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Santa Cruz Mountains > Mount Umunhum > Climber's Log|
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| CalGoat | Did it  Date Climbed: Jun 6, 2009 | |
| I've been scoping this out for quite some time and finally decided that the Barlow Road route up the Northeast ridge is the best and most legal path. Jared's post from 2006 is pretty much dead-on with what I encountered. I would only add that staying on (or as close to) the spine of the ridge is the best option for not getting lost. An added bonus is that there is almost no poison oak up there, ESPECIALLY compared to the creek bed. Ticks are still quite prevalent, but spray enough repellent (even under your clothes) and they shouldn't be an issue. We were able to get up, look around and be back at our vehicles in about 3 hours. Not bad at all. Really fascinating place up there for sure. | |
| Posted Jun 9, 2009 7:16 pm | ||
| Jared Rader | Barlow Road, up the Northeast ridge Date Climbed: May 12, 2006 | |
| When I was a kid, I looked towards the big box atop the mountain south of San Jose. Is it a tower, a big house, a castle? Eventually, I found out that there's an abandoned airforce base up there. Not only is there an abandoned airforce base, but it's possible to get up there. Gates and private roads stopped me for years, but last summer, I finally commited to reach the top. I had to know what it was like up there, so I researched unconventional routes. Well, I'm happy to say I finally made it to the top of Mt. Umunhum. Accomplishing this was something I dreamed of doing -- legality aside -- and I feel great about finally making it up. Not only is this a confidence boost, but I also learned a lot about the NE route in the process. I started from the Jaques Ridge staging area and approached the northeast ridge via Woods Road and up Barlow Road. I started from a fire road that branches off of Barlow road. Assuming you're headed north on Barlow road, you'll come across an unmistakable gate at Mt. Umunhum's northeast corner. About 100 yards or so before the gate, there is a fire road on the left that branches off into the unknown. This fire road will lead to a trail that is your ticket to the summit. There are some things to be said about the NE route. It does start off as a recognizable trail, with a clearly trampled grass path, but it becomes a deer trail once you arrive at the forest canopy. At this point (and over about the first 1/3 of the route) the ground is quite loose and you'll find yourself grabbing at exposed roots and any tree branches in sight. Many of the branches I found were brittle from age, so I had to go slowly and be sure of my footing. From here on, it can get pretty easy to get lost. The deer trail kept getting less solid until I arrived at a rock covered in moss and ferns. From here on out, I looked for any evidence of previous travel I could find -- whether it be footprints or hoof prints -- and generally chose the path that appeared to have the thinnest brush. The brush can be thick during this first 1/3 of the journey, but fortunately, it isn't at all comparable to the El Sombroso/Thayer ridge trail. Make no mistake, though, you're going to want your whole body covered. Wear thick clothes. There is also extensive poison ivy all around the forest area, so watch where you stick your hands. I carried a spare set of clothes, as well as a plastic bag to stick my dirty clothes in once I reached the summit. The best way to not get lost is to follow the footprints. You probably won't be able to recognize the ridgeline until about half way up the route, but you should be fine if you follow what looks like the beaten path. People hike this route and it's obvious. Usually it's obvious the route you are on has been traveled by some sort of animal, but other times you will have to wing it. I thought I was lost about 1/3 of the way up, because I couldn't recognize a path. There are several points where a beaten path is not recognizable, but I just kept climbing up until I came upon a clearing on the east-northeast side of the mountain. The clearing contained the usual dry grass, as well as a heavilly rusted shovel amid a pile of stones. The next 1/2 or so of the route is quite rocky, but there are some more sections of bushwacking to be done. Fortunately, the ground up here was much more solid so that I could climb with confidence. For the last 1/4 of the route, I kept to the left (east) of the ridgeline. One may be able to negotiate the rocks atop the ridgeline, but I decided it was best if I didn't. I continued on until I was within just a few hundred feet of the box. At this point, I climbed the rocky face of the ridgeline and proceeded west towards the north face of the box. I ended up around the northeast corner of the box, but I decided to head around to the north face since the ground around the northeast corner is loose rock. In conclusion, I have to offer a few points of advice. First, this isn't an easy hike. While the buskwacking isn't too bad, the ground is unstable during the first 1/3 of the journey. This route isn't for the faint of heart, but it beats creek-bed hiking following our wet winter. Second, the fence around the abandoned airforce base has been patched in previously opened spots. You aren't going to find a big gaping hole to go through, and you might have to look around a while for a hole big enough to slither through. Third, a lot of the rock beside the ridgeline is brittle. I chose to do some minor rock climbing, but a different path along this last 1/4 of the route would be more ideal. All in all, this was a great hike. I wasn't sure if I could make it up the mountain, but I did. I questioned whether I was going to make it, even as I was past the point of no return, but I stuck to the route. This experience has left me fulfilled, and I recommend the northeast ridge for those who want to take a path less traveled. | ||
