Continued...
In order to avoid temperatures in the 80s in the lower desert regions, Karl
and I were in the mid-elevations of the Coso Range where we could avoid snow
found in the high-elevation ranges of the White, Inyo and Panamint Ranges. I
had been to this range on a number of previous visits, so this was more of a
clean-up effort, targeting a bunch of unnamed leftovers. All of the peaks were
relatively short class 2 efforts, the longest only about two miles roundtrip.
There was plenty of driving between peaks and between groups of peaks.
Most of the roads were suitable for passenger cars, but the last mile or two on
spur roads to the THs required high-clearance.
Peak 5,789ft - Peak 5,684ft - Peak 5,210ft
These three peaks are located on the west side of the range outside the Coso
Wilderness. They can be accessed from Cactus Flat Rd off US395. We had spent the
night camped just off this road southeast of Peak 5,210ft in a clearing. In the
morning we drove the road south to the Jack Henry/Five Tunnels/McCloud Mines
where the road become high-clearance. We continued to the southern end of
McCloud Flat on the northwest side of Peak 5,789ft where the road sort of
on the of the peak. It took less than 15min to climb the
easy slopes to . came along with a 30%
chance of showers for the day, and though views and were somewhat
muted, no rain fell until evening. We left before returning
to the jeep.
Peak 5,684ft is located at the northeast end of McCloud Flat. We drove to the
north end of the flat and across a dry lakebed before turning northeast and
driving to a saddle on of the peak. Another 15min
effort got us to the summit. The separates Little Cactus
Flat to from McCloud Flat to the south. The higher summits of
the Coso Range are seen to the east. We left on this summit
as well.
We tackled Peak 5,210ft last. A spur road from near our campsite goes west,
partway up a drainage to get one within half a mile of the summit on
. About 20min saw us up the initial
and across the flattish ridge to . Andy Smatko and
party had left an in a small plastic pill container,
calling it "The Moontain." An L. Greene was the only other party to visit
. Haiwee Reservoir and the snowy Sierra Crest could be seen to
and west, with Olancha Peak standing as the Monarch of
the region to .
Peak 6,794ft
After finishing the first three peaks, we drove back out to US395 and SR190 to
approach the Coso Range from the north. We drove in on Centennial Rd, a good
dirt road that I'd had the van on several times. We left Karl's Element at Gill
Corral and continued in the jeep southwest to the mouth of Centennial Canyon
at Centennial Spring. A rough jeep road goes up the unnamed canyon east of
Centennial Canyon to reach Upper Centennial Flat. We came upon
making its way slowly up the same road. He pulled over to let us pass. The
going was slow as Karl had to get out to move a large boulder here or there,
other times I needed to survey the rocky road for a workable line. We ended up
parking where the canyon forks before reaching Upper Centennial Flat. The extra
driving wouldn't save us any time as we were now only half a mile northwest of
Peak 6,794ft. The other jeep pulled up while we were getting ready and the
three of us chatted briefly. It was his first time in the area and he was
heading to some petroglyphs said to be in the area. We were no help in that
department. We climbed of the canyon wall to reach
the above 6,400ft. It took about half an hour to reach
. The peak lies just inside the
and only half a mile from the China Lake NWC. Coso Peak, the range highpoint,
lies just out of view about 3mi to . The Wilderness HP is
about 2mi to the west, clearly seen and commented on by Karl. He'd have been
happy to tag that one while we were in the area, but having already done it, I
had other summits in mind and not ready to toss Karl a bone. We descended a
little more directly to
where we found the other jeep parked, but no sign of the occupant. We walked
the short distance down the road to our own jeep and drove off.
Peak 7,503ft
After driving back to Gill Corral, we picked up Karl's Element and drove
southeast on another dirt road heading down the center of Lower Centennial Flat.
We left the Element at Reed Corral and headed west in the jeep to the north
side of Peak 7,503ft, at its base where our spur road ended.
This was the highest peak of the day and the longest effort, about 2mi roundtrip
with 1,600ft of gain. The climb vaguely followed the North Ridge with decent
footing despite loads of sand. At around 6,700ft a large
was found in reasonably good shape. There were no signs that it was ever part
of a homestead
or other structure, just an open-air hearth that could be used for cooking and
heating. Not far above this we found signs of stones aranged on the hillside
almost as for a roadbed or terrace, purpose unclear. Karl believed these to be
the foundation of an ancient Indian temple pre-dating the Mayan Empire and I had
no reason to think otherwise. It took just over an hour to make our way to
with a commanding view to . The white dome
atop Coso Peak could be seen a few miles to . Rain had been
from the north
during much of the ascent and we even felt a few drops, but the brunt of it had
moved east before reaching us, leaving us dry. We left
here as well before returning the way we'd come.
Peak 6,011ft - Peak 6,048ft - Peak 6,020ft - Peak 6,163ft - Peak 6,022ft
After driving back to Reed Corral, we continued east where this cluster of five
peaks is found around a looping . They are all low hills,
all but one with at least 300ft of prominence but otherwise unnoteworthy. We
could drive to
within half a mile or less of all of them, making them short hikes. Bob Sumner
had visited the last two in 2004, while Richard Carey had visited the four
with prominence , leaving on the last two
that Sumner had climbed. There are various to explore,
noteably on the northwest
side of Peak 6,048ft where we parked at the end of a spur road. On the
opposite side of the loop road between Peak 6,020ft and Peak 6,022ft is a small
spur road leading to a camp area.
of the Virgin Mary has been installed
overlooking the site on a nearby rock. It appears to have been broken and
reglued half a dozen times. Coins are scattered about the base of it. Our route
to Peak 6,163ft from the southeast wasn't the best choice. It would have saved
a good deal of driving if we'd just approached it from the north along the
loop road. The GPX track bypasses Peak 6,020ft because I forgot the GPSr in the
jeep on that one. It was after 6p by the time we finished up with the last
summit. Having cleared out everything in the immediate area, it was a good time
to call it a day. We spent the night camped at Reed Corral, light rain visiting
us periodically during the evening and through the night. We were very happy
that the rain had held off during the day, allowing us to stay dry...
Continued...