This was a consolation day. The day before we had taken 15-16hrs to climb Angora Mtn and Coyote Peaks where I'd hoped for something closer to 13hrs. Consequently we got back very late and didn't hit the sack until after midnight. Matthew and I had hoped to be able to tackle Kern Peak from the Blackrock Ranger Station up past Sherman Pass, but it would have meant either getting little sleep or getting back very late to the Bay Area on Sunday night. I suggested an alternative to go off and bag four of the HPS peaks south of Lake Isabella that we had been unable to get to in the off-season due to road closures. Matthew was ok with the change in plans and Mike decided to join us as well (he had decided not to go after Kern Peak).
We didn't get up until 6:30a or so, and it took us almost two hours before
we got to the trailhead for our first peak at Bald Eagle Peak. We took two
cars to drive the 5 miles up the dirt Saddle Springs Road from the pass south
of Bodfish. Mike wanted to take his car because he planned to pass on
Weldon Peak to allow more time to visit with his folks in the afternoon.
In his Jeep,
Mike had no trouble negotiating the road and was a good fifteen minutes
ahead of Matthew and I in reaching the trailhead. He'd already started off
on the trail to Bald Eagle before Matthew and I had 
arrived.
I started out around 8:15a while Matthew was still getting his act together
at the car. I climbed up a short rise from the road and immediately found
myself looking at a wall of brush when the faint trail ended. I searched
around but saw no opening, no signs of Mike or his boot prints, as though
he'd vanished into the thicket. I walked back to the car where Matthew was
still working on his boots or something, and dug out my gloves from the car -
it looked like it might be a bit of a bushwhack. I went back a second time
to examine the ridgeline, doing a better job of investigating several options,
but still coming up against a wall of chaparral. I concluded I was inept. I
went back to the car a second time and now Matthew could not contain his
laughter. He chuckled as I muttered about my lame navigation skills and dug
out my HPS directions. The key was there in the text I had failed to read -
look for a use trail heading down a short way from the road and then
traversing across the 
south side of the ridge.
This I found with no further
ado, and was soon on my way. I secretly hoped Matthew would find a similar
challenge when we finally got on the trail, but it appears he did not. Rats.
That meant I was the only incompetent one in the bunch.
The use trail was one of the nicest around. In places it looked like much rock
had been moved to pave a route across some particularly nasty slopes. There
were yuccas to avoid (Mike managed to stab himself at least once), but mostly
it was just a pleasant stroll. The entire route to 
the summit is only
about
3/4 of a mile, a decidedly easier outing than our usual hikes. At the saddle
east of the summit the route has more route-finding challenges as it climbs
through some rocky portions on the ridge. The usual over-ducking of the HPS
routes was actually helpful in this case, and we still managed to lose the
trail a few times. But overall, no serious challenges and a nice hike. One
of the added delights were the colorful mix of wildflowers found here. The
area is a blend of the drier desert terrain to the east along with the wetter
chaparral to the west. The 
yuccas were in high bloom,
extending their massive shafts skyward; shades of yellow, purple and white
lined the trail in places, even a few more 
delicate-looking types that
seemed out of place in this harsher climate.
Mike had already been at the summit long enough to peruse most of the summit
register and scramble around most of the rocks at the summit by the time I
arrived at 8:45a. Matthew was about ten minutes behind me. The wind was calm
and the air 
hazy,
disturbing the otherwise fine views that would be had from
the summit. The haze extended up to about 5,000ft, which made Lake Isabella
in 
the foreground more obscured than the
snowy peaks of the High Sierra some
fifty miles further north. Among the register entries was one proclaiming some
38 technical routes on the face of Baldy Rock, the main feature below us
to the south. Who would have guessed (or cared)? Upon our return to the
trailhead, another car pulled up with a group of three 30-somethings with
sacks of climbing gear on their shoulders and cigarettes in hand. I went over
to talk with them to find that they were the ones that had put the note in
the register and were now up to 52 routes on the rock feature. They couldn't
say enough about how great the rock quality was and really wished we'd either
come out and try the routes some time or tell others about it. My guess is
their work was going to culminate in an obscure climbing guide that might sell
a few dozen copies before it became a collector's item.
