Mission Peak

Will-Do
June 2000:

Silicon Valley: Hiking Mission Peak

View from the parking lot to the summit.

Again, following the same theme as the previous week, I went hiking during free time while in San Jose. Patsy Price told me about Mission Peak. Since this was a 2000 ft. ascent, I headed to the nearest REI store and grabbed a day pack and a couple of water bottles and headed out for a little stroll ;-)

This is a relief map of the SF Bay Area. Mission Peak is the really high spot just NE of the southern end of the bay.You can see how it towers above everything around it.

Here's a nice shot of the hang gliders from below.

The view is deceptive. I was well below the gliders at the start, but ultimately went quite high above their starting point.

There's a "road" almost up to the summit, but you can elect to shortcut every switchback and go essentially straight up the mountain. This section was the steepest I saw. Those kids fell repeatedly as I passed them.

Here's the view towards the glider launch point from another really steep section.

The tall mountain in the background is Mt. Diablo, which is almost 1000 ft. taller than the summit of Mission Peak.

Another view of the launch point.

This view is toward the summit pyramid from about 600 feet below.
I can't decide whether I like this one or the next one best.

Wallpaper alert!

This is about 500 feet below the summit.

View to the south from the summit.

This is the view to the southwest. San Jose is right in the middle of the frame.

View to the west. Those evaporation pools are for harvesting salt. There's some talk about reclaiming the salt flats as natural habitat for wildlife.

View to the northwest.
Palo Alto and Mountainview are on the other side of the bay.

The summit has this cool thing (shown here) that allows you to look through the tubes and see specific landmarks. Each tube has a legend below it with distances to each point of interest.

I treated myself to a nice lunch and a Partagas on the summit. Very nice. Not sure the food was worth the work to get it up there. I also took way too much water.

On the way down: nice view of the launch site. It is on a promontory that is ideal (so they tell me) for riding the thermals coming up from the valley floor.

I learned quite a bit about Para-gliding and hang gliding from some really friendly folks I met there. Quite a lot of technology makes this a pretty safe sport nowadays.

So, the bulk of my Sunday was spent on the mountain. Patsy Price and I climbed it a few days later, but with less photos. I'll probably post a few of those here later.
This is a great place to hike. Don't miss Mission Peak if you are in the San Jose area!

Two more: these were taken the following Thursday, after Patsy Price and I climbed Mission Peak. Lucky girl: she lives right at the base of this mountain. Unlike Sunday, this time it was hot. The day before was 109 degrees! Yes, that was the hottest temperature ever recorded in San Jose. SF was 103, which tied the all-time record.
These are taken just at sunset.

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This page last modified 11/22/02


This is a relief map of the SF Bay Area. Mission Peak is the really high spot just NE of the southern end of the bay.You can see how it towers above everything around it.
	Here's a nice shot of the hang gliders from below.
The view is deceptive. I was well below the gliders at the start, but ultimately went quite high above their starting point.
	There's a "road" almost up to the summit, but you can elect to shortcut every switchback and go essentially straight up the mountain. This section was the steepest I saw. Those kids fell repeatedly as I passed them.
Here's the view towards the glider launch point from another really steep section.
	The tall mountain in the background is Mt. Diablo, which is almost 1000 ft. taller than the summit of Mission Peak.
Another view of the launch point.
	This view is toward the summit pyramid from about 600 feet below. I can't decide whether I like this one or the next one best. Wallpaper alert!
This is about 500 feet below the summit.
	View to the south from the summit.
This is the view to the southwest. San Jose is right in the middle of the frame.
	View to the west. Those evaporation pools are for harvesting salt. There's some talk about reclaiming the salt flats as natural habitat for wildlife.
View to the northwest. Palo Alto and Mountainview are on the other side of the bay.
	The summit has this cool thing (shown here) that allows you to look through the tubes and see specific landmarks. Each tube has a legend below it with distances to each point of interest.
I treated myself to a nice lunch and a Partagas on the summit. Very nice. Not sure the food was worth the work to get it up there. I also took way too much water.
	On the way down: nice view of the launch site. It is on a promontory that is ideal (so they tell me) for riding the thermals coming up from the valley floor.
I learned quite a bit about Para-gliding and hang gliding from some really friendly folks I met there. Quite a lot of technology makes this a pretty safe sport nowadays.
So, the bulk of my Sunday was spent on the mountain. Patsy Price and I climbed it a few days later, but with less photos. I'll probably post a few of those here later. This is a great place to hike. Don't miss Mission Peak if you are in the San Jose area!

Two more: these were taken the following Thursday, after Patsy Price and I climbed Mission Peak. Lucky girl: she lives right at the base of this mountain. Unlike Sunday, this time it was hot. The day before was 109 degrees! Yes, that was the hottest temperature ever recorded in San Jose. SF was 103, which tied the all-time record. These are taken just at sunset.

Will-Do June 2000:

Silicon Valley: Hiking Mission Peak

Will-Do
June 2000: