Continued...
Day 3 of a four-day trip to the North Coast was spent chasing down a trio of
CC-listed summits. The first two were located north of SR36 in private
ranchlands, the third in the King Range of the Lost Coast. The last four summits
were easy bonus peaks at the end of the day along the winding dirt road I had
driven into the King Range.
Bald Jesse
I had spent the night camped along Kneeland Rd which I'd used the previous
afternoon to reach Iaqua Buttes South. Bald Jesse is about 10mi south of Iaqua
Buttes, lying entirely within private lands, both ranch and timber interests.
I was up early to drive the short distance west on Redwood House Road to where
a ranch road forks south to climb towards Bald Jesse. I had to cross the South
Fork of
at the start, a bit tricky, but managed with only a partial
wetting of my boots. There is a locked gate just past the creek which I went
over on the hinge side before settling in for the 2.5mi hike up the road to the
summit. With heavy fog and all the vegetation damp, it was nice to have the
road to travel, even if a bit muddy. The first 3/4mi travels through dense
forest before to above. The fog
would much earlier today, at least at the higher
elevations, and before 7a I found myself with sunny skies in open, grassy hills.
There were
on three separate properties that I went through, making me a bit
nervous about running into a rancher. I was easily open to observation and was
simply taking my chances, happy at least that I had gotten an early start. The
route turns from southwest to northwest at a first property boundary, roughly
following as it makes its way past
, another herd of cattle and then a second
just below the highpoint
to the north. This third ranch property had a single steer grazing by itself,
paying me little heed as I went through the barbed-wire fence, past the steer
watching me all the while, and up to among some large oak
trees. The route had been mostly open to during the ascent,
but the summit was ringed with trees, leaving no views. I left
here in a small pile of
rocks before heading back down the same way. I was quite happy to see no one on
the whole route, returned around 8:30a.
McClellan Mountain
I drove back down to SR36 at Bridgeville, then east about seven miles to a
turnoff for McClellan Ranch Rd. This decent dirt/gravel road climb up from the
highway to access a number of homesteads and ranches. The road is open to the
public but does not go to the summit as the name suggests. A road forks off it
that goes up to Dry Lake and a ranch just north of the summit, but it was
gated, locked and signed for No Trespassing. Worse, I had just driven through
someone's yard before reaching the locked gate and didn't think it safe to
park so near the occupied home. I had decided to give up on this one and
started driving back down the road when I thought maybe I could make a
cross-country route through the forested slopes around any homes since I was
less than a mile to the summit. There is an unsigned barbed-wire fence on the
of the road that was in bad shape, likely meaning no cattle grazing
on the other side. I parked at a small turnout and headed up through the forest
cover. After cresting a first rise, I caught sight of a house/cabin to the
north that I gave a wide berth. It may not have been occupied, but I didn't want
to get close enough to see if there were any vehicles. Best not to alert any
dogs that might be about. I picked up on the northwest
side of the house and followed it up towards Dry Lake. Downfall across the road
indicated nobody drives this section any more. I passed through an unlocked
gate at and continued on the road until I was NE
of the summit. Here, I left the road to make my way through forest around
associated with Dry Lake. There is a
found just west of the
small creek I crossed, not shown on the topo map. This is obviously the new
way to reach Dry Lake and the ranches north of it. Some old logging roads helped
with the final ascent to the summit, but the isn't
bad and cross-country travel is relatively mild. was buried
in forest with nary a view, to no real surprise. I was just happy to get out of
there without spotting anyone (or worse, being spotted!).
After returning to the jeep, I turned my attention to the far more impressive
McClellan Rock that I had spotted during the drive. It
adjacent to SR36. It rises more than 500ft from the highway with cliffs on
three sides. I parked at a large turnout on the northwest side of the summit
and started up an old road that climbs steeply around the north side. The road
is gated and locked but unsigned, and seemed to be the perfect way to circle
around to the east side where the summit is most easily accessed. I went past
a
and was just about to reach the shoulder on the east
side when I spotted a home above me. I saw a small dog on the second floor
porch and slowly backed down before it saw me. What I didn't realize is that
there are several homes up there with access roads coming up from the south. I
will have to research this one a bit more before giving it another try.
Hadley Peak
I would spend the next four hours
about 100mi to get to my starting
point for Hadley Peak in the King Range. I drove SR36 west to US101, then north
to Fernbridge and Ferndale. I then began
to the coast at Cape
Mendocino, the westernmost point of California. This poorly paved, narrow and
windy road is incredibly scenic as it makes its way into and out of the Oil
Creek and
before just south of .
Here the road follows
for a number of miles before climbing back
inland to the quaint little community of Petrolia. Not far south of Petrolia
a road fork follows the Mattole River to the coast where one finds the northern
trailhead for the adventurous Lost Coast route. I continued on the paved Mattole
Rd heading upriver to gain access to the north side of the King Range. My first
effort was to reach Cooskie Mtn, a P1K about 4.5mi SSE of Petrolia. I had good
luck at first finding the gravel Cooskie Ridge Rd climbing up towards the
mountain open for travel, but I got stopped by two locked gates at the upper
end of the road, both signed for No Trespassing. An occupied homestead near the
better gate dissuaded me from giving this one a try. For now, I gave up on it.
