Tag: Black Mountain

Decent trail, views were okay…summit views were mediocre. Not sure why this peak was chosen.

Such a beautiful trail but muddy at this time because of the heavy rain.

Happy that I saved this one for last. Super lovely easy stroll up a nearly empty trail. The fog was thick getting there but quickly…

This was a quick easy hike. Working on get the last two peaks in before the end of the year.

Awesome hike

It was a great day for a hike, cool in the morning but it warmed up to tank top weather as we were climbing.  This…

Beautiful weather made for a nice hike. 72°, and only a breeze at the summit. Trails damp, but not muddy. Made for good traction on…

It was a long twisty road up, but the views were great.  I got there early to beat any crowds and there were only 3…

Tough hike

It was a steep 1st and 4th mile.

Easy hike from where we started, about 5.5 miles round trip. It was chilly but not overly cold. We pushed it, getting back before dark…

Mostly an easy (but a little long) stroll, with moments at the beginning and near the end of steeper grades.  Found the benchmark among the…

We parked our car to where Chamise Trail Starts. just peaked Lost Altos Hills Reservoir. it was really pretty and sunny day. It took a…

Beautiful, clear morning. Felt great to get back out after the fire season has quieted down (hopefully!).

Thank God for Rangers!!! I started late- 3:30 PM with just a bottle of water- I forgot the sun was setting early. I reached the…

We started at Rancho San Antonio and hiked up and over Black Mountain ending at Ridge Winery (a lovely spot to end a hike!)

This an annual tradition for me and my group for the past 6 years, to hike from our local Rancho San Antonio Park up to…

Tiny lot, get there early. Not the most exciting hike in the list, but a great training hike.

To do a peake workout, you need to go Right t the trail head.  It will take you thru a beautiful red green moss forrest…

To do a peake workout, you need to go Right t the trail head.  It will take you thru a beautiful red green moss forrest…

Great hike! Moderate is you take the high trail. If taking the Natural Trail, it is much harder to reach the peak.

This is my 2nd hike from the challenge and it was a good one.  The PG&E trail is a challenge in it’s own right; a…

On an all too familiar trail in Rancho San Antonio, I made my way through the waves of hills that eventually brought me to the…

Gorgeous day hike with perfect weather and clear skies.  Trail was very well maintained and steep in a few sections.  11 miles or so with…

Black Mountain was another wonderful hike with great friends and great company along with great booster drink.

Once again, our group followed the excellent directions provided from the Social Hiker site.  We arrived at our location by the suggested time of 7…

The instructions provided on Social Hiker was great.  Our group followed it to the tea.  Total miles for the day was 11+.  It was a…

Started late on a Sunday so hiked this one quick to get back to the car before dark. A black cat at the trailhead greeted…

It was very hot but we didn’t start til 11:30. About 2 miles to peak from parking lot so 4 miles round trip. The water…

It was a warm day today (88 degrees by the end of our hike) but the trail offered enough shade that we were comfortable.   We…

The first 1 mile and last 2 miles of this hike were brutally steep! Rest of it was a a gradual incline, and it was…

The hike was awesome.  wanted to hike this from a different side.

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…

Last hike in the challenge. Thought this and Mt Um were the easiest of the six, but still an awesome hike/workout.

Some challenging hills!

Hiked from Rhus Ridge last year. Decided to try Monte Bello this time.  Windy narrow little road with lots of Labor Day cyclists.  NO PROBLEM…

Hot hot day.  Had to take extra breaks and drank more water than normal just to deal with the heat.  The summit is a bit…

The drought has sucked the life out of Northern California. While I’m happy to be able to move up this mountain I’ve never seen conditions…

Black mountain summit ✔️ Fifth peak out of six was hiked on a Sunny but mild day. The views are the summit were seemingly endless.…

I chose to start at Monte Bello because I heard that Rhus Ridge has limited parking. I did the loop and got 7 miles with…

First solo hike here back in the Bay Area- gorgeous morning through mist and the. Above the undercast. Saw deer and bunnies and plenty of…

Not much shade.

Had a great day. Enjoyed the varied terrain. Definitely one we wouldn’t have hunted down without this challenge! A little open and hot in places…

We hiked this in the middle is summer and it was open and warm. Not a whole lot to look at.

