Mount Umunhum: Completed my first Northern California Peak Challenge. The starting point was from the lower parking lot to the summit of Mt. Umunhum, which you can be see the goal as tiny building on top of the summit. The trail was easy, the switch backs made it feel like there was no incline at all, took me an 1hr and 20mins – one way. The summit overlooks all of San Jose and there’s a road that takes you straight to the summit. It was around 80 degrees and sunny so the bugs were out and about and super annoying. The trail itself was pretty boring but I ran into some wildlife which definitely made it interesting. I saw a ring-necked snake, squirrels, chipmunks, quail, and my lovely encounter with a rattle snake. I was 1 step away from stepping on this guy. I wanna say neither of us noticed each other til the last minute and I’m glad I reacted first. Needless to say, I was pretty shaken up. He didn’t use his rattle at all to warn me when I was near him, nor did he coil up. In the end, I let him be and we parted ways peacefully.