Distance: 7.8 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 2301'
Elevation Gain: 2475'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.0
Round trip time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 72 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Smittle Creek day use area, Lake Berryesa
Difficulty: Strenuous (route finding, brush, ticks, poison oak)
Continuing my quest for Iron Mountains in CA, I drove to Lake Berryesa in Napa County. This Iron was west of the lake, part of the Napa Open Space Preserve. On the map, it looked like dirt roads and firebreaks would take me close to the summit, but there was a zone of pain in the middle where the abandoned road was completely clogged with downfall, brush, poison oak, and poodle dog bush. The start was easy, up and over foothills, across Smittle Creek, then up again toward the ridge. A couple of no trespassing signs were at the start, but I got quickly out of sight. Iron was lost above in the clouds that burned off as the morning sun intensified. From the creek, the road was covered in ankle to waist high grass, on the way to being reclaimed by nature. I met a deer above the creek, who scampered to a safe spot before turning to see what I was. On the traverse toward the upper ridge, the road vanished. Downed trees blocked the way. They were burn victims, frozen where they fell, limbs covered in charcoal. Poison oak was plentiful and was enmeshed with other plants and trees. I looked for the clearest path to the ridge, taking a wide arc through a field of deep grass.
Eventually, I wandered back into the road, brushing off a tick. The main lesson was don't leave the road, no matter how cluttered and difficult, because it was worse off the road. I found the road cut going up to Iron Mountain. It took some bushwhacking to get there, and more to stay on it, but it was a mix of open and brushy sections. Near the top of the ridge, the brush fell away. After a false summit, there were three mounds that appeared about the same height, but the farthest was Iron Mountain. At the summit, I found a fallen wooden pole that I righted. There was no benchmark, and no register. Good views of Lake Berryesa were on display. The lake was much longer and larger than I imagined. The best views were not from the summit, but along the trail on the ridge. Cedar Roughs, the high point in the local wilderness, looked too far for me to get in my time window. A line of vegetation marked where a past fire had halted its advance half way up the mountain. I left the summit and returned the same way, trying to stick to the road. My track was a mess and I can't recommend it. The one from Jeff Moffat on peakbagger is much better. It was not an easy day, but I was satisfied to get up and down another Iron. As an historical aside, Lake Berryessa was the site of one of the early Zodiac Killer attacks.
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