I headed back to El Dorado County for another overnight trip, only a few days after the last one. The weather had taken the expected turn for the cooler, making for a much better experience. Overcast skies, cool and breezy, quite nice for hiking even if the views were more dull. I headed to the western edge of the Eldorado National Forest to pick up near where I'd left off on the previous trip. Driving through Placerville on US50 in early morning, I turned off onto Mosquito Rd heading northeast into rural developments before descending to the Mosquito Bridge over the South Fork American River. They are currently working on building a more modern bridge that will span the river hundreds of feet higher, removing the narrow, winding switchbacks that lead down to, and up from the old one-lane bridge. I drove through more rural developments on the north side of the river enroute to the day's first stop.

White Oak Point

This minor point lies just outside the national forest on private property. One can drive within a few hundred feet utilizing White Oak Dr. The highpoint is near the roadway, in someone's yard.

Castle Rock

I headed north on Rock Creek Rd, also called FR12 and 12N70, into the NF. A dirt road (12N70B) forks off Rock Creek Rd east of Castle Rock. The dirt road is gated and locked, but it appears folks have driven around it because I found someone doing some long-term camping with a trailer on the SE side of Castle Rock. Where the dirt road turns briefly south, I left it to follow a use trail of sorts with some flagging the short distance to the summit - less than 10min from Rock Creek Rd where I parked. There is no castle, and no rocks bigger than a baseball found at the summit - the naming of this one is quite puzzling. The highpoint is in a thicket of manzanita and has no views.

Slate Mountains North

This is the second-highest summit in the diminuitive Slate Mountains, about 2mi north of Castle Rock. More driving north on Rock Creek Rd got me to a major junction at a saddle NE of Slate North. FR12N82 forks SW to follow a ridgeline in that direction. As it starts to climb up to the main ridge of the Slate Mtns, it turns to a motorcycle trail that was too narrow and rough for the Jeep. I parked around the 3,200-foot level where this transition is shown on the topo map, leaving me less than half a mile from the summit. It took about 15min to follow the trail up to the ridge, then south to the summit, found in a clearing just above the motorcycle track. Not much for views with the surrounding trees and brush.

Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf is found north of Slate North, across Bald Mtn Canyon. I drove back to Rock Creek Rd and the saddle, then continued north. An ominous sign indicated I might get turned back at a washout, but luckily the washout was beyond the next mile that I drove before turning west on 12N21YC. This road goes to the east side of Sugarloaf and a TH for Trail 11E14. The road was blocked by downfall not long after I had started along it, leaving me about 3/4mi to the summit. I spent a little over 30min hiking the remaining section of roadway, finding it now signed for foot traffic only. Once at the base of Sugarloaf, I went up cross-country through moderately brushy manzanita to find my way to the top. There is a nice clearing and some views, and I left the only register on the day under a small cairn. I noticed there was what looked like a trail down the southeast side, so I followed that on the return. It landed my on Trail 11E14 where it passes through a saddle SE of the summit. I was able to follow the trail NE back to the road, but the trail itself had downfall and doesn't appear to have been maintained for at least a few years.

Bald Mountain

This one is essentially a drive-up. Back at the same saddle, I drove nicely paved Sand Mtn Blvd northeast and north to a spur road NE of Bald Mtn that goes to the lookout at the summit. There is a gate that I found locked about a quarter mile below the lookout. The tower is sometimes manned by volunteers, but today it was closed up tight. Heavier clouds were beginning to enclose the mountain, leaving no views. A battered benchmark is found at the base of the lookout, outside the chainlink fencing.

Peak 4,764ft

Retracing my route back to Sand Mtn Blvd, I continued north a short distance to its junction with Wentworth Springs Rd. This is a well-paved near-highway that runs for many miles from Georgetown in the west to Ice House Rd in the east. I drove only a small portion of this east where it passes through the Blodgett Experimental Forest. The area is used to practice controlled burns and develop new logging and restoration methods. Peak 4,764ft is the highpoint of the experimental forest. There is a gate NNE of the summit off Wentworth Springs Rd, about 2/3mi distance. I found the gate chained but the lock unlatched, so I opened the gate and drove in. I got within 1/4mi on the west side of the peak, going up to the summit on foot in less than 10min. There is a steel stake near some summit rocks that form the highpoint. No views. After driving back out to Wentworth Springs Rd, I replaced the lock and chain on the gate as I found them.

Peak 4,780ft

I continued east on Wentworth, past the dam at Stumpy Meadows Reservoir to a locked but unsigned gate at FR12N65. The north side of the pavement here is private forest lands. Peak 4,780ft is a P300 about a mile and half from the gate. I followed various logging roads to the reach the summit in 40min. I came across an elderly couple enroute, carrying wicker baskets that I guessed were for mushrooms. They were happy to show me their nice haul of Morels, an expensive variety because the foraging season is very short. They said they were most likely to be found in burned areas, and it so happened the main road I followed had been burned extensively on the right side in the 2022 Mosquite Fire. I kept an eye out for them after we parted, but I don't really know what I'm doing and didn't spot any mushroom the rest of the outing. The summit is partially open, covered in slash from logging operations completed in the last few years. I spent an hour and twenty minutes on the 3mi outing.

Tunnel Hill

I drove back west along Wentworth Springs Rd, about a mile NW of where I had first accessed it from Sand Mtn Blvd. Tunnel Mtn is also located on private forest land, and gated at Wentworth about a mile from the summit. A logging road goes fairly directly along a ridgeline to the summit. The first half is through unburnt forest, the second half inside the Mosquite Fire zone. I spent about 20min to reach the highpoint on a rounded knoll with partial views through the charred snags, and an equal time for the return.

Buckeye Point

Buckeye Point lies at the western end of dirt FR14N352, a continuation of paved Vocanoville Rd that goes from Wentworth Springs Rd to the community of Volcanoville. The Mosquito Fire burned up from the Middle Fork American River to the edge of Volcanoville, spilling into portions of the community. There must be a lot of residents that got spooked by the fire because there are a dozen properties there currently for sale. The dirt road was in decent shape, 4WD not needed, but high-clearance recommended. While the road is publicly accessible, it travels through private property and is aggressively signed for No Trespassing. At Buckeye Point, there are the remains of a homestead. The topo map shows a mine here, but I saw no sign of such. I did find a water tank, a chairlift up in a tree, and the frame of a greenhouse that makes it easy to guess what used to be "mined" here. The place would make for a lovely campsite (good cell service, too). There are some views looking north across the American River.

Cock Robin Point

It was 6p and I still had some daylight, so I headed for Cock Robin Point, found at the end of another dirt Forest Road (13N56) out of Volcanoville. This one is similarly signed for No Trespassing though is also perfectly legal. Most of this ridgeline between Jesse Canyon and Otter Creek was burned in the 2016 Trailhead Fire, and those parcels on private lands were almost entirely salvage logged after the fire. On my way out to Cock Robin Pt, I made an accidental detour up the south side of Jakeys Hill. I had taken a wrong turn, but it conveniently took me over the PB-only point of Jakeys Hill at the south summit where a lookout used to stand. Sometimes you just get lucky. Downfall blocked the road about a mile from Cock Robin Point. It was a nice walk along the continuing road in that last hour of sunlight, up and over a few intermediate bumps, with soft lighting, some nice flowers, and a remote feel. The summit is found atop a rounded knoll near the end of the ridgeline in a quiet setting with some views.

After returning to the Jeep, I drove a short distance back up the ridgeline to where I could find a flat spot to park the Jeep and camp for the night. It made for a really nice camp area, quiet and peaceful, and all to myself...

Continued...

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