Mount Konocti - Wright, Howard, South and Buckingham Peak

Rain and snow was forecasted for the Sierra Nevada mountains on this day, so I decided to visit the coastal range where the weather was promised to be sunny. I didn't have a lot of time to prepare this hike so I picked one of Bob Burds collection. There he nicely describes how to climb the 5 summits of Mount Konocti. Since I'm not as keen on climbing peaks on private property as he is, I decided to skip Clark Peak, but only visit the 4 highest peaks of Konocti which are all on public land. The one which Bob described as "the most difficult and disappointing of the five summits" was indeed the most difficult, but for me also the most rewarding one.

I start my hike at the parking lot of Mount Konocti County Park and follow the access road. Shortly after a gate, the trail runs along an easement which allows access across private property. The trail ends back on the dirt road at the property boundary and continues all the way to the top of Wright Peak. There is a fire lookout on top but it's all fenced off. I talk to another hiker (who seems to be a local) and ask him about the best access to the top of South Peak. He says "through the thicket" and "careful, snake season has started!" So at this point I have serious doubts that I even want to try to climb this peak...

As my next small mountaintop I climb Howard Peak. In order to get there I follow the access road back for 0.3 miles and take the dirt road on the right which leads to the top of this peak. The actual highpoint is on the few rocks on the west end of the mountain and in order to get there, some easy class III steps are required.

After another short break I then walk back along the access road to the restroom and picnic table northwest of South Peak. This is where Bob started his "fight" through thicket and poison oak in order to get to the top (which he most likely didn't reach). I put on my long sleeved pants and T-shirt to protect myself from poison oak and walk uphill towards the highpoint. I find a relatively bush-free way slightly left of the not very distinct ridge and all of a sudden run into signs of a use-trial. Not too long ago, somebody clearly cut back bushes, set some cairns and at one strategically important turn even marked a tree branch with a black & yellow band (click). It's not a very clear trail and in some places it takes me a few trial an errors, but eventually I make it to the base northwest of the summit rocks and highpoint (which is slightly east of the point which is marked as the summit on most maps). Some easy class III steps lead the way up. I enjoy the nice view up there and am very happy to have made it. Even though it's not the highest point of Mount Konocti, I think it offers the best 360 view from the peaks I visited today.

As my last summit for the day I climb Buckingham Peak. In order to get there, I first go back to the toilette and picnic table (slightly less trial and error on the way back :-) and follow the access road to the fork at around 3560 ft and from there walk along the road to Buckingham's top. I expected the view from here to be the best, because the mountain drops off quite very steeply on the northern side, but due to trees and bushes and the fact that the highpoint is rather flat, there's only limited visibility of Clear Lake from here. In order to get back to the car I then retrace my steps to the parking lot.

Note: This area seems to be very interesting for botanist since there are many endemic flowers which bloom in this area (see some of the pics).