From my own navel-gazing, I agree with BrogulT that a straight ahead max-performance climb would appear to have been the best option. If the pilot was familiar with the area (as reportedly he was), a climb along the track of the 101 which he was already following would have meant the least likelihood of encountering terrain. Depending on the climb capability, given the typical marine layer pattern here, he'd be reasonably assured to be on top within 30-60 seconds.
And I think the majority here would agree with you.
I suspect that if the pilot in this case was reading about someone else's accident, his answer would have been the same - the question is why he didn't just climb out of it - without CVFDR information we will probably never know.