# Mount Hamilton



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

yesterday I rode up Mt. Hamilton - the West side of Mt. Hamilton is an 18 mile climb (from East Foothills) with a few short descents thrown in the middle - so even though Mt. Hamilton sits at 4,200ft elevation, the 18-mile west side climbs a bit more, 400 ft or so, than if descents weren't there. And of course on the way back the descents become short but annoying climbs that interrupt the rhythm of a good descent. The final section of ascent is about 6.5 miles long and is very steady at 6%. Nothing too steep. 

East side of Mt. Hamilton is steeper and shorter - it drops 2,000 ft in 4.5 miles, for an average of about 8%. A lot of very sharp switchbacks.

After the first 3 miles of climbing (almost a 1,000 ft) I had a flat - I changed it but decided to go back to the car to get another spare tube. By the time I started climbing again it was 10AM - and the temperatures were forecasted to be in the 90ies in Livermore and even warmer inland.

About half way I had my first encounter with a mountain lion. I have lived in California for 5 years now and has never seen one in the wild. It looked like a large cat and was standing by the side of the road staring at me. It must have decided that I am no threat because it then proceeded to slowly cross the road right in front of me. I was too slow to reach for my camera, by the time I got it out the mountain lion was gone in the bushes.

The scenery was absolutely amazing, see the photos below. By the time I got to the final 6.5 mile section of west side, leading to Observatory, it was hot - it went from 64F at the start to 90F in the final section of the climb to the top! I ran out of water, but I knew there was water at the top. 

It took me 2 hours to go 18 miles! I decided to venture onto the backside, descending 5 miles on the east side of Hamilton and then riding up again, for an extra 2,000 ft. The descent on the east side was fast with a lot of tight corners and reduced radius turns - no cars whatsoever. I think I only saw one car going up. 

Now the temperature was 98-99 with sun on my back, completely exposed to the sun with almost no shade and very little breeze. It was hot! 

I suffered through the climb up to the top at pedestrian speed of 6mph or so, refilled my water bottles (I drank two bottles on my 45-minute climb of east side) and descended down to East Foothills. The temperature was still 95F at the finish. The two short climbs on the way back were annoying, as I had no energy left. But descending west side was a lot of fun, with good road surface (for the most part - they were doing some resurfacing today) and nothing too technical or dangerous. No sight of mountain lion on the way back (I had my camera ready but no luck). A fun day in the sun, even though a bit on the hot side for me.

57 miles with 7,700 ft of climbing.

<p><img alt="At the top of Mt. Hamilton. I forgot to zip-up." height="501" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4dM4rNZB-eo/UD7dPBwLZBI/AAAAAAACnsM/kxFt0rxae0s/s752/DSC02010.JPG" width="752" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8xxO3nutpT4/UD7dSmF5j8I/AAAAAAACnsU/7vKZLG4dl-8/s753/DSC02015.JPG" width="753" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LPv-NhGb1V0/UD7crYv75gI/AAAAAAACnqU/yzfLnSKPnSE/s751/DSC01859.JPG" width="751" /></p>
<p><img height="480" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5pdALZhbWBI/UD95Rg-RwiI/AAAAAAACnu4/cl9p6W33bd8/s720/DSC01900.JPG" width="720" /></p>
<p><img height="484" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gXuso_Az4ws/UD95Ux-pEaI/AAAAAAACnvA/zWwUFj8YdxQ/s720/DSC01931.JPG" width="720" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pU2rpejNuQk/UD7c8A54h5I/AAAAAAACnrM/1J7Ynu6keaM/s749/DSC01953.JPG" width="749" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d-XffulPcws/UD7c_NSy2jI/AAAAAAACnrU/04FNaf4zc2I/s749/DSC01970.JPG" width="749" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K4w6snonhFU/UD7dBSNZK-I/AAAAAAACnrc/bI9zvw2pGkY/s747/DSC01975.JPG" width="747" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-o2IZIFaFEXM/UD7drpGuxUI/AAAAAAACntc/nFg--Q7mFqc/s751/DSC02020.JPG" width="751" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Lqencm3EiCg/UD7dHzvEHCI/AAAAAAACnr0/X2iR0AkNjsM/s750/DSC01992.JPG" width="750" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TUzI0e6GjxA/UD7dUoUxepI/AAAAAAACnsc/rm7E9e5fLEo/s751/DSC02039.JPG" width="751" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3ZZRgY1Ai4c/UD7daRr9sQI/AAAAAAACnss/SNyVO6XK-jg/s752/DSC02049.JPG" width="752" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zU2A7a5_Ccw/UD7ddlxBOHI/AAAAAAACns0/JboVC8MZJ9o/s751/DSC02052.JPG" width="751" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HhIxMqgiDd0/UD7diSUIp7I/AAAAAAACns8/tP-PNoOA8FY/s668/DSC02066.JPG" width="668" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XbrGykls6is/UD7dloGRIzI/AAAAAAACntE/7AY_mqDzfPw/s752/DSC02068.JPG" width="752" /></p>
<p><img height="384" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-NQFpj1vU8Ds/UD7dqDUFaZI/AAAAAAACntU/RCn3Xi7iS34/s796/DSC02002.JPG" width="796" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xeNTE35665w/UD7duF3mt7I/AAAAAAACntk/rTfvOGOZ49I/s751/DSC02072.JPG" width="751" /></p>
<p><img height="501" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zsP6HdmpJXk/UD7dn7CjOlI/AAAAAAACntM/WDliKy8s63Q/s748/DSC02077.JPG" width="748" /></p>


