Clark Peak (Mt. Konocti)

Overview

 Clark is a small peak on the northwestern flank of Mt. Konocti. It gets your attention off to the left from the start of the trail to Mt. Konocti. This diminutive mountain is well armored with thick chaparral. After a straight forward open approach it takes some diligent recon to find the use trail to the summit. In fact I probably would have given up at the old orchard at the base of the peak had it not been for Bob Burd's trip report. Even then the use trail is narrow and overgrown with rather harsh brush. A considerable amount of thrashing is inevitable. Not suprisingly I managed to transport a tick back to the house but ousted the little sucker with tweezers before he could get underway.
The summit rocks are class 3 and there are fine views of the north part of Clear Lake and surrounding mountains.

The round trip hike is approximately 4 miles with a 1,000' el. gain.

Getting There

  From Hwy. 29/175 between Lower Lake and Lakeport on the southwest side of Clear Lake at Kelseyville take Merritt Rd. east 1.3 miles to Gaddy Lane. Go north on Gaddy 2 miles to Soda Bay Road. Go right with a few turns on Soda Bay road 1.5 miles a short distance past the entrance to Clear Lake State Park to a dirt road (Glebe Rd.) going up to the right with a mail box before it. Take this fairly steep but well graded road up .7 mile to a closed gate on the left before the road turns to the right and park. The trail starts here.

Route

  Take the trail past the gate as it descends slightly and continue past another locked gate with an old road coming up from Soda Bay to the left. At a little less then a mile there is a fork that goes up to the left but stay to the right. It continues up hill through an open area to a 4 way junction but stay straight ahead. Then it becomes more narrow with high brush above on both sides until it comes out at an open area with the orchard to the right and the peak visible up to the left. Go all the way up to the right end corner of the orchard to find the narrow use trail up to the summit. The trail goes up until it comes out at the base of a giant "K" with purple rocks to be seen from the air. This narrow use trail resumes at the top of the right branch of the "K". Continue thrashing up to the summit rocks which involve about 50 verticle feet of class 3 scrambling to the top.

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