Continued...
I spent most of the day tooling around the Singatse Range in West Central
Nevada, separating Smith and Mason Valleys. The weather system that had dogged
us the previous day came back for even more, leaving the higher summits above
6,000ft with a dusting of fresh snow overnight. It had been 38F when I went to
bed at 11p the night before, but warmed to 42F when I got up around 6:30a. The
weather would continue to threaten in the early morning hours, but would let
up as the day wore on. By evening the clouds were mostly gone, leaving only the
strong winds which had been blowing almost continuously for the last three days.
I finished a little earlier than
usual so I wouldn't miss game 5 of the NBA Finals. I'm not much of a sports
fan outside the Tour de France, but since I've been watching the Warriors
during the playoffs, I've gotten sucked into it. I was happy to see them finish
off Cleveland to allow me to go back to focusing on the important things -
like more peakbagging!
Shamrock Hill
This P1K is the secondmost prominent summit in the range after Mt. Wilson.
Located roughly in the middle of the range, it's about 4mi from either SR208
to the east in Mason Valley or somewhat less from the dirt Delphi Rd on the
west side. A high-clearance vehicle can get more than two miles closer on the
west side but they were not suitable for the van and I found myself on foot
starting from Delphi Rd (it would have been far less driving had I just climbed
it from the east side at SR208). I followed a sandy to some
old , getting me within a mile of the peak. From there the
cross-country travel goes steeply up all the way to the
top. As seems to be the norm around these parts, a very
occupies the high ground the two major on
either side. The wind was strongest here making a thorough search for a register
somewhere among the many stones difficult. Finding none, I left one on my own
before starting down to get out of the brunt of the wind. I descended an
adjacent ridgeline to the west of the one I went up, bypassing the mine works
and rejoining back down in Smith Valley. The 6.5mi
outing came in at just under 3hrs, getting me before 10:30a.
Rocky Point BM
On my way back out on Delphi Rd to SR208, I happen to notice this one on the
GPSr as I was driving by. There was a rougher dirt road forking towards it
1.25mi away. I decided to get out I'd been lugging around in
the back of the van, having mixed success. Various roads can be used to get
close but they tend to be either sandy or rather rocky. I made the best of it,
but about half a mile from the summit. The walking
was fairly easy and more relaxing, too. I found a cairn and the expected
and enjoyed from the modest summit. It
happens to be located almost dead-center in so one really
gets a 360 view of the valley with the snow-tinged Pine Nuts to the west
looking more wintry than one might expect for mid-June.
Black Mountain
I drove back out to SR208, making my third trip through picturesque Wilson
Canyon in three days. The West Walker River drops 150ft in about 3mi from Smith
Valley into the south end of Mason Valley through this narrow gorge. The water
is only a few feet under the roadway and roaring at full spring melt. The local
fire dept has sandbags available for potential flooding events. Back in Mason
Valley I drove north on SR339 for a few miles until I was southwest of
. It lies a few mile north of Mt. Wilson and had caught my
attention the day prior. With more than 700ft of prominence, it stands out in
its own right and makes a worthwhile objective. Or at least that's what I was
figuring when I started out. There is a jeep trail that I followed up the
canyon south of the summit, but once I left the coziness of the
to start up, I found the going somewhat tedious. Dark
volcanic rock is strewn about all over , some
of it hiding among the dry grasses and it took much concentration to make my
way up the slopes. Ugh, ugh. Of the four days so far, this was the least
enjoyable summit. The top is crowned by not just the usual ,
but a , perhaps in compensation for the effort required to
reach the summit. I left another register here before starting down, looking for
a shorter, hopefully easier route. Shorter, yes, but not fun on
either - plenty of sand but again more loose rock than one would choose. The
3.5mi outing took 2hrs, me by 2:30p.
Carson Hill
This last one in the northern part of the range is located less than a mile
from Mason Pass Rd. The road was washboarded in places, but passable by any
vehicle. I drove into the located south of the summit in
order to get me within about half a mile. Better vehicles can drive much closer,
and a Jeep could make it to . There is a large wooden cross
embedded in a cairn and the tattered remains of a flagpole at another. On my way
back down I picked up some cool green and blue colored to
add to my rock collection at home.
After finishing up I showered, bought gas back at the highway, then drove north
to Silver Springs to look for a basketball-viewing venue. I thought one of the
two casinos there would offer some sports betting, but they turned out to be
slot machines-only, dark and smokey and rather unhealthy-looking. I ended up
at Pizza Factory across the street. The employees, all new, couldn't tell me
how to work the TV or what the wifi password was. Some work and obvious guesses
got me both of the items I needed so I ordered a pizza and enjoyed the game
until it finished at 8:45p. Good thing, too, because the place closes at 9p...
Continued...