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| Guadalupe Creek   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: California, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 37.15785°N / 121.89567°W Route Type: Hike/Scramble Time Required: Half a day Difficulty: Class 1-2
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| Page By: McCannster Created/Edited: Nov 24, 2005 / May 21, 2006 Object ID: 167706 Hits: 1625 Loading... Page Score: 86.72% - 2 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
ApproachGuadalupe Creek is reached from Barlow Road. After the gate on Mt. Umunhum Road, hike about 1/2 mile up the road until you see Barlow Road (dirt) veer off to the right. Take Barlow and descend a little bit into the Guadalupe Creek watershed. Guadalupe Creek is the second creek that crosses the trail. It is considerably larger than the first creek that crosses Barlow Road. It would help to have a Sierra Azul Trail Map handy to identify the creek. Once the creek is reached, the route begins.
Route DescriptionFrom Barlow Road, head up the creek. Shortly, the creek will branch into two creekbeds. Be sure to stay to the LEFT and follow the creek that heads up on the left side. The creek begins to steepen, and there is some scrambling over large boulders to be done. Whenever there is a junction where the creek splits, always stay to the left. The brush gets a little thick in some spots, so negotiate around it, just be sure to stay near the creek. Further up, the creek starts to veer to the west. Once you've confirmed that the creek is travelling west, continue a bit further and soon you'll see Mt. Umunhum's exposed south side. This face consists of steep, wide-open, slick, and in some parts gnarly terrain. This is where the final push up to the summit happens. There are a few small, faint trails that meander up this face. Choose one that heads in the general direction of the summit. Note that McQueen Ridge is directly behind you at this point, and serves as a good landmark. Use caution when ascending the south face of Mt. Umunhum: the terrian is mostly steep, loose rock that is very exposed. Try to stay on the small shrubs. As you ascend the last 100 feet to the summit, the box and lookout tower will come into view, and soon you'll come to the summit perimeter fence. There is no need to climb over it: there is a nice little hole in the fence on the east side of the summit. Follow the fence east and it will turn left 90°, heading north. The hole is about 40 feet after this turn. Go through the hole and hike up to the summit lookout tower, and you've made it.
Essential GearBring water, good shoes that are grippy, and long sleeves. If Guadalupe Creek is being climbed between Decmeber and April, there is a good chance that the creek will be flowing, so waterproof shoes would be a good idea. Time from Barlow Road to the summit takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Distance from Barlow Road to summit if about .9 miles.
Fair Warning-READ THIS!This page contains information about hiking on private property and closed areas of land. Any entanglements you get into while hiking around Mt. Umunhum is your fault, not mine, so don't blame anything on me. I just inform. If you are cited or arrested, you must assume full responsibility. Also, no matter how tempting it might be, do not vandalize any of the buildings on the Almaden Airforce Station. You are already up here illegally, the worst thing you can do is make the area more damaged, in turn possibly hindering any sort of public access. Trespassing on the Almaden Airforce Station is punishable by a misdemeanor along with a $300 fine. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Happy Hiking,
David. Images
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Santa Cruz Mountains
