The view east from the Berkeley Hills (Sacramento, Davis: fence, park)

[tim_zukas]

Turns out it's not that rare to be able to see the snowy Sierra from the Berkeley Hills. Here's a starter guide.

Park at 37.8815N 122.223W, the lot just east of Grizzly Peak Blvd at the foot of the road to Vollmer Peak. It's maybe a half-mile walk up the road-- no need to go all the way to the top. I'll assume you're looking from the side of the road opposite the steel gate in the fence along the east side of the road, maybe 100 meters north of where the road comes out in the open on the east side of the hill. Viewpoint is assumed to be 37.88389N 122.22105W-- good a guess as any.

For some reason the Crystal Range always stands out best, seen from anywhere to the west. It's northwest of Echo Summit, southwest of Lake Tahoe; at the south end is Pyramid Peak, 3000+ meters high at 38.8450N 120.1579W.

Mt Diablo is almost due east of you-- azimuth 90.4 deg true. Run your eye along the ridge descending northward from there until (around azimuth 60 deg) it disappears behind the nearer hills (the hills north of Lafayette). As it disappears a flock of windmills appears beyond it, on the Montezuma Hills north of the rivers. A degree or two further left a dip in the foreground hills lets you see one or two windmills all the way down to their bases; beyond those windmills is Pyramid Peak, azimuth 58.75 deg, 209.5 km away. The Crystal Range stretches four degrees further left to Tells Peak.

1.0 deg left of Pyramid Peak is the south one (38.2398N 121.5016W) of three 600-meter masts near Walnut Grove. The white flashers on the south one make it easier to see than the others, tho they all show if your binoculars are steady; there's also a shorter red/white mast at 38.2471N 121.5016W, azi 57.22 deg.

Back to the right for a moment: in azi 61.6 deg, just right of where the windmills disappear, the two cooling towers at the Rancho Seco nuclear plant-- the west one is 38.3462N 121.1229W.

Back to the left, to the left end of the Montezuma windmills; the leftmost one is 38.1969N 121.8721W, azi 41.30 deg. Between the #3 and #4 windmills, counting from the left, is the hospital at 38.5549N 121.4553W-- white buildings really stand out. Downtown Sacramento is left of the end of the windmills; the black building on the NE corner of 8th and K (38.5801N 121.4960W) is azi 39.2 deg, so 2.1 deg left of the #1 windmill. (The #8 windmill is 1.3 degrees right of the #1.)

Farther left, beyond the middle of Briones Reservoir, the white-top Benicia smokestack is azi 19.2 deg. Just right of the reservoir you're looking almost exactly along a straight piece of Bear Creek Road-- beyond it, atop the last ridge south of the Strait, a tan shed with a brick-red roof 37.96464N 122.16634W is azi 28.2 deg. Beyond that are three fuel tanks in a row at Travis; the center one is 38.2645N 121.9623W. The tan Travis buildings and hangars extend rightward a couple of degrees; just right of them is the lone windmill south of Dixon, 38.4201N 121.8175W, azi 30.6 deg.

Rightward from Travis the ridge south of the Strait descends a bit, affording a view of the water beyond; as the ridge climbs again a steel-tower power line crosses it northeastward. The last (rightmost) visible tower, atop the ridge, is 37.9535N 122.1599W, azi 34.8 deg. Half a degree right of that is Sierra Buttes, an isolated snowy peak at 39.5935N 120.6469W, 234 km away. 0.2 deg left of the power-line tower the NEXRAD weather radar at 38.5012N 121.6779W shows up surprisingly well-- it's 83 km away so all the way out to the horizon, so to speak. The line of sight to it is horizontal at the far end, so it stands out against the much more distant background. Likewise, the two water tanks in Davis (beyond Travis) stand out better than their small size would suggest; one at 38.5379N 121.75925W, azi 29.0 deg, and one at 38.5351N 121.7509W, azi 29.5 deg.

All of this can be picked out with 10x binoculars on a clear day, tho a 30x scope would help. I'd guess you can expect at least ten, maybe twenty days each winter to be clear enough.

Never have been on Tamalpais on a clear day-- from the East Peak lookout Pyramid Peak is beyond the north end of the Carquinez bridges, 0.4 deg left of the north suspension-span tower.

[Ruth4Truth]

Cool! Seeing the Sierras from Berkeley--who knew? Thanks for posting.

[tim_zukas]

Found that old pic showing how the Crystal Range stands out

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinleversee/9067392/