Griswold Hills High Point

Central Coast BLM

Click for map.

It really looks like rain, but the automatic weather report assures me that's still on for tomorrow, not today. Today will just be mostly cloudy and I want to get out to something. Something will be the Griswold Hills high point. The area has a single day use area with bathrooms as the only official parking, although there seem to be a few turnouts too. There are no legal roads, but there is a single trail. I'm not sure where exactly it goes, but it is nice to see that it climbs the steepest bit of the hills along the route I was looking at to get to the high point. At least, there's a series of switchbacks carved into the hill, so I assume that's where it goes. There's no signs by the parking lot for it.

There's a gate to exit the parking area and switchbacks on the hill side, so just connect those and I should be on trail.

Cows grazing on the flats between Griswold Hills and Panoche Hills and Tumey Hills.

The first challenge for the trail is to get across Griswold Creek. There's no water, but it has steep sides. There's a couple routes across. On the far side, there's an old road with a lot of shooting debris. I can hear someone target shooting on the far side of the hill, but the murky looking weather seems to have kept most away. Where the trail takes off from the old road, there actually is a sign. It's the only one besides the winding line shown on the area map tucked away in the map box by the information kiosk with no panels.

Hikers, mountain bikes, and horses may all take this trail and a few of each do.

The switchbacks make it a quick and easy climb up the hill through a recent burn area. Grasses and bushes are blackened. The grass doesn't care, it was done with that bit anyway and now the new grass is getting a little more sun than otherwise. Some of the bushes are looking too charred to go on. It seems to have been restricted to just a few hill sides.

The hill makes one side of this short canyon.

Looking over the parking to ranch lands on the other side of the road. The hills over there get names with "mountain" or "peak" put after.

At the top, the trail continues to go my way. Now it makes a way around the small false peaks I though I would just have to go up and over. The old burn area continues, but not for too long.

Once up the steep hill side, the top of the ridge is generally easy going. The trail makes it easier. Unburned areas are tan up ahead.

Pastures and distant peaks to the north. Panoche Hills are near center.

The trail stops going around the bumps along the way, but the bumps stop being any more than shoulders. I don't notice where it stops being an official trail and starts being a use trail as it continues along the same ridge I planned to hike.

Along the edge of the hills toward the central valley. The lights of I-5 are the brightest thing out there at night.

Interesting erosion patterns in the local sandstone.

There was a single hill of red in otherwise tan on the far side of the road catching my eye, but it appears this side has plenty of red too.

More and more peaks around as the southwest becomes visible.

My route becomes faint and indeterminate as the ridge becomes double. It just means choices I had expected to have to make anyway. I choose to cross over to the far side which ultimately comes up from a different area. It has a nicer slope to it. Further on, I can't choose the nicer slope and just have to cross over a narrow section of ridge and then climb steeply. It is one of the few places that I can see clear prints from the last user. At the top, trail meets a fuel break. Someone has left a cairn where they meet so I can be sure not to miss the turn off on the way down. I follow the fuel break the rest of the way to the top.

Just one steep section, then three easy hills to the top.

Ranches and hills to the southwest are now part of the scenery.

Even more to the south.

Trail continues over the top to points I know not where. There's a lot more Griswold Hills to be seen. Getting to the high point is just barely getting into them.

Looking back over the climb. The hills visible left of the ridge are on the far side of the road.

There's much more to wander through. This ridge continues to be easy to hike and hiked.

The distant Sierra Nevada peaks seem to still be holding onto the light of sunrise as a bit of pink slowly moves north through them. I have been watching it on and off the whole day and wonder how long it will last. It shows no signs of abating.

Right across the central valley to the high peaks. There's a whole string of these, but they aren't connecting together properly.

Those barely visible peaks have lots of character.

The wind is picking up and I'm pretty sure I can see rain coming down in other places, so I head back. A lot of spots have fog around today, especially the central valley, but I think some of the stuff to the west is not fog and maybe the weather machine lied to me.

Bucks Peak might be next except: 1) it is raining behind and north of it, 2) it is on private property.

The little cairn someone left for me serves me well, although I'm pretty sure I'd have made the corner anyway. I hold onto the easier, but ultimately wrong, ridge a little long before crossing over, but that just serves to show why there's not much trail showing through the section. Down I go as the rain increases around. The wind is enough to bring some over to me so I can have samples of how it is definitely not fog.

The cows seem to have produced these wiggling paths that climb and fall with great abandon as they scribble their way along the hills.

The shoulder tries to entice over with a trail along it, but that probably goes nowhere.

The battle with the wind and fierce but sparse raindrops becomes intense as I finish my way along the ridge and hit the switchbacks. Thankfully, coming down the hill provides a little shelter from the blow. I guess I should have trusted my instincts better. Still, it's all worked out as I'm down before most of the long afternoon of light rain.




©2020 Valerie Norton
Written 2 Feb 2020