on Rose
We should not have been out there. When we arrived the power was out and the guy at the kiosk said there was no charge…
Rose Peak
This was probably not the wisest choice in terms of when to hike this particular trail. It was during fire season, on an especially high-risk…
Rose freaking peak!! Final peak of the challenge
A very long and strenuous hike. Nothing as pleasant as the name sounds!! Steep ascents and descents. We were blessed with cool temps as I…
Wildlife abounds!
One of the best Bay Area hikes! Coastal drive, sunrise fog, views of SF, magestic redwoods, stops with bathrooms and water, pristine trails, and plenty…
Rose Peak
This is the longest hike of the 6 peaks in Nor CA. I would suggest to do it in Spring when the hills would be…
Mt. Tamalpais
Mt. Tam is one of my favorite mountains, the view is spectacular, this time the weather was very good but quite smoky, that day there…
Mt. Tamalpais
Great Hike and scenery, the weather was very good but quite smoky, that day there were many fires in the area, closing access to many…
How can return from peak be uphill?
We had reasonably cool weather and a slight breeze for this long day-hike. This is one of the most desolate park headquarters I have been…
Mount Sizer on a warm October day
15 miles in one day with lots of up and down. Mt Sizer was the highest bump on the Blue Ridge
Rose Peak Wrap Up
Gorgeous hike with a surprising amount of foliage, and a solid amount of distance from the rest of the world.
“Really Just a Knoll” Sizer
My friends and I had a nice day…the weather was clear and sunny…but I must say that this was our least favorite “peak” and hike…
Monte del Diablo
I got a late start (around 11am) but was able to reach the peak in roughly two hours. I entered the park from the South…
Good for the body, even better for the soul
So glad I waited until the fall for this hike. Wide open trail for 4.2 miles with no shade. Absolutely stunning views, clear skies. We…
Panoramic Summit in Mill Valley
Spectacular panoramic views from the East Peak Summit today. Gotta love fall in the Bay Area aka the summer that won’t quit.
Mt. Saint Helena
Great hike with a friend today! Weather was fantastic, clear enough to see Mt. Tam, Mt. Diablo and even San Francisco in the distance! Parking…
Not just for wine lovers!
Great hike in the wine country! The drive there was just as relaxing and beautiful as the view from the summit. Stevenson Memorial Trail is…
Mt Tam Solo
Had to do this one solo without my buddies, since i missed the date! Was a gorgeous day, spectacualr views from the top! Loved the…
Seized Sizee
Hiked with 2 other friends. Felt like the toughest of all 6 peaks but survived it. If you have a knee trouble then advice to…
Hot Hot St. Helena
I hiked this trail with a friend. It was very exposed. Lots of sunshine and vitamin D. The trail is a little boring as it…
#5 of 6 Mount Diablowwwww
A beautiful butt kicker of a hike with changing elevations, rolling hills and 360 deg views of the bay.
MOUNT SIZER
I was slightly nervous for this hike due to the nature of it being mostly on fire roads and my hesitation was met with confirmation.…
Mount St. Helena
It was a super windy and Sunny day, many burned fallen trees blocking the fire road, awesome views during the trail, made an unforgettable experience…
Mount St. Helena
It was a super windy and Sunny day, many burned fallen trees blocking the fire road, awesome views during the trail, made an unforgettable experience…
The most beautiful….Mt.Tamalpais!
One of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done and definitely the most beautiful of all 6 peaks! Definitely strenuous but totally worth it…
Mt St Helena
A pretty easy, but gorgeous hike. The views were spectacular!!! A great way to round out the challenge.
Please let this be the last incline……….doh!
Another warm day. Not as bad as Tam. We left a little earlier too. This hike kept tricking me. There was a lot of up…
Tarantula Mating Season
Mount Diablo: Woo! I’m so stoked, 4/6 of the NorCal six peak challenge completed! We started at 8am with some pretty chilly temperatures at the…
Scorched But Recovering
The last of the Peaks to complete the challenge was Mt St Helena. We car camped at Bothe State Park on Thursday night through Sunday…
Oooohhhhh, We’re halfway there!!
After working all night Thursday night, I figured Friday morning would be a great day for a hike!!
Mt. Umunhum and the Magic Cube
Great Trail, easy and relaxed, the weather was very good and we reach the summit in good shape !