Back in the cars, our next stop was Piute Lookout. Another 10 miles futher along the road into the heart of the Piute Mtns. This range encompasses the southernmost part of the Sierra Nevada between SR178 and SR58, below which starts the Tehachapi Range. The highpoint of the Piute Mtns is an 8,435-foot unnamed summit not far from the Saddle Springs Rd - Piute Mtn Rd junction. We had considered climbing this with nearby Piute Mtn though neither is an HPS peak, just because we were in the area. But as we were to find, the peaks are both rounded knobs covered in trees, looking devoid of views altogether. It was clear why they weren't listed peaks, and upon viewing them our interest in climbing them dissolved altogether. We drove the three miles out to Piute Lookout on a decent road that any 2WD vehicle ought to be able to negotiate. The hike is something like a quarter mile, about as easy a hike as one can get without it being a drive-up. Mike had already climbed to the summit and was just arriving back by the time Matthew and I got to the end of the road. Mike decided to tag along with us for another visit, just to be sociable (we agreed this gave him his 2x ascent of the "peak").
At 
the summit is the scant remains of a forest lookout, the foundation
and a few 
cross timbers for the base all that remained.
It had good views, with
the same exception for the haze. One could see to Telescope Peak in Death
Valley to 
the northeast, The High Sierra to 
the north,
and the San Gabriels to 
the southeast. The snow-covered north sides of
San Antonio and San Gorgonio just made themselves visible above the desert
haze. The rock at the
Piute Lookout summit was a fractured slate, very sharp in places and not
altogether solid for climbing. But there were a half dozen
rocky pinnacles
about 
the highpoint and we spent about 15 minutes 
playing around
on them, looking for class 4 and easy class 5 routes to scramble up.
Back at the cars, we returned to Piute Mtn Rd and continued east to Sorrell
Peak. The road improved a good deal, easily navigable by 2WD vehicles. Still,
it took another hour for us to make our way to the Sorrell TH. The last four
miles were not on good road, slowing us down further (or at least Matthew and
I - Mike beat us to the TH by some 15 minutes or more). This is
another short hike, about a mile roundtrip with 400ft of gain. As I got out
of the car I looked at Matthew and thought he was going to pass out on me. He
looked tired and wan, like the blood had been drained from his face. There was
no enthusiasm in his face, and I asked if he'd rather take a nap. "No, I'm
tired," was all he managed to say. He looked rather anemic as we headed out on
a 
dirt bike trail on the west side of the peak.
He must have come to life
along the way, because suddenly he asked "Where is this trail going?" Out in
front, I stopped to consult my map. I had to admit it seemed to be traversing
more than it was climbing the peak, and it didn't seem in any hurry to get us
to the top. The HPS route guide says to gain the ridge directly from the
trailhead, no mention of a trail. So we left the trail abruptly and just headed
up the steep slope.
It was good timing for Matthew to comment, because we now found ourselves
directly under the summit above us. Near the top the west side has some rocky
granite cliffs. A ducked route led between two pinnacles to the easier east
side of the peak, but I decided to try the class 4ish-looking west side via
some knobby faces and ledges. The first move up from the base was a bit of a
stretch but it was easy class 3 above that. A bit exposed, but really bomber
holds. I paused to get out the camera to photograph Matthew at that first move,
but he never finished it. After a minute he gave up in some frustration, not
wanting to climb that move in his hiking boots, and seemingly not really
caring to climb at all. "Do you want to take the ducked route or play around
on the rock?" I called down, guessing that he hadn't seen the ducked route. "I
don't care," was all I heard, and I'm not sure that Matthew knew what I had
said. I 
left him to himself and finished the last 50 feet or so to
the summit.
Mike had already signed into the register and departed. The views weren't
particularly great from the summit, but I did get a view to Cross and
Chuckwalla Mtns to 
the southeast, a pair the three of us had climbed
the previous winter. 
Matthew popped up from the west side after
about 10 minutes,
looking more awake now. We signed ourselves in, took a few pictures and
descended the easy way back to the trail and the car. Mike was just about
to leave when we arrived, and paused to see where we were off to.
We had planned to head to Weldon next as it wasn't yet 1p. The peak was going to involve more driving on dirt roads which we were tired of by now, and seven miles of hiking one way. It seemed a waste to miss the opportunity while we were so near, and I'd hoped Matthew was still interested. He generously offered to drive over with me and take a nap while I climbed it, but I didn't really want to climb it that badly. There would be other opportunities. Mike had planned to head back anyway, and now suggested we get mexican food at Isabella. That sounded good to all of us, so off we went, ending one of our weakest efforts yet. Three HPS peaks with not even three miles of hiking - it was quite embarassing. At least lunch was good...