Continued...
I was due back in San Jose by evening, so my last day in the Lassen National
Forest area would be a shorter one to allow for the long drive home. I had in
mind a handful of P900s, none of which was more than a few miles' effort. The
first was along SR36 near the town of Westwood while the last two were further
north, within the national park.
Goodrich Mountain
I wasn't sure I'd be able to get to this one. Neither PB nor LoJ showed any
ascents and the entire mountain is located outside the national forest. Various
maps show a road reaching near to the summit from the east, starting just off
SR36. I was afraid I might find a locked gate right at the highway and suspected
it could be a very short outing. It was not far from where I had camped for the
night near Fredonyer Pass and because I had gotten up at 5:30a, it was still
quite dark when I pulled off SR36 in search of the access road. I did, indeed,
find it ,
but it was a simple cattle gate held up by loop of barbed-wire,
no signs anywhere that I could see. So I simply unlatched the gate, drove in,
reattached the gate, and continued on my way. I saw no signs, no buildings, no
cattle, no vehicles nor people, so I can't say who owns the mountain or how it
is utilized. I followed the road past several forks up as far as I could where
it ended in a clearing littered with logging detritus (though there doesn't
seem to
be extensive logging on the mountain in general). I was about a quarter mile
east of the summit at a saddle where and started from there
around 6:20a, headlamp ablaze. I climbed uphill through more forest to a small,
that was somewhat of a surprise as I expected to find no
views and the summit buried in trees. I could hear a dog barking in the distance
(did it catch a whiff of me?), the to the southwest
and the early morning just beginning to break to . It was a
surprisingly good summit after
all, and I relished the early morning hour atop it. Though the road I
took was quite rough in places, the hike from the highway is not all that long
and can be made even shorter by starting from the cemetery at the base of the
mountain on the south side, along the highway.
Mt. Conard
After returning to the jeep, I spent almost an hour and a half driving back down
the mountain to and then on to Lassen NP. I stopped at the
Visitor Center, just past the south entrance booth, to begin my hike from there
using the Mill Creek Falls Trail. Mt. Conard lies about 2mi ESE of the Visitor
Center and would be the longest hike of the day - about 2mi on trail followed by
a mile of cross-country. The hike from the north end of the
parking lot, heading downhill initially to a bridge across Sulphur Creek. It
then turns eastward as it below Diamond Peak and
the highway to reach . There was more water than I
would have expected, but the falls must be quite a bit more impressive in
Spring. Two more cross the upper tributaries of the falls as
the trail then begins to ascend more steeply up to Conard Meadows, eventually
going over a low pass and on to the Kings Creek CG. I turned off the trail as I
reached Conard Meadows and SSE toward the summit.
The going is not difficult through forest or meadow, though
could be quite a bit wetter in other seasons. About halfway to the peak the
gradient becomes steep as one climbs the last 800ft up to the summit. The
has a faint use trail winding along it through talus
over mostly bare slopes. I found no register at when I
reached it by 9:30a, so left . The are quite
nice but it was rather chilly and
I stayed at the summit only briefly. I took a slightly more direct route back
to the trail on my return, eventually finding my way back to the jeep and the
by 10:45a.
Hat Mountain
This was my last stop before heading home. More driving north, up and over the
highpoint of the road, then down to Summit Lake. The campgrounds at the lake
were all closed for the season, so I parked outside, along the highway. I
followed the east, past the north shore of
and
then into forested lands for a distance of about 3/4mi. After the trail tops
out at a small rise, I headed cross-country towards the summit which was about
3/4mi almost due north. There is low brush on the flat portion of the route, but
nothing difficult. Upon reaching the base of the mountain, I found the loose
slope , climbing almost 700ft in the last quarter mile.
Sand, gravel and pine needles made for an unpleasant climb to reach the
uninspiring summit bathed in thick manzanita. I found an empty, red painted can
lying next to , no sign of a register. I
of my own here, tucked inside the empty can and the cairn.
, at least, was great fun and took only a few minutes. I
then chose to head southwest for an all-cross-country return that I figured
would be shorter than the trail. This worked nicely despite some brushy parts,
and I was in only half an hour.
As I was driving back out of the park I stopped to photograph a large,
interesting-looking , located between Bumpass and Sulphur
Creeks. I had seen it from below while hiking the Mill Creek Falls Trail and
was taken by its . It doesn't have a name on the maps
and appears to be difficult from all angles. I will have to pay it a visit
sometime in the future...