Continued...
After three days of fairly long outings around Panamint Valley with Brian
French, I was on my own and chose a very different type of outing - a bunch of
short hikes separated by modest drives as I made my way south through the
western Mojave desert. I started in the Ridgecrest area and ended up in
Lancaster, about 70mi to the south. Along the way I tagged a dozen desert hills
and buttes, none of them more than two miles one-way, most much shorter. After
early pre-dawn rises the previous days, I gave myself the luxury of sleeping
until the sun came flooding in the van windows around 7a. The last peak would
finish close to sunset 12hrs later, making for a full day, but the driving
in-between made it far less strenuous than the number of hours might suggest.
Spangler Hills PP/Peak 2,921ft
The two halves of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center are separated by Searles
Valley and the Spangler Hills. They are connected by the Randsburg Wash Rd
which runs through the Spangler Hills. The two summits are located on either
side of
where it spans across this small range. I wasn't sure if
the public was welcome to use this road and park along it, as the maps seem to
suggest that either side of the road is part of the military base for at least
a short distance. I found the road signs did not specifically forbid the public
to use it and it appears that OHV users regularly cross it to access from one
side to the other. Still, I was a little apprehensive driving in about 3.5mi
from Trona Rd to park along the access road between the two summits. The first
truck
following behind stopped alongside me as I pulled off, but it turns out he was
merely being friendly to check that everything was alright. The two summits
were similar, featuring rocky with
and otherwise minimal vegetation, class 2 from any approach. I spent an hour
and three quarters doing the two together in a triangular fashion and was happy
to find I had created no military incident upon my return.
Peak 3,710ft
Located south of Ridgecrest, very near the Kern/San Bernardino Co border, this
one caught my attention because Laura Newman had the only recorded ascent on
PB and LoJ. From the Searles Station Cutoff via which I approached it, the
peak hardly seems capable of the 500ft+ of prominence that it boasts. The two
mile hike to the summit climbs 600ft ever so gradually at the gentlest of
gradients. The desert area around here was bursting with the glow of small
, the first sign of I had seen
in the desert
all year. The area is part of the same BLM OHV area as the Spangler Hills, with
trails both signed and informal criss-crossing the landscape. I found
adjacent to a BLM route sign, with decent views overlooking the
desert between Ridgecrest to the north and the El Paso Mtns to the south. A
guy stopped just as I was starting out to warn me about the "crazy riders" who
don't care about hikers or where they ride. I told him I'd be careful and watch
out for them. Never saw or heard an ATV or motorcycle for the hour and a half
I was out there.
Peak 3,881ft / Peak 4,166ft
These two summits are located on either side of US395 where it goes through the
old mining town of Johannesburg near Red Mtn. I climbed the first from the east
at Trona Rd, following all the way to the summit, a
distance of
just under a mile. Afterwards I drove through Johannesburg to access the second
from a paved road going over a saddle on the peak's southwest shoulder. A very
gets one to the summit in less than ten minutes. Being higher and
closer, Peak 4,166ft offers better views of and the
surrounding areas. Red Mtn is immediately to the east across US395, pointy
Fremont Peak can be seen far to . To
the Rand Mtns block views further
in that direction to the Sierra Nevada.
Galileo Hill / Orphan BM
Covering more than 200 sq miles, California City is the third largest city by
area in the state. It's 14,000+ residents mostly work at the nearby Edwards Air
Force Base or the state correctional facility. Incorporated in 1965, it
never lived up to its grand expectations. Roads have been layed out for miles
in all directions, but outside the city center, much of the pavement has
crumbled and most of the city never developed past the street signs found at
many junctions. is a small, standalone peak rising from
the vast desert floor. On the of it is the Silver Saddle
Ranch & Club, which seems to sorely lacking attention and membership. A
rises from the club to the summit of Galileo Hill. I found
the gate halfway up open and drove to the top. A hexagonal
sits at the summit, its windows sadly
all boarded up and the doors locked. A selection of telecom towers have been
bolted to the sides of it to give it some purpose. It seems such a sad, lonely
place. Five miles to the west rises . This area has no
development at all save for the and seems mostly used for
OHV travel. I followed
their tracks on the northeast side for the half mile distance to the summit
from where I had parked on the dusty road below. Even more bleak than Galileo
Hill.
Twin Buttes South
are located 3.5mi south of the California City center. I had climbed
the north butte (also called Desert Butte) more than four years earlier on a
previous pass through here. I approached the southern butte from the east off
paved California City Blvd on my way south through town. The cross-country is
fairly easy, the summit less than 2/3mi from the road. A steel
has been erected at the summit. One can drive closer
with a high-clearance vehicle, if desired, but I doubt it would save much time.
Rosamond Area
The last four summits were all located in the collection of hills north of
Rosamond, east of SR14, another Edwards AFB community. Peak 3,110ft lies just
NE of the Rosamond Blvd/SR14 junction. I drove up a dirt road off Felsite
Ave that took me to a near an old .
From there it was a short hike up to . Though not BLM land,
there are no fences and sees regular OHV use. A man walking
his small dog was there when I got
out. As we greeted each other he commented that his dog doesn't bite. First
thing it did when it's attention diverted from the rabbit it was chasing was
come over and nip the cuff of my pants. I tried to engage it to show I was
friendly but the dog only wanted to circle around and approach me from behind
in order to nip me again. Stupid dog. Stupid owner. Stupid me for believing
him. The summit has a good view overlooking Rosamond and Rosamond Lake.
Immediately west of this first peak is . A large, rusting
mining complex is found on the south side of the hill with a high fence and No
Trespassing signs surrounding it. I drove around a bit to look for a way up,
but it seemed the fence might surround the summit and I left it for another
time. Upon review later, it seems the north side of the hill is BLM land and
may offer a good way to reach it. Instead, I drove further west to Willow
Springs Butte. The Willow Springs International lies at the
foot of
the butte on the southeast side. The summit lies on BLM lands and can be most
easily approached from dirt Truman Rd that runs along the base on the south
side. My starting point was about a mile from the summit to the southwest, and
I used a climbing up from that side to the summit ridge.
I used a faster descent directly down before angling
west at the base to return to .
North of Tropico Hill are three other summits listed on LoJ, though I only had
time for two of them. Fiss Hill is an exceedingly minor point off paved
Mojave-Tropico Rd, less than a quarter mile and barely any prominence. It may
have been named for a pioneer in the area. is a little better
but still a minor hill, about half a mile off the same paved road. Another mile
west
of Gem Hill rises the unnamed highpoint of the Rosamond Hills with more than
400ft of prominence. I left that one for another time since I was racing sunset
to get back from Gem Hill and didn't feel like continuing in the dark to the
last point - it would give me further reason to come back and do this one with
Tropico Hill at a later date.
After showering, I drove south to Lancaster where I collected some supplies and
dinner before heading west towards the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve I planned
to visit in the morning. I found a very quiet spot off W. Ave I, away from the
city lights to spend the night and slept quite comfortably...
Continued...