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If you want to go: Take Highway 9 west; turn left on Skyline;
park on the left a couple miles up the road. There's a lot and
trailhead sign. It's easy to miss the lot, so keep your eyes peeled.
Jean, Kane and I did some rock climbing at Summit Rock in
Skyline-Sanborn County Park.
Christmas trees
We started the day by going to Mt. McPherson, the Santa Cruz
county highpoint. It's on private property, and only open for 3 weeks
during the year -- as a Christmas tree farm. Jean picked one out for
chopped it down herself! $25 for any tree -- such a deal!
Jean standing next to her next victim
Jean checking out the view
Afterwards, we checked out Indian Rock, where there were a few rock
climbers hanging out.
Then, it was on down the road to Summit Rock. The hike out is only
about a half mile. There were already about a dozen climbers there
already. Kane walked to the top to set up the top rope. This was his
first experience setting up a top-rope. Thankfully, there was an
experienced climber there who guided him as he set it up. Kane
anchored the rope; the most exciting part was when he then flung the
rope over the edge. Jean and I thought he was going to take himself
with it, as he was standing much too close to the rope for comfort.
He ended up throwing the rope into a tree. After gathering the rope,
he tossed it again and again hit the tree. Fortunately, the people at
the bottom were able to yank it off the tree, and we proceeded to the
bottom to start our climb.
Jean started up first, with Kane belaying. There were cracks most
of the way up, so she was able to use the opposition. The climb was
rated 5.7. This was her second time climbing outdoors. After she went
up and rappelled down, I strapped my harness in to start my attempt,
Kane belaying. I'd done a fair amount of climbing at Planet Granite,
but this was my first time outdoors. I'd done 5.8 climbs without too
much difficulty at Planet Granite, but this 5.7 was harder than many
of those. The main thing was that I'd never gone up a crack before,
so it was a completely different experience for me. Once I got the
hang of it, it was pretty easy. Fun!
Jean halfway up; Kane belaying
After I rappelled down, I belayed Kane on his climb. Then, as the sun
started to fade, Jean went up a second time.
Almost there!
The environment itself was generally nice. There are nice views of
the Santa Clara Valley, and the vegetation is fairly lush, since it
gets a lot of moisture from fog along the coast. The only downside
was the numerous cigarette butts and broken beer bottles lying
everywhere. It's really disgusting to look at; I'm sure it's people
coming up to watch the sun set or after dark, hanging out, drinking
beer...I doubt very much that it's climbers or hikers doing the
polluting.
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