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Very cool. I've driven it but never rode it. My wife's mother lives not far from where the road comes into San Jose. I need to get my bike over there!


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## mogarbage (Jul 18, 2011)

Monster ride O! Did the whole club go out or you went solo?


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

I went solo. Two guys from the club work/live in Bay Area now but they couldn't escape on a Wed morning, and the whole ride takes many hours.
I am used to exploring new climbs solo, and to some extent prefer it that way - gives me more flexibility to take photos and do detours, and also ride at my own, pedestrian pace.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Super duper pics!


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## mogarbage (Jul 18, 2011)

you, a pedestrian pace? dont be so modest. ive seen you go faster up mountains than i can manage going down them. sure is a beautiful area


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## SubRider (Aug 19, 2012)

*One very scenic ride - but what about that new road surface!?*

It's definitely one of the more scenic rides.

But just what is the story with that garbage resurfacing job?
The first time I ran over that stuff, I thought that they were letting it solidify and shrink and then they'd layer over with the regular, smooth surface. But that's what CalDOT calls a good job!

Does anyone know how long it takes for the road nubbies to wear off?


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## SubRider (Aug 19, 2012)

Okay, it's call micro-surfacing.



> In the three-part Micro-surfacing process, gravel-like aggregate is deposited on the road to fill in cracks and potholes. That is followed by a layer of rubber chips, which adds flexibility to the road and reduces cracking over time. In the final stage, the two layers are sealed and finished, leaving a rejuvenated street ready for traffic.





> The process leaves the road in a rougher condition, following the final treatment, but through continued tire pressure and heat, the surface is compressed and yields a smooth ride.


Any guesses as to how long before the smooth road will appear, given the high volume of Mt. Ham vehicular traffic?


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## iclypso (Jul 6, 2011)

Awesome ride report: I've yet to do it but it's one of my goals. FWIW I've lived in California for 30 yrs and have spent a lot of time in the outdoors: still no mountain lion sightings. So...congratulations or "yikes" or something. Pretty cool.


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## 4Crawler (Jul 13, 2011)

Nice ride and photos. I've never seen a mtn. lion in the wild, but last summer did see a bobcat up on Mt. Hamilton Rd. driving up on a Saturday evening to one of the concerts up there. Saw another bobcat off of Calaveras Rd. earlier last year on the bike. 

Hope to ride up Mt. Hamilton Rd. again this fall, I've done it a couple of times back in the '80s in the Hamilton Challenge ride. That was always up and over so never have ridden back down the west side, aside from the first section off of Alum Rock.


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## freighttraininguphill (Jun 7, 2011)

Love those switchback pics! You're so lucky to have seen that mountain lion! I saw one late at night standing in the middle of Foresthill Road, staring at us as we approached in the car. Unfortunately my friend kept driving slowly towards the lion instead of stopping, so I also couldn't get the camera out in time.

I hope to get video of a mountain lion and/or bobcat someday. I don't think I've ever seen a bobcat in the wild. 

Imagine the badass footage you could have captured if you'd had your GoPro on


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## nate (Jun 20, 2004)

SubRider said:


> Okay, it's call micro-surfacing.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It sounds like it's just an updated version of chip seal that adds rubber. Where did you find that information? Are you sure it's not plain old traditional chip seal?

Either way, the more traffic the smoother it gets but of course the typical tire track line gets smooth before the rest of the road. It will get noticeably better within weeks if the road has actual traffic. Around here they use it more on rural roads with low traffic so it can take a while to smooth.

Chipseal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

This sounds like what they did on Felter Road (back side of Sierra Road) a couple of years back right before an RBR/MTBR group ride. It was just like chip seal to start off with, but compressed down into a pretty good surface. I'd say it improved within a month, but took more like 6 months to fully settle down.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

55x11 said:


> The final section of ascent is about 6.5 miles long and is very steady at 6%. Nothing too steep.


That's because in 1880, when they built the James Lick Observatory, they had to haul everything up the mountain by horse and carriage.


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