Summit of Mission Peak then and now:



More views:



Sadly, this seems to be more and more common not only on Mission Peak, but in other places that I've been to recently. I hope that when these people grow up, they will realize what shitheads they are (were).

Steve1215 wrote:Mission peak looks like a godforsaken hell hole, with or without the graffiti

Maybe their just trying to spruce it up a bit?

It's probably the most popular peak in the South Bay, and probably third behind Mt. Diablo and Mt. Tamalpais in the whole Bay Area. On any given day there are hundreds of people going to the summit, most for the workout and the views of San Francisco Bay. I was just up there a few weeks ago and it was sad to see the graffiti that wasn't there a few years back.

Steve1215 wrote:Mission peak looks like a godforsaken hell hole, with or without the graffiti

Maybe their just trying to spruce it up a bit?

Some people love godforsaken peaks like that for the stark beauty all around. How could you justify defacing the peak like that?

You could report it to the responsible agency, and after a $200k EIS, they could develop a 2 year plan for remediation.

Or you could go up with a sandblaster or brown and grey spray paint and over-paint the graffiti.

Graffiti begets more graffiti. Taggers want to outdo other taggers.

One of our local Red Rock peaks has some stiff class 3, which we thought would keep most casual chowderheads from going up and tagging. Unfortunately, they found the easy white gully route and began an intense graffiti competition. And some person has gone up and wiped out the graffiti each time, before it was a week old. And the tagging stopped. That anti-graffiti vigilante is working without a proper EIS, so is an enemy of the people... but s/he seems to be effective.

Steve1215 wrote:that explains the trodden-down look of this peak. it looks about as inviting as the surface of the Sun.
they need to cordon off the whole area for ten years and let Nature re-gain a foot hold. then let the SF yuppies mob it again
until then, let the Mexican Mafia and Colombian cartels continue to shoot it out up there!

You must have NoCal confused with how things work down in SoCal.

Bob Burd wrote:It's probably the most popular peak in the South Bay

True that ^^^

But it wasn't always that way.

To illustrate:
Here's the main Stanford Ave parking lot on a Saturday morning in 1990:
My truck (all alone) is parked in the lower left.

Here's the same parking lot last Wednesday at 8am- a work day:


Even though it was mid week, I still had to park half a mile away in a nearby residential neighborhood- among many other overflow cars. This, more than the graffiti, is the main reason why I rarely visit what was once one of my favorite local hikes.
But... there are other great trails nearby that I now go to that relatively few seem to visit.

MoapaPk wrote:Or you could go up with a sandblaster

Wouldn't you know it? The one time I accidentally left my portable backpacking sandblaster in the car, I ended up needing it. Go figure...

That sucks. I did that hike a few times when training for Shasta one year. Definitely a good workout.

I love going up mission peak (do it at least once every 2 weeks or so, sometimes more than once). Saw the July 4th fireworks from there (after going up and down 3 times). Aside from being a great work out, the views do not ever get old. It makes me sick to see those graffiti up there. If I saw anyone do anything like that, some education would take place.

I was surprised to see a couple years ago that some asshats had tagged multiple signs on the Ohlone Trail out of Del Valle. Some many miles and a hard climb from the road. Who the hell hikes that far to put some stupid initials on a sign???

boyblue wrote:

MoapaPk wrote:Or you could go up with a sandblaster

Wouldn't you know it? The one time I accidentally left my portable backpacking sandblaster in the car, I ended up needing it. Go figure...

I've carried 60lbs of portable power equipment up cliffs in NM (for a USFS-sanctioned project).

The trouble is, that power equipment makes noise. The USFS/BLM/Sate Park Service/whatever would be more likely to arrest you for an unsanctioned act, than arrest the taggers (who can come and go quickly).

The rumor is: one of our local graffiti-removing vigilantes waits till after a rain, then scrubs off the marks with a mixture of local sand-mud and wire brush (very effective, I am told).

I too want to share my love for Mission Peak.

Yes, it's technically one of the more plain hikes in the Bay Area, but I love the fact that has become the "go-to" hike for people who do not frequently hike. On the way up you see a hodgepodge of cultures and ages, from high school track groups to super-hiker-clothing-REI types to middle-aged ladies in saris to teens in their Sunday thuggin-finest.

The graffiti, sucks, yes, but on the whole I think it's great that so many people are utilizing this outdoor space, especially on a (relatively) challenging incline. The summit is pretty much entirely car accessible...I wonder how much it would cost to get a sandblaster up there?

Bob-a-loo: name the no-moon night, and I'll carry the sand-blaster up there for ya...