Continued...
After two enjoyable days shared with Bob Sumner I was once again on my own in
the desert, having spent the night camped at the base of Hackberry Mtn in
Mojave National Preserve. I had a general idea of what I wanted to accomplish
today but it was somewhat open-ended since I really didn't know how much I
would be able to manage today with the limited daylight.
Hackberry Mtn / Peak 4,924ft
I had been eyeing this P1K for a few years, having run out of time to visit it
earlier in the year on another desert trip. It was the last P1K I had left of a
dozen found in the preserve though I still have many more to do in the more
general Mojave Desert. Though the summit and surrounding area are part of the
Mojave Wilderness, with a sufficiently endowed vehicle (high clearance) one can
drive to within a mile of the summit. I had to start from where the road to
Hackberry Springs starts at a corral/campsite two miles from Ivanpah Rd,
northeast of the summit. I started out around 6a following
for 2.5mi to its end, then up class 2 slopes towards the
summit. Though
high up appears to block easy access from the east, it is broken up in the
middle section to keep things no more than class 2. The actual highpoint is
blocked by this cliff section, but once above the true summit can be seen a
quarter mile . A 40-foot rock section at the top gives the
highpoint a splash of scrambling before it's over. A good-sized
with the remains of a wooden stave can be found there along with a 1935
,
though I saw no sign of a register. On my return I took a variation to the
north, bypassing the road I had used on the way up. This allowed me to go up
and over bonus an enjoyable
without any difficulties whatsoever. It was also a ,
cutting almost half
a mile off the road route, giving me a roundtrip time of about 2.5hrs. A nice
warm up.
Mt. Manchester / Peak 3,569ft
These are the highest two summits of the Dead Mountains, a modest-sized range
north of Interstate 40 and east of US95 where three states meet at the Colorado
River. Separated by less than a mile, it seemed a shame not to visit the
second-highest summit while I was visiting Mt. Manchester and would also allow
me to take an alternate route on the return. I started from US95 where it makes
a wide turn and nearly abuts the ,
WNW of the summits.
Much of the 10mi roundtrip journey travels across open desert floor which took
up the first and last hours of the 4.5hr outing. Once across the flat
approach, I followed up the on a direct line for Mt.
Manchester. It was along the start of this ridge that I found what looked at
first like old piping from mining days. I nudged it out of the earth with my
foot and then stood back when it suddenly took on the look of an
.
Did I just escape my foot getting blown off? Of course even if it
was an ordnance I know the chances of it going off years later is pretty
low, but still - I had no desire to pick the thing up or even linger there much
longer than it took to take a photo. Creepy...
[later research reveals it to
in fact be an ordnance left over from Ft. Ibis, one of ten desert training
sites used from 1942-43 to prepare for fighting in North Africa during
WWII.]
It was 11:45a by the time I made my way to of
where I found and
left by a earlier in the year,
half of whom I'd hiked with at one time or another. Though only six miles to
the east, I couldn't make out the waters of the Colorado River though I could
tell where it coursed by the swath of green, irrigated fields through the center
of .
Beyond Mojave Valley lies the Black Mtns of Arizona while to
rises Spirit Mtn in Nevada. The vast Piute Valley of California lies to
while Peak 3,569ft and the bulk of the Dead Mtns could be
seen . The ridgeline connecting the two summits
looked pretty tame and made for an across a mile
of the range's crest. Some sheep trail helped, but for the most part it was
just easy hiking, taking about 40min from one summit to the other. The second
summit sported claiming it to be Mt. Manchester,
predating the other by some 15yrs. Despite its more senior stature, it would
appear to be wrongly placed. I descended west off the summit, taking a line
roughly parallel to the ascent route, at least until I reached the desert floor
at the base of the range. Then I simply set a mark on the GPSr for my starting
point, covering almost 3mi as my route slowly converged with my outbound path,
getting me shortly after 2p.
Sacramento Mtns HP
This medium-sized range stretches across Interstate 40 at South Pass, about 20mi
west of Needles. Most of the range is south of the interstate but the highpoint
is found in the small portion to the north, less than half a mile from South
Pass. There is no freeway offramp anywhere in the vicinity, so I simply parked
.
Starting just east of South Pass, I found an easy breach in the
freeway barrier below in a wash where a flashflood had knocked over the fence.
From there one simply by any of numerous possibilities.
A is found only a few minutes below the summit. One can
actually drive the dirt road to reach the tower, but it's a long-ass way from
its starting point at the junction of I-40 & US95. A 40mi stretch of the
interstate can be seen to from the summit with a
swell view overlooking the slightly lower summits of the range to
. No register.
Bannock BM
This is the highpoint of the Bigelow Cholla Garden Wilderness. Buried in that
name is
which is spanish for "crazy death cactus". Most
desert peakbaggers learn the hard way to avoid these insidious things with their
hooked needles that easily penetrate clothing, gloves, shoes and of course
skin. It was 3:45p by the time I had reparked the van on the eastbound side of
the freeway and started off. I had only about 45min of daylight left and would
normally not have taken these last 4mi so late, but I was on a roll. I made
good time, covering the to
in 45min, just managing it before sunset. The view of
Flattop and Eagle to in the fading sun made the effort
worthwhile. It was cold and breezy as I started to freeze my butt off at the
exposed summit. The register had been left by Gordon &
Barbara, the pages brittle and mostly loose from the binder. Almost all the
five pages
were recognizable names from the usual collection of peakbaggers. I photographed
them as quickly as possible before jogging back down, happy to get back to the
car without needing the headlamp (or getting visited by the CHP). I drove back
to the junction with US95 and then south on a dirt road into BLM lands away
from the highway noises. I spent the last night of my roadtrip here, happy with
a good day's effort...
Continued...