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Today's summits were mostly clustered in the northwest corner of the Sierra National Forest, though the first was located just inside Yosemite NP. I had been to the area last in 2013 when I was chasing down P1Ks in the area, including a failed visit to Hogan Mtn. I would have a chance to revisit that one today, with a more successful conclusion. I had spent the night camped outside Yosemite West along Henness Ridge Rd in the forest. I was up early to drive out to SR41 and south to the park entrance.

Mt. Savage

This summit lies about a mile west of Yosemite's South Entrance. Marcus Sierra's TR on PB gives all the needed information. I parked in the huge lot for the Mariposa Grove Visitor Center just east of the entrance station, then walked west to pick up the road closed to public vehicles. There is a shooting range for the park rangers found along the road, a large clearing for unknown purposes, and little else. But the road is nicely cleared of downfall and makes for a pleasant walk through forest. At the saddle east of Mt. Savage, I picked up the trail that leads one to the summit. It had been cleared by the fire crew only five days earlier, so it was in great shape. Seems they don't clear the first several hundred feet to keep it "more secret". The hike/trail doesn't appear in any of the park literature or website, so it's likely to remain so. It's really a very nice hike with a large granite outcrop at the summit providing fine views in all directions. There is a very busy register from 2013, mostly entries from the Wawona fire crew. I only photographed the first and last pages before returning back down the mountain via the same route.

Hogan Mountain

I drove south out of Yosemite to Fish Camp, then up Summit Rd (Forest Rte 17) to the north side of Hogan Mtn. My route was nearly identical to the one used by Marcus in 2019. I took 50min to climb the steep, forested slopes, mostly with clear understory (though plenty of downfall) and a few brushy sections. Views are limited due to trees. I found some of the cairns and trails from the Yosemite Mountain Ranch described by Marcus. I followed them to a nearby granite slab that had slightly better views than the summit, but trees still dominate the scene. I went back down to the Jeep reversing the same route.

Silver Knob

Returning to Fish Camp, I drove south on SR41 a few miles before plunging west into the forest again, this time on Miami Mtn Rd (Forest Rte 126). The road had been cleared by members of the public, making for some tight squeezes to get through some of the cuts. Silver Knob and Pilot Peak are a pair of modest summits found in this part of the forest. I took FR6S63 to the south side of Silver Knob where I was only 1/5mi from the summit. I thought this might be a quick affair, but found heavy brush, including some poison oak. It would take me 20min to make my way to the top, finding a small rock outcrop buried in trees serving as the highpoint, with just a partial view looking south. I left a register here, figuring all the work it took to reach it made it worthy. I tried a less direct route on the descent hoping to find less brush, but the results were mixed and I don't think it offered any advantage.

Pilot Peak

I continued on 6S63 about a mile to a junction with 5S62. This road would take me west to Pilot Peak, but it was blocked by downfall. I could have taken the time to clear it, but as I was less than a mile from the summit, I just parked and walked the road. A motorcycle track (also blocked by much downfall) leads to the summit from the northeast, making this one considerably easier than Silver Knob. The summit is a small clearing mostly surrounded by trees, so again partial views. Less than 40min for the roundtrip effort. After returning to the Jeep, I tried to drive north on various roads to my next destinations further north, but came to find the roads all blocked by downfall - only the major roads in this area had been cleared so far this year. I would need to approach them from a different direction altogether.

Peak 5,900ft

I would spend the better part of the next three hours on the alternative drive to the Chowchilla Mtn area. This was not unpleasant, giving me a chance to stop in Oakhurst to pick up something for dinner, a few supplies at the Vons, and a Starbucks, too. My route had taken me south on 41 to Oakhurst, then north on SR49 to Chowchilla Mountain Rd. Google Maps suggested I use Round Tree Saddle Rd as a shorter alternative and this almost worked, but was stopped by downfall only a mile short of Round Tree Saddle. Back down I went, and then the longer way via Chowchilla Mtn Rd. I stopped at Battalion Pass to tackle Peak 5,900ft, less than 1/5mi from the summit. The cross-country here was only moderately brushy and it took less than 10min to make my way to the summit. An easy, but uninteresting summit.

Chowchilla Mountain

More time was spent trying to drive further north to Iron Mtn and Peak 5,447ft, but these eventually ended in failure due to uncleared roads. I would have to wait for another time - probably best to wait until Fall when the Forest Service has had a chance to clear the lesser roads. I returned to Battalion Pass and then went up Ten Mile Grade, happy to find it cleared all the way to Devil Peak where a lookout is located. I had visited this P1K back in 2013 but wanted to visit Chowchilla Mtn a few miles to the north along the same ridgeline. The road was blocked by brush and downfall not far past Devil Peak, so I would have to walk most of the road. This was not entirely unwelcome after so much driving, giving my legs a chance to stretch. Following Mark Spencer's suggestion on PB from a 2020 visit, I hiked the road until due east of the summit and went up from there, finding some heavy brush initially, but this soon gave way to clear forest understory. The rocky summit is open to views in all directions, the best I found on the day, with a fine one of Devil Peak to the south and the rugged Devil Gulch drainage to the west. The snowy crest of the Clark Range in Yosemite could be seen to the northeast. I found the register left by Mark the previous summer and added my name to the bottom of the page. Chowchilla Mtn was in the heart of the 2018 Ferguson Fire, and while many pockets of forest were spared, there were whole slopes where almost every tree was left a charred snag. The fire undoubtedly contributed to the abundance of downfall I'd encountered throughout the area during my visit, and the difficulties ahead for the Forest Service in clearing the roads.

Crow Peak

As it was getting late, I thought I was done for the day as I drove back down from Chowchilla Mtn. I found Crow Peak only a few miles south and figured I could do it before sunset if conditions weren't too brushy. A road leads partway along the rounded North Ridge to a saddle, leaving less than ten minutes' walk to the summit along a rough bulldozer track that may have been laid down during the firefighting efforts. There was downfall but little brush along the way. The summit is large and flattish, only partial views through the trees, many of which were left unburned. I was back to the Jeep not long after 7p and ready to call it a day. I drove to a saddle southwest of Crow Peak where I showered and spent the night. It was a lovely spot from which the lights of the Central Valley could be seen as evening morphed to night. I was only a few miles from Roundtree Saddle and planned to head that way in the morning, but I really had no idea if the road along the ridgeline in that direction had been cleared. Luckily I had filled up on gas back in Oakhurst and could drive myself back out of any dead-end without much concern. But that would be an exercise for the new day...

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