This peak was a doozy. We started at 10 am since we drove down from Sacramento. It was hot and dusty. The trail has a…

I arrived at the gate at 5:30 am and was 3rd in line waiting for the gate to open at 6am. Quickly there  became a…

sunset hike kicked my butt. steeper than it seems, and more like 10 miles than 9.

Started out at 8:30 and it was cool and the morning fog was burning off. I opted for a short sleeve even though I usually…

Hiked over 11 miles with over 2600 ft of elevation. Sweeping views of Silicon Valley and a deep blue sky were the highlights. While not…

Beautiful hike, and not cold and windy at the top as it sometimes is! Started early, and was glad of that when the sun was…

Beautiful hike on a sunny day through varying terrain. Glad we started at 7:30a to avoid the heat. The number of hikers increased steadily during…

Made a weekend of Black Mountain and Mt. Umunhum with my hiking pal.  Black mtn was the longer hike so knocked it out on Saturday. …

This hike was fine. Not my favorite on the list because it’s mostly fire roads. Also, it was an incredibly hot weekend. We decided to…

A little over 4 hours moving time to complete and the last mile was tough! Backpacked at the nearby campground the night before. The weather…

Hot but good

Today was hot but breezy, not too many people on the trail and a mile longer than expected but all in all, very fun hike.…

Wasn’t impressed with the top of this as I was of the other peaks

Hiked 11.2 miles with my friend, Stephanie.  Initial hill, steep.  11.2 miles  Elevation 3,146′

First, need to arrive by 6:20 to get a parking spot, otherwise wait until late morning to come in as folks are leaving. We finished…

It was RUFF

Beautiful hike but certainly rough!!!

great views and some sweet wildflowers. A tough one but worth it.

Easy hike and My first experience with a coyote on the trail 🙂

I made the mistake of arriving at 6:50am on a Saturday. There was NO parking available. I was fortunate enough to park close enough away…

We tried to start at 7:30 at Rancho San Antonio Park but it was already full.  If your thinking of hiking from here I would…

Start early so you can get parking and beat the heat! The parking lot fills up fast and the trail is mostly exposed. There were…

Least favorite hike of the challenge.  Summit was anti-climatic.  My phone/camera was not working so I have no photo to post but I can not…

Trail conditions perfect, weather perfect, company amazing!

Beautiful trail and beautiful day. Perfect weather. Kicked my butt going up and up!

This was such a crazy hike especially considering it’s right next to very tame Los Altos. Parking was impossible, so we parked at Foothill College…

Small parking lot full by 7:15.  We parked at Foothill College and walked to trailhead.   First mile of hike was straight up and certainly…

We tried to park in the little parking lot. We got there at 7:15.   It was full so we had to park at the…

First, some words of caution: Wow it was hot. 90 at the summit, but at least there was a breeze up there. The trails were…

We tried to do PGE quarry trail but the parking was already full at 7:30am. So we found an alternate trailhead for black mountain that…

Our hike began from a neighborhood that connected to the Chemise trail and then to Black Mnt. There was a steep incline right off the…

We didn’t have the time to do the regular 13ish mile loop from Rancho San Antonio, so I obtained a (free) permit from Midpen Open…

I was given a warning by my friends that I need to be at the Rancho San Antonio Preserve gate half an hour prior to…

This was a new peak for my friend and I. We agreed to meet at 9:00 AM and he got the last remaining parking spot.…

The hike title sums it all up! I hiked with a friend WAAAAYYYYY back in April and don’t remember all that much about it! Pro…

Started at Rancho San Antonio. The hike was mild. Lots of flowers and shade along the way. It was about 4 miles up before I…

Wildflower season in full bloom! Trail map we used was a little off, so we thought we’d be at the peak a mile or so…

We arrived a little before 7am on a Sunday morning to an almost full parking lot. The weather was forecast to be sunny and warm…

Great hike, beautiful day.  We got there at 8:15 and all of the parking lots were full, so we parked outside of the park and…

What a beautiful trail and views in our backyard!  Next time I would go earlier in the season to capture all more wildflowers.

