Last modification: 01/19/08 19:26

Montebello Ridge


Photo credit: Masumi

If you could live anywhere, where would it be? If you haven't figured it out yet, I'd prefer a lush remote Pacific island. One with high-tech jobs, a good bookstore, good schools, and a Home Depot. The irony is that no island can live up to all these criteria, even if one could afford such a thing. Hawaii has the highest cost of living of any state, and you're very lucky if you can even purchase island property outside the U.S.

If the above picture looks like Kauai, it's not. It was taken outside our kitchen window one morning after a heavy rain shower in the  Cupertino mountains. That's right, Cupertino, as in Silicon Valley, gridlock, smog, and flat. Most people never take the time to fully explore the hills around the South Bay, but that's where the beauty is. From Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, La Honda to Bonny Doon, the Santa Cruz mountain range is an oasis that can make you think, for a little while, that you took a wrong turn somewhere on the way to Lake Tahoe. Or Napa.

Although it's still possible to live the way Ken Kesey did, if you get too far away from the Valley floor you have to battle rain, fog, and windy mountain roads. There's no municipal water or pizza delivery, and you never know when a generator might come in handy - but that's the price you pay for fresh air and views that go on for miles. The orchards may have been replaced by office parks in Santa Clara, but up here life remains unchanged. Except for the wireless broadband and DirecTV, of course.

Montebello Ridge is part of Mount Black, the "mountain" in Mountain View. Located in unincorporated Cupertino, the area and its surrounding open space preserves are part of Santa Clara county. Wine tasters, hikers and mountain bikers are invited to enjoy the local Pichetti and Ridge wineries on their way to the summit (2600').

For more on this area and others like it, catch Bay Area Backroads, Sat & Sun nights on KRON-TV. Speaking of television:

List Of DTV Television Stations Currently Receivable Over The Air From Mt Black : (12/26/09)

Call Ch Network City Broadcast Location Notes Signal Strength
KAXT 1.1-15 Shared San Jose Aborn Rd, San Jose Low power, 15KW, Misc  
KTVU 2.1-2 FOX Oakland Mission Peak, Fremont "TV36", Awaiting Update, 1MW 28%
KCRA 3.1-2 NBC Sacramento Walnut Grove 100kW 22%
KRON 4.1-2 Independent San Francisco Sutro Tower, SF 1MW  
KPIX 5.1 CBS San Francisco Sutro Tower. SF Awaiting Update, 1MW 43%
KQED 9.1-3 PBS San Francisco Sutro Tower, SF 777kW 36%
KXTV 10.1-2 ABC Sacramento Walnut Grove 34.5 kW 13%
KDTV 14.1 UNI San Francisco San Bruno Mtn Spanish, 476.3kW 63%
KOFY 20.1,.4 Shared San Francisco Sutro Tower, SF Awaiting Update, 383kW 35%
KRCB 22.1-12,.101-103 Shared Cotati Glen Ellen Awaiting Update, 105kW 42%
KMAX 31.1 CBS Sacramento Walnut Grove Awaiting Update, 1MW, active? 21%
KMTP 32.1-2,.4-5 CAS San Francisco Sutro Tower, SF 500 kW, active? 34%
KICU 36.1-2 Cox San Jose Mission Peak, Fremont 550 kW 62%
KCNS 38.1-2 Independent San Francisco Sutro Tower, SF 1MW, Chinese broadcasting  
KTXL 40.1-2 Fox Sacramento Walnut Grove 950 KW  
KTNC 42.1-2 TuVisión Concord Walnut Grove Spanish, 40kW 61%
KBCW 44.1 CBS San Francisco Sutro Tower, SF Awaiting Update, 400kW 28%
KTLN 47.1 TLN Novato Novato Xtian, 1MW  
KSTS 48.1-2 TEL San Jose Mt. Alison (Fremont) Spanish, 257kW 73%
KTEH 54.1-5 PBS San Jose Milpitas 290kW 40%
KQCA 58.1-2 NBC Sacramento Walnut Grove 600kW 24%
KCSM 60.1-3 PBS San Mateo Sutro Tower, SF 536kW, community college, weak  
KFSF 66.1-2 Telefutura San Francisco Sutro Tower, SF Awaiting Update, 150kW 26%
KTLN 68.1? TLN Novato Fremont Peak, Salinas Xtian, 1MW 47%

 

KTSF 27 (San Bruno Mtn, Asian, 500kW) like several other stations broadcasting near San Francisco, lies in a partial mountain shadow and may be too weak to be received in digital. Currently in the process of being upgraded to 858kW, your best bet for now is to watch it as a Local Channel via DirecTV (current channel lineup incl. KBCW, KFTY, KGO, KCNS, KCSM, KDTV, KFSF, KICU, KNTV, KOFY, KPIX, KRCB, KRON, KTEH,  KTSF, KSTS, KTLN, KTVU & KQED.)

Places to Visit

Ridge Vineyards
Picchetti Winery
City of Cupertino

Bay Area Backroads
SiliconValley.com
The Cupertino Courier
Bay Area Metro
San Jose Mercury News

Parks & Recreation

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
Stevens Creek County Park
Stevens Creek Volunteer Fire Dep't

Fun Stuff

Computer Recycling
Weather Radar  Local Forecast
Bay Area Earthquake Reports
 



(with apologies to Prof. Foglio's Girl Genius)

 


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