Iron Hiker: Peralta Hills High Point

Hiked: 3/24/2017
Distance: 2.6 miles round trip on trail and use trail
Summit Elevation: 1180'
Elevation Gain: 688'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.55
Round trip time: 40 minutes
Recommended water: 0 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Serrano Park
Difficulty: Easy

Peralta Hills is in the City of Anaheim, more commonly known as Anaheim Hills. The high point is a minor peak, but has been visited by a number of people with higher standards than me. It was also close enough for lunchbagging, a peak I can summit on a work day lunch break. Others had climbed Peralta Hills from the north starting at E Twin Circle. I wanted to make a longer cardio effort from the south so I parked at Serrano Park. The park has nice restroom facilities and there was only one other visitor walking their dog when I arrived. After studying the topo, I also wanted to look for the "Olive 1" benchmark, just south of a water tower along the ridge.

From the parking lot, I headed west (left) carrying only my phone, looking for a use trail toward the electrical tower. The trail was completely overgrown with spring vegetation. I circled around, eventually heading up into the healthy undergrowth of soft plants before hitting a service road leading to the tower. I followed the partially overgrown service road all the way to the ridge where the road was clear, turned east and jogged to the small bump leading to the high point. The hills were bright with yellow and purple flowers. Then I reversed course and jogged west to the water tower, following a use trail through tall weeds to the south side looking for Olive 1. I found a damaged marker that might have been the Olive 1 benchmark. I decided to try to make a loop out of the trip by descending the east side service road so I passed below the high point again on the way down. When I reached the point above the park, I could have dropped down a steep slope, but I thought the service road would meet the road leading to park shortly. I continued down the road but it led behind a row of houses with no outlet. Not seeing a way out, I went back up the service road and followed a concrete drainage channel back to the road. On the way back, a bee landed in my hair and I brushed it out. But it harassed me all the way back to the park where I ended its tormented existence with my towel.