While the views of the bay area (Santa Clara valley and eastward) on the hike up were expansive, I much preferred the views at the…

It was a great trail, great views, beautiful weather.

It was sunny and breezy at the peak so we had a little picnic and hung out.

Excellent enjoyable hike….

This was a tougher hike than the trail guides suggested with significant elevation gain over short spans. But the trails were dry and there was…

Great day! A little hot where there is no tree coverage. Still very green, some wildflowers. Not crowded. Arrived at 8:30am

GREEEEEEN and QUIET! Clean bathrooms at trailhead. I startled one biker. Saw 3 random hikers on the connecting trails. I never crossed paths with anyone.…

We started at 7:30 am so we found one of the few parking spaces.  Temperature was 45 at the start and 70’s at the finish.…

The trial was nice with a mix of being in the sun and in the shade. The last two miles leading to the peak were…

Good weather, sunny, lots of traffic (hikers and MTBs on weekend. Most of the trail is a wide gravel road with great views, only the…

The trail was beautiful. We arrived at 8:30. Weather was expected to be in the low 70’s. There are some shady areas but when the…

I would consider this the perfect Winter/Spring hike. It is mostly open chaparral, so I think it might be too warm in Summer/Fall. The section…

Whoa!  The WIND up there!  Thought we were going to be Winnie the Pooh in “A Rather Blustery Day”!  Great trip though, wind kept all…

Beautiful Spring day to hike up to Black Mountain!

I wish it was a little more clear at the peak but I was treated to a beautiful sunrise and a rainbow so it wasn’t…

Bagged my 2nd peak in the 6 Pack of Peaks 2021 series. My friend Palmore joined me. First time for both of us hiking Black…

Great hike, great weather. Steep at beginning and end but not bad. Best views from the trail, not so much from the summit.

I planned actually to hiked the “black mountain trail”. I knew the parking is limited. We got there at 7. Was full already. Since I…

Took a lovely Saturday afternoon to go hiking with my labmates to Black Mountain.  We went via route of old ranch, bella vista, and canyon…

Beautifully kept trail – the fire road is well-travelled, like a trail highway. Loved that it got less crowded the farther up we got. Lovely…

Beautiful hike in the South Bay. The last 2 miles to the top are the prettiest and most challenging. Parking is an issue. We got…

Cold but fun

Great hike. Steep in the beginning and towards the peak but gradual incline most of the way. Great weather but a bit windy at the…

A perfect time for a long hike.

17-1/2 miles.

The weather was perfect, parking was easy, & there were no crowds. Great day, overall! (11.8 miles total)

Beautiful trail, we chose a longer trail this time both ways. It was mostly single track trail instead of a fire road ( PG&E ).…

Hiked a total of 13 miles roundtrip.

Even with the sunny weather it can get cold once you reach the summit, that is if you stop moving. This hike kick my behind.…

Nice warm day hike!

Nice, warm, sunny hike!

This hike was super cold loved getting up to the moon rocks and seeing at the views on both sides of the San Andreas fault.…

Did this hike last year, but must not be in as good shape cause it whooped me on the way up, especially the last two…

On the route we took, there were a lot of steep switchbacks in the beginning and then it’s flat til towards the end there’s more…

This hike was great! There was a cute cat hanging out by the home near the parking lot. The last couple miles were brutal but…

This is an absolutely beautiful trail, lots of shade and wide. Going up to the Summit was the incline but heading back was all downhill.

First time to San Antonio open space. Beautiful weather and environment. Longer hike, 26 km total. Not difficult.

Drove down to Rancho open space with my husband to start our hike at 7:15 AM and the parking lots were already filling. Glad we…

Total length: ~18 miles, ~3200 ft elevation gain. Arrived at the preserve at 8:05, despite google telling me the opening time was 8:00 the parking…

You know Spring is announcing itself when Manzanitas are blooming and Taricha Torosas can be spotted when it’s a bit wet on the trails. Just…

I knew it was going to be a cool and wet day, but the rain was supposed to pass by 8am and I really wanted…

A bit muddy in the wooded lowlands, but otherwise a great hike.

Very nice sunny day. Saw a coyote very nearby at the summit!

Excellent conditions, excellent weather, excellent companions!