I went back down to Mattole Rd and then continued east for about nine miles to
. This rough dirt road (high clearance recommended) is
open to the public, climbing some 9.5mi up to the crest of the King Range to
gain access to the North Slide Peak and Kinsey Ridge THs.
is found
0.6mi south of the road and requires a tough cross-country bushwhack. Sean
Casserly and Asaka Takahashi had visited the summit three years earlier, with
Sean describing it as "Thickest brush I've ever encountered." They spent about
4hrs covering about a mile and a half, which suggests some very tough going.
In a text exchange with Sean as I was driving to the start, he commented that
it probably wasn't as bad as he described it, since he wasn't as seasoned a
bushwhacker three years ago. It wasn't yet 3p, so I had plenty of time to do
this one and I have to admit I was kinda looking forward to it - it's been a
while since I've taken a good thrashing in the bush.
The route follows along a ridgeline labeled as Big Mountain on the topo map,
with Hadley Peak at the southern end. I parked off the side of the road
northwest of this ridge where it looked like the forest understory was pretty
clear. This worked nicely , but didn't last long. It would take
me an hour and ten minutes to reach the top, a pretty good pace considering the
difficulties. The top of the ridge is covered in and
other brush. The west side has more trees and for at least one section I found
easier
going there. The east side drops off steeply but has some open slopes that can
allow bypassing some of the hardest parts on the ridge. The real trick and
saving grace of this route is that someone had at one time clipped a route to
the peak. I found ample evidence of in the manzanita and one
can
see a path cutting across the ridge in places. It's not easy at all to follow,
but where it is evident, it is the easiest way to go. In a few places my
progress ground to a near halt as I had to climb over heavy brush or grind
.
The old trail favors the ridge and east side for the most
part, and I slowly followed along it to avoid getting beat up, deliberately
spending extra time to try and stay on the trail. The pants I wore had already
been patched and beaten up over the past six months, but they were
before I was done with this one. I noticed that I tend to lead with my left leg
through the narrow places and it was this pant leg that got ripped along the
entire length. This left my leg with several lacerations and bruises before I
was done, my right leg not fairing much better. The summit was nothing special
with in all directions. Still, it had neat views
overlooking the Pacific Ocean and up and down the of
the . I made a small clearing and piled up some rocks to
leave in. When the
slope burns over in a future fire, the register might be spared a scorching, but
I wouldn't bank on it. It would take me almost as much time for the return as I
found knowing most of the route did nothing to speed things up. I was in a great
mood when I ,
despite the thrashing, and will have to recommend this one
as the classic bushwhack of the King Range. With more visitors, I imagine
the route could be reclipped, taming the peak once more, not necessesarily a
bad thing.
Kinsey Ridge
With well over three hours of daylight remaining, it was time to move on to the
bonus round with four additional summits within a short distance of the road.
Kinsey Ridge is found northwest of where I'd parked for Hadley. The road
continues downhill over several short switchbacks to reach a saddle where the
is found. The road forks here, with the Kinsey Ridge
fork gated
before descending 2,500ft to the beach below. The other fork continues for a
few miles before ending at Moorehead Ridge. The highpoint of Kinsey Ridge is
found about 1/3mi northwest of the TH so I simply parked there. I walked a
quarter mile past before climbing steep, grassy slopes
to , an easy 10-min hike. The summit is
with no brush and scattered trees.
North Slide Peak
This is the highest peak in this part of the range, about a mile and a quarter
northeast of Hadley Peak. I on the edge of the road on the
north side of the summit and went up the steep forest slope to
in six minutes. Nice view of King Peak to
from the partially open summit.
Bear Trap Ridge West
These last two summits are found on the north side of the range, further down
the road towards the Mattole River. Bear Trap Ridge West was a quarter mile hike
up through with no views at all at .
At least there was no brush to deal with, just lots of downfall.
Bear Trap Ridge East
This was a surprising little find at the end of the day. I parked at
half a mile west of the summit and followed
along the edge of the forest up to the twin summits. A
were grazing just below the higher east summit as I
approached. has two large trees, one a giant oak, the
other perhaps the largest madrone I have ever seen. There are nice views of the
King Range looking east and , trees blocking views in the
other directions.
It was nearly 7:30p my the time I .
I took a shower to freshen up
before starting the long drive back out to US101. Rather than return to
Petrolia, I continued on Mattole Rd as it climbs up from Honeydew, through
Panther Gap and down through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. I ended up camped
along the Eel River at the edge of the state park in the same place where I'd
camped two nights earlier. It was well away from the highway and I slept quite
soundly that night...
Continued...