San Mateo County Highpoint Trip Report

Date: December 18, 2005
Author: Matt Worster

Ranger Loro Patterson arranged a visit to the private property on San Mateo county’s highpoint. Of course, one can't arrange the weather. As the wind and rain lashed the window over my bed, the alarm went off at 6 am. I thought this would make a GREAT Sunday to sleep in but, no, these opportunities are few and I must go. My girlfriend registered her opinion of my idiocy at this point. I understood.

I picked up my hiking partner for the day and we made our way south on Skyline to Portola Heights Road. As we drove, anywhere we became exposed to the west the rain sheeted over us and streamed off to the east. We arrived at the meeting place, some bedecked in full rain-suits, some trying to make do with an umbrella. We assembled somewhere around 12 people in total and drove up to the landowner's house. One stuck-in-the-mud car later, our group arrived. We waved to the landowner and thanked him for the opportunity but the weather didn't allow for much standing around. We snapped a few pictures and then got out of there. It was the worst summit conditions I've ever been in (excepting my near lightning strike in the Sierra) but the new rain gear worked well. We later found out that our highpoint received nearly 4 inches of rain in 24 hours, including the time we were there. We passed accident after accident on the highway but we came through just fine.

For future highpointers, please respect the landowner's property. The highpoint is within 100 feet of his house and there is an established way of accessing it with permission. You couldn't ask for anything more when dealing with private property access. Many thanks to Loro Patterson for continuing this access (her E-mail address is available on the cohp webpage).