Images from Bald Mountain to Mt. Umunhum (out and back)
All photos in this post taken by Geogrins on an iPhone 11 Pro Max. Captions for each photo appear below the photo.
This is an "out and back" route.
Looking south from the Bald Mountain Trailhead parking lot towards Loma Prieta peak in the distance.
A view of the summit from the trailhead - just for a visual idea of how high the climb will be!
And so the walk begins on a trail surrounded by manzanitas.
There are bugs of all types on this trail - not quite sure how this one met its demise though.
It appears to have visitors, considering the unmarked trail leading to it.
Dark eyed junco birds are pretty common along this trail - here's a Not Great photo of one.
Looking out over the Almaden Valley.
Watching the clouds cast shadows over the Sierra Azul range...
Some California Pitcher Sage - with Mt. Umunhum in the Not-As-Far-Away-As-Before distance.
This is coast range false bindweed...
Approaching the summit, the National Weather Service’s main Doppler radar for the greater Bay Area appears.
A few tall pines stand above the manzanita and other mixed chaparral along the summit.
A view of some of the chamise chaparral along the trail near the summit.
A young Pacific Madrone displaying a colorful example of exfoliating its bark.
No filters other than the sunlight...
Another Pacific Madrone - slightly different in color and slightly different in age.
Milk thistle along the trail...
Some more Pacific Madrones exfoliating their bark (the greener the "new" bark, the younger the tree - or that's how the ranger explained it).
You know you're getting closer to the summit when the tower disappears?
Early June is a wonderful time to see the Pacific Madrone changing its bark...
Calero Reservoir is barely visible in the distant valley spotted between the trailside chaparral.
A view of Loma Prieta from very near to the summit of Mt. Umunhum.
And the final ascent begins! (The trail here is composed of very loose gravel and requires a very sure foot to avoid slipping - a lesson I learned the very hard way.)
Calero Reservoir makes another appearance in the distance to the right, while a lone pine extends an invitation to the summit!
A clearer view of the Doppler radar ball. ;-)
A view of the Almaden Valley and SouthEast San Jose with the Diablo Range in the distance (Mt. Hamilton is hiding behind the tree on the right).
Ye Old Air Force Radar Tower atop Mt. Umunhum.
A view from the observation deck of the Diablo range in the distance - almost the entire southern range of Diablo is captured in this photo with Mt. Hamilton in the middle.
In the center/bottom of this photo, the Woods Road trail is visible, winding its way towards Mt. El Sombroso (not pictured, but to the left).
A view of Mt. El Sombroso (with the Woods Road Trail leading to and from it on either side) from the summit of Mt. Umunhum.
Looking northwest from the summit of Mt. Umunhum - with the Fremont and Los Altos foothills visible in the far distance.
In the far left of this photo the Quail Hollow Quarry is visible. In the ~center are the the CCI radio towers on Tomita Hill near Mt. Umunhum.
On a very clear day you can see the city of Santa Cruz and even its wharf in the distance from Mt. Umunhum (looking towards the south from the summit).
It's not a high quality photo - but it's a decent zoom view that shows the outline of Steamer Lane and West Cliff Drive to the Wharf of Santa Cruz.
On the descent, you can see Bald Mountain to the left of this pine.
In the center of this photo the remains of a recent brush fire (named the Colleen Fire) in the Almaden hills is visible with the pink remains of fire retardant and the scarred, blackened hills surrounding it.