We chose a particularly warm late summer day to hike to the top of Black Mountain. The heat was made a bit more intense by the fact that the trail was exposed nearly the entire route to the summit. I often found myself wishing for a tree or two so I could take a break from the unrelenting sun. So when I later discovered that the mountain used to be covered with a Coast Douglas Fir forest, giving its summit a dark appearance (hence the name), I found it a bit shocking.

Another interesting fact about this mountain is that three local creeks spring from it: Stevens Creek (named for Elijah Stephens, captain of the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party, which was the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains), Adobe Creek (for which the software company Adobe Systems is named), and Permanente Creek (the namesake for the health care provider Kaiser Permanente, as Bess Kaiser thought the name sounded attractive and reliable).

Despite the heat and rather unremarkable summit, I enjoyed spending the day with my friends. Just one more peak to go to complete the challenge. Mount Tam here we come.