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Stakes 4.23.2005 Thumbnails!
Many of my friends believe my county highpointing interest is a misguided folly. I don’t nessecarily disagree, but it does take to places I would otherwise never go. Coe State Park is a perfect example. If one were to ascend Stakes from the west, it’s about 5 miles from road to peak, but one crosses private property the whole way, and a hunting club at that. I’m not sure what their deal is with visitors who ask permission, but I would recommend that before crossing their gates. Coming from the southeast, one could use Coe State Park for access, but it’s a haul, and there is still about 1.5 miles of private property at the end.
Coe opens up a gate near the Oristimba Corral for one weekend every year that allows one to move 10 miles closer to the Stakes area. That leaves us with a potential 34 mile round trip for two days and a late start due to awaiting the gate opening. Jan, Chari, and I were game. We hiked in 12 miles over mostly flat land and one rise up toward Rooster Comb to avoid some private property. We found a great campsite along a stream, and then had to decide if we were going to ascend to the Stakes area or not. It would mean tacking 10 more miles on at 5 pm. Chari was out, and Ifelt like a long day now would be better than a long day tomorrow when we were trying to get back before the gate closed. Jan acquiesced, and up we climbed. We had to penetrate about 50 ft of thick brush along an old road, but then we took a fire break straight up a ridge, relentlessly gaining ground until we reached a broader ridge with a broader firebreak. From here the grade slackened considerably, and we walked the ridge all the way to the summit, choosing not to drop along road that reascends to the summit. The fence along the last part of the ridge seem to indicate that the hunting club’s property runs to the summit, but not over it. Jan and I watched a nice sunset into the fog banks on the horizon before adorning ourselves with headlamps and moving on. We crashed into camp at 10 pm, with Chari shaking her head from inside her sleeping bag. What a bunch of weirdos.
We hustled our way out of the park the next morning, but we were quite trailsore on our first major effort of the year. The surrounding scenery made up for it, really. Coe times the opening of this gate with the wildflower season, and with all the rains of the winter, the flora was certainly out in force. It appears that several shades of yellow and hues of violet are the official colors of the Park’s east side. The area is a great spot for hiking when the Sierra are not available. I only wish that the east side did not take so much effort to access. I loved the country, but I don’t know if I’d want to take 4 to 5 days of backpacking in it to see what we saw!
--msw
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