With Fall in full swing and beautiful weather forcast for the rest of the week,
I headed to the Southern Sierra for four days of peakbagging. My primary goal
was a handful of P1Ks in the area around Monache Meadows that I had neglected
on previous visits to the area. I had hoped to find someone willing (and
capable) to drive me in on the rough Monache 4x4 Jeep Trail and kept putting it
off. After our successful backpack trip to the Kaweah region a few weeks ago, I
then made plans to backpack into Monache Meadows to tag the P1Ks - Monache Mtn,
Deer Mtn, Brown Mtn, and Templeton Mtn. In the days leading up to it, I somehow
strained my left shoulder and was having trouble using it and sleeping on it. I
decided that sleeping on the ground was not going to be pleasant and modified
my plans to do dayhikes instead - I wouldn't be able to reach Templeton Mtn as
a dayhike, but I could reach the others plus more and have the added benefit of
sleeping better with a thicker pad I use in the van. I took along both editions
of Jenkins'
Exploring the Southern Sierra, the best guidebooks I've
found for the region, using them extensively.
I left San Jose around 7a, heading south with rush hour traffic thankfully in
the opposite direction. Out on Interstate 5 I stopped at Kettleman City
(SR41 junction) for a second breakfast, noting the kitschy
has been completed and open
for business. With its sister tourist stop on US99, it features all manner of
goods and services modeled after an old western town. I couldn't help but
wonder who goes to places like this and is it a sign of degeneracy in the human
race or am I just a crabby old man? Just south of SR41, Google had found me a
new route to get across the Central Valley, a county road taking me through the
towns of Alpaugh, Earlimart, Ducor and Fountain Springs. At Earlimart (junction
with US99) is a gasmart selling fuel for almost $0.20 cheaper than I'd
seen anywhere else in the state, $3.13 for regular. East of Ducor (junction
with SR65), county road J22 becomes M56 or Hot Springs Rd, a lesser-known
route into the Southern Sierra. It passes through California Hot Springs, a
small (very small) resort community with mineral spring baths and pool. A few
miles further east the road forks, with the left fork climbing north to Parker
Pass at 6,400ft. A few miles before Parker Pass is Cold Springs Saddle
where I parked
just before noon. There were two summits on either side of the road described
in Jenkins' book that I sought out.
Cold Springs Peak
This is a very short climb, 1/3mi to the summit, climbing less than 400ft.
There's no trail but the
is relatively easy.
is found easily enough, a short block of lichened granite surrounded by forest.
Nothing much of interest here. Just to the south is a rock outcrop described
by Jenkins offering a fine view to . The highpoint of the
outcrop is class 3 from the ,
harder if you try from the south.
Hatchet Peak
A short drive on a dirt road west of Cold Springs Saddle gets you within a
mile of Hatchet Peak. I didn't find the cul-de-sac or use trail described by
Jenkins, but again the wasn't too difficult.
I found a place to park the van before
grew rougher and spent about 20min hiking
to the summit. In addition to some
(better when the air is clearer
over the Central Valley), there is an old
holding a register dating . and
had climbed it in the 1990s, in
2005 and other names I recognized - Mike Larkin, Reiner Stenzel and Shane
Smith all climbing it ,
the last year that someone had signed in.
Parker Peak
This summit is not described in Jenkins' book. At Parker Pass I followed a very
dusty dirt road about 2/3mi into Parker Meadow where I parked for a moderate
hike to Parker Peak, about 1.5mi one-way. With high clearance, one can drive
300ft higher to within 8/10mi of the summit, parking at a clearing on the SE
shoulder. I hiked up a of Parker Meadow and then used
the where the meadow gave out, following it to
its end. From here, one can follow cow trails through brush and forest, mixed
with cross-country travel. I favored the north side of the ridge to avoid heavy
brush on the sunnier south side. There are some along
above the road portion that like the brush, can be
gotten around on the north side. A runs up much of
the ridge, still maintained and
still having free access to the area
(like much of the Southern Sierra). Just below the summit is
and defining the boundary between the National Forest
and the Tule River Indian Reservation. The summit itself was not so interesting
with poor views. Reiner Stenzel had left for a
register container, leaving only an undated with
his and his wife's name on it inside a plastic bag - about as minimalist a
register entry as I've seen. By 3p I had
to my van at Parker Meadow.
Bald Mountain
More driving. M56 becomes M50 east of Cailfornia Hot Springs, continuing north
and east to Johnsondale where it terminates at Mountain Hwy 99. The latter road
then leads down to the North Fork of the Kern River just below 4,000ft where it
forks, the right fork following the Kern River down to Kernville and Lake
Isabella, the other climbing up and over Sherman Pass. I took the left fork over
the 9,200-foot pass and then about 10mi further east to
for Bald
Mtn. High clearance can drive about 2mi on dirt road to just below the summit
where a lookout is located. I managed barely half a mile up the road before
giving my van a break and hoofing the rest of the distance on foot. Some
cross-country travel
shortened the route of the meandering road. Just below the summit
bars further vehicle access.
here expounds on the wonders of
the Bald Mountain Botanical Area which to the untrained eye appears pretty much
like most other places in the Southern Sierra. One can hike the road or the
trail starting just right of the sign to at the summit.
was not manned when I visited and the hatchway to the viewing platform was
locked, but one can still get some open in all
directions. Domelands is distinctively seen to with its
many granite domes and
outcrops, to
can be seen Olancha and on clearer days, as far as Mt.
Whitney, more than 40mi away. Under the lookout stairway is
and a register left by Richard Carey
with some 30 pages filled in the following 9 years. Its
easy access makes its popularity unsurprising.
It was 5p by the time I
from Bald Mtn, much of the next hour taken up
in driving north to Smith Meadows and the start of the
. At
some risk, I decided to see if I could drive a portion of this road in my van,
figuring any mileage I managed would cut twice that off the hike I was to do
the next day. I managed just under a mile of roadway, choosing to stop at a
clearing where some equestrians/ranchers were camped out and plenty of room for
me and others. It turned out to be a good place to stop as just 1/3mi further
is the roughest part of the road I would find the next day, one that would have
been impossible for me to negotiate.
Continued...