| Posted May 13, 2006 8:21 am | ||
| Bob Burd | Route Climbed: Via El Sombroso Date Climbed: Dec 6, 2005 | |
| This might be the worst possible way to reach the summit, unless you consider thrashing through the brush up the south side. The fire road is all but obliterated. I was on my hands and even belly in places, but still came across places where even this wasn't enough. The trick turned out to be dropping off the ridge to either side a bit and sidehilling through the understory where the ground is better cleared. Next time I'd try the Guadalupe Creek route - it sounds far faster than the route I took. Trip Report | |
| Posted Dec 6, 2005 11:07 pm | ||
| iamthebest1122 | Route Climbed: Soda Springs Road Date Climbed: Summer 2005 | |
| This is probably the coolest mountain ever. It is crazy to see an abandoned air force base. Been up there twice. | |
| Posted Nov 9, 2005 5:26 pm | ||
| CrAzY MoFo | Route Climbed: Mt Umunham Rd Date Climbed: 9/25/2005 | |
| After years of telling my self that some day I was going to make it all the way to the box, that day was today.. My friends and I started late morning about 11:00am. Made the summit around 1:00pm with out problems from any one. We didn't bother worring about the camera, we just hopped the fence and forged on until we were standing in front of the box.. The abandoned air force base was trippy, it had a ghost town feel to it. | ||
| Posted Sep 26, 2005 12:34 am | ||
| Abraxas | Route Climbed: Guadalupe Creek Date Climbed: September 18, 2005 | |
| After hearing about all the issues with taking the roads to the top, I consulted a Topo map to find an "easy" way to hike to the top. As it turns out, there is a straightfoward (but completely unmaintained) route starting from within Sierra Azul straight up Guadalupe Creek. The creek was pretty much dry in mid September, and the route up involves some scrambling, but nothing "Class 3" (which it to say, there is always another way if it looks like you need to climb). The best part of this route is that you are on park property the entire route until you reach the fence bordering the famous buildings on the summit (I'd name this the 95% legal route). Previous visitors had already opened a route through the fence, which I wasn't expecting (the fence, not the hole). Time from the bottom of the creek to the fence: 1 hour. It's about 2000 ft over ~1.5 miles. It took 50 minutes to get back down, although that was mostly because there are some reasonable use trails at the higher part of the trail (last 1000 ft)--the bottom part of the creek goes through several steep-walled sections, so one has to pretty much stumble around. The route itself is mostly covered, so you won't see the "peak" until you are pretty nearby. Thus, you need to be comfortable hiking without orientation, but at least you aren't in the sun the whole time (since you are in a depression most of the way up, don't count on any cool breezes). There are a couple places where multiple drainages come together. When in doubt, head to the left (just as the Topo suggests). Poison oak is everywhere--wear pants, no matter how hot it is. Bring a headlamp, too--I left mine in the car, and regretted it, because there are some interesting (and dark) places to explore up there. | ||
| Posted Sep 20, 2005 6:36 pm | ||
| Al Pine | Route Climbed: Mt. umunhum road to summit Date Climbed: March 13, 2005 | |
| Didn't run into any troubles with the people that live up here, as I know they are hostile to people wishing to reach the summit. The summit is a sad, eerie place of deteriorating buildings and other decaying remnants of the mountain's active period during the Cold War. Great views. | |
| Posted Aug 21, 2005 10:20 pm | ||
| johnnyB | Route Climbed: mt. umunhum rd. Date Climbed: 6-25-05 | |
| Me and my brother hiked up ther, we left our house in hayward at 5 in the morning, reached the summit at about 6:30 am, didnt see anyone at all, it was like a ghost town. Then on the way back down we saw a lady, but she was really nice and gave me and my brother a ride back down, she said that there are few landowners that care of people being up there, they get mad because people used to vandleize the buildings before the base became part of the open sapce district in 1983. Word of advise, watch out for Rick he is a landowner, his house is visible from the road with all the old cars. | |
| Posted Jun 30, 2005 2:46 pm | ||
| Rad Thibidauoxx | Route Climbed: via Soda Springs Rd and Guadalupe Creek and Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: 5-30-05 and 11-23-05 and 4-1-06 | |
| I've been up thrice now. The first time was an OK trip up Soda Springs Rd and the second time was a great trip up Guadalupe Creek. Got a little climbing in on the way up and there's less of a chance to get caught. I've also tried the El Sombroso Ridge but the way we went it became almost impossible to continue so we ditched the ridge and made our way down to Woods Trail. Went via Northeast Ridge. It sucked. I got a ridiculous amount of poison oak. What was kind of cool was that we almost got caght by a ranger. | |
| Posted Jun 15, 2005 3:25 pm | ||
| McCannster | Been up a few times | |
| Been on the Air Force Station a total of 8 separate times (one was just to the summit of Mt. Thayer). Been up to the summit six times. First time was entirely unintentional, just kind of a spur the moment type of thing. The rest, as they say, is history. | |
| Posted Apr 26, 2005 11:30 pm | ||
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