I began the day with a quickie drive and hike to the Santa Clara highpoint, Copernicus Peak, which is on the east side of San Jose. Crossing through San Jose, I started up the west side of the city to into the Santa Cruz Mountains. My route took me along CA-17 to CA-9 through the town of Saratoga (very nice place, by the way), then up the road to the main ridge of the hills and the junction with Skyline Drive (also known as CA-35).

My plan was to do the San Mateo County highpoint first, then backtrack south and do the Santa Cruz County highpoint second. However, I failed on my bid for San Mateo, although the hike was very nice. I almost was involved in a wreck with another car along the highway as I pulled out to do a U-turn. I thought I had room, but a blind curve and a speeding Jeep made it a close call. I accept responsibility as I should have been more careful. As for the hike, it was a 2-mile one-way hike through some very nice trees to "Long Ridge", the highpoint. I made it to within 50 feet of the top before an electric fence surrounding the summit stopped me. I surveyed the fence and found one place where I had about 10 inches of space where I could have wriggled under and through, but the thought of touching the fence, even by accident, was not compelling. Plus, there were dogs in the area, so I figured I'd just have to accept defeat and head back to my truck. On to the Santa Cruz highpoint. (I came back in 2001 to complete the San Mateo highpoint)

The Santa Cruz County highpoint is a unique spot, as it is a Christmas Tree farm. Access is from Skyline Drive, but "No Parking" signs near the little access road prompted me to drive north about 3/4 of a mile to a small parking area at Castle Rock State Park. From here, I hiked in on some trails, heading south toward McPherson but the trail I was on, actually an old dirt road, just fed me back out onto the highway, but only a few feet from the access road. Walking up the road, I came upon a flattish area. An old lookout tower is visible, and the Christmas Tree farm as well. The highest point is behind the Christmas Tree farm about 200 feet up the road. The land is privately owned but access doesn't seem to be a problem. There was a camper at the farm but I didn't see anyone there, nor did I see any customers (this being December 19th, I figured I'd see someone). So I hiked up, and paced the flat summit area briefly until I was satisfied, before retreating and hiking back to my truck. In all, the hike was about 1.5 miles round trip and about 300 feet of gain. An easy, pleasant hike. Now, on to San Francisco.