"El Sombroso from Bald mountain PA on Mt U road. I wanted to red line the Barlow road as part of Mt U option off the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Easy strolling but not scenic, just a road. Had the Woods trail to myself until I ran into two guys with a dozer regrading a washed out section. Up higher the views were back with all the looping around to reach the takeoff point for El Som. On my way back to the car I thought I might have mindlessly passed the jct for Barlow road with my haste cruising along the Woods trail. Fortunately a few minutes later I realized I had jumped the gun unnecessarily " — Nimblefoot • Nov 21, 2023

"Reached the Kennedy road TH at 8am and managed to get the last spot to park. Two other vehicles were already parked in the tiny lot with space between them but large enough to get the Camry in there and open a door. Red lined the Kennedy trail to where it junctions with the Limekiln and Woods trails then continued on to El Sombroso. This time I found an old jam jar with paper and pencils inside and a #6 on the lid on the edge of the opening near the undergrowth. An old canister/register I guess as it didn’t contain the usual suspects of a geocache." — Nimblefoot • Jul 26, 2023

"Sort of a figure eight loop out of Los Gatos with some road walking to start and finish plus a short stretch on Alma Bridge road to get from St Josephs hill to the Limekiln trail. Red lined the Limekiln trail, tagged El Som and hiked another section of the Bay Area Ridge trail. On the Limekiln trail almost stepped a large salamander strolling across the trail very slowly, much bigger than the ones back on the east coast. Higher up I watched two ruby chested hummingbirds flitting from tree to tree, nice break from the steady hill climb. Closer to El Som played peek-a-boo with a deer with a small rack who didn’t want me to get close enough to get a good look. On my way back from El Som, on the ridge trail, I observed a large Cat strolling up the trail. At first I thought it was someone’s dog but once it heard me it took off much like a cat then darted into the brush constantly keeping an eye on me. I’m assuming it was a mountain lion - one of the benefits of hiking solo and quietly." — Nimblefoot • Dec 28, 2022

"On this 25th day of Vertober finally made it to El Sombroso, #30 of 31 for me in the Bay Area Classic Peaks Challenge. Perfect conditions — not too hot — and was surprised to find several shaded sections. Started running tight on time so we ran a few sections on the way back (and opted not to take the other trail variations to save time). Don’t do this one for the summit views, do it for some good ole fashioned fire road climbing. " — scott • Oct 25, 2022

"Dropped down to the Jacques Ridge TH near Mt U to do another section of the Bay Area Ridge trail. Original plan was to cruise the nearly 12 miles to Alma Bridge road and back but with a later start time and the temperature cranking up I decided to cut the section in half. Turned around at the Limekiln trail junction to enjoy a more leisurely hike in the bright sun that felt like desert hiking. Trail was all dirt road so the smart locals biked it enjoying a fine descent." — Nimblefoot • Sep 2, 2022

"Warm spring day - still green out. Took Limekiln on way up, and then Priest on way down (wasn't able to upload GPX). Priest Trail was nicer, had more shade. Definitely bring lots of water during the warm days. Nice views." — colleenmarie512 • Mar 27, 2021

"Gorgeous and relatively warm winter morning/afternoon. Cold at start then tshirts and shorts for rest of hike. Saw a bobcat scurry off the fireroad on our way up! Gorgeous views of san Jose and east bay mountains, peak itself was underwhelming" — ashep • Dec 19, 2020

"Solid conditioning hike, Did a loop : Limekiln to Woods to Summit and then took Woods to Kennedy to Priest back, total mileage including Priest and a little wandering was 13.07 and the Fitbit says 307 flights of stairs and one quite impressive heel blister. " — puddlepirate • Mar 31, 2018

"Conditioning hike: Total trip: 12.3 miles, 3:55:08, 3.1 ave speed, 3324’ elevation, 3259’ decent, Max elevation 3036, Min Elevation 750’. Started at: 8:32 Summited at 10:23, pt 631, 5.9 miles up, 1:51:02 elapsed time, 2798’ ascent, 525 decent, 7.3% ave grade up. Going down: 6.4 miles via ?, 2:03 elapsed time, ave speed 3.1, 521’ ascent, 2735’ decent, -6.6 avg grade. Started up Priest Rock trail and then came down Limekeln trail. Hit El Sumbrose and Priest Rock. " — mj3920 • Dec 15, 2017