Continued...
This was the only full day I had on this short roadtrip. I'd come to the area
to ascend the "new" Hayfork Bally, a P2K whose highpoint had shifted by 1/3mi
due to more accurate LiDAR measurements that had become available. Half of the
summits I visited today were repeats, some done the previous day, but this was
not by plan. Road work on the paved road through the area had me scrambling
for alternate ways around the blockage.
Peak 5,265ft
I had spent the night camped . Stat padding led me to
log it as a second ascent the next morning.
Limestone Ridge - Hayfork Divide
I drove back down the Jeep trail to paved FR16 and attempted to exit east to
Big Creek Rd. A logging employee stopped me a few miles short of the junction,
saying the road was closed ahead for a few hours to allow some salvage logging,
a result of the large swathes of forest burned in the 2021 fire complex,
one of the largest in the state. My plan, now foiled, was to drive to the east
side of the Big Creek drainage to tag a number of peaks in that direction.
Looking for alternate routes on the topo map, it seemed I might be able to use
the Hayfork Divide Jeep Trail to make an end run around the north side of the
drainage. I drove back up the road a short distance to a junction and then took
33N57 north up to a saddle on the divide, just west of Limestone Ridge. Here I
found that the Jeep trail was now more like an OHV trail. I drove the first part
up the steep West Ridge, at the summit. It was more than a
little hairy and I dared not continue driving any further. This route would not
work well in the Jeep, too wide for what the trail is maintained for. I would
have to go back down, but since I had some time to kill, I decided to make the
between Limestone Ridge and Hayfork Divide, a little over
a mile to the NNE. I had done both of these years ago on an earlier visit. I
would spend a bit under an hour and a half on the effort, following the
continuing between the summits with fine off
either side. At , I left
under a small pile of rocks, took some pictures of , and
then .
Peak 6,275ft - Hayfork Bally
I drove back down to FR16, only to find that the road was still closed and the
estimate for opening still several hours in the future. At this point I was
getting low on gas and would need to refuel before heading up to the summits
I had planned for the day. I would have to reverse much of I
had used to reach Hayfork Bally the previous day (tagging both
and along the way - more stat
padding), a circuitous way to get back to Big Creek Rd. Once back on the
pavement, I drove to Hayfork for gas, then east on SR3 to
which I could drive back up to the higher elevations.
Farmer Ridge South
Barker Creek Rd becomes dirt and then turns into Forest Rte 33N84 where it
turns away from the creek. It climbs steadily up the forested slopes, staying
to the east of Farmer Ridge. Where it reaches a saddle north of Farmer Ridge
South, I turned south to follow an old road (high-clearance needed) a short
distance up the NE Ridge. This road hasn't seen much use, certainly not by
larger vehicles, and I before things got too nasty. It didn't
really save any time in the end. It took only 10min to to
through some . There were some
summit rocks in the partially burned forest with poor views where I left
before returning the same way.
Farmer Ridge
I continued driving north on 33N84 for about a mile, to another saddle, this
on the north side of Farmer Ridge, higher than its southern neighbor by a few
hundred feet. This was a slightly longer outing through forest more
than the last summit. I left another
here.
Peak 4,960ft
More driving north led to another junction where I took 32N25 east around the
south side of Barker Mtn, to a multi-way junction at a saddle on the SE side
of Barker. I turned SE and followed 32N37 and then a spur road that goes to a
small telecom installation at Peak 4,960ft's summit. is
found among some rocks on the edge of a small pocket of trees just to the east
of the installation. Pretty easy, this one.
Shake Ridge
Shake Ridge is about 1,000ft lower than Peak 4,960ft, and almost 2mi to the SE.
I thought I could drive nearly to the summit, but got stopped by
about 1.5mi short of the target. There are pockets of
private logging interests throughout the forest, and this had a gate to keep
vehicles out. Later I learned there is an easier way to get to this summit via
32N04 from SR3 to the south. I hadn't done much hiking, so didn't mind the
hour-long chance to stretch my legs on an . A firebreak
runs up of Shake Ridge from the road, making it a
brush-free affair. has little prominence and is nothing
special.
Barker Mountain
There were another handful of summits to the north of Barker Mountain, so I
drove back up several miles of road I'd already driven, then took 32N02
northeast to return to the Hayfork Divide north of Barker Mountain. I'd been to
this P1K eight years ago, but figured it was a freebie on my way to the others.
I followed the spur 32N12 which switchbacks up the northeast side of the
mountain, greatly improved since I was last here. The improvements were to
allow large trucks to drive to the new telecom installation that is going up
on the north side of the summit ridge. There were No Trespassing signs but no
crews, so I simply drove up to and started
. It took less than 10min to find my way along the ridge to
the forested . A John Vitz register was still
there, along with my signature from 2015 and a few additional pages of entries
since then. This easy summit has gotten easier with the extension of the road
and improved grading.
Peak 5,558ft
This summit lies about a mile NNE of Barker Mtn. 32N02 (also called Dog Run
Springs Rd) passes near the summit on its west side. An ,
no longer driveable, goes up to the summit. An old car tire filled with rocks
sits at among burned snags with off
most sides. I left inside the tire before
the same way.
Peak 4,691ft
The decent 32N02 ends about a mile further north, around the north side of
Pt. 1,605m. My driving fun turned sketchy as I followed an OHV trail down the
northeast side of Pt. 1,605m, shown on the topo as a Jeep trail. I had to
pause at to figure out how to negotiate it. Backing up
would have been nightmare, but luckily I was able to get through the obstacle
and continue down the narrow track across an unnervingly steep slope. After
about a mile I reached the multi-way junction where the very well-graded Big
Creek Rd goes over the Hayfork Divide. I turned southeast onto 33N48 which I
could follow about a mile to the northwest side Peak 4,691ft. This area had
been badly burned in the 2021 fire, leaving few trees still alive. This made
for , though fairly steep. I came across
that might still be driveable, but after that last bit of
driving I was happy to walk what would make for another challenging drive. I
found my way to in about 15min, took a photo and
. No obvious place to leave a register here.
It was 4:45p when I returned to the Jeep. I drove back to Big Creek Rd, hoping
to continue north on the Hayfork Jeep Trail to reach a few additional peaks in
that direction. The Jeep trail has been bulldozed to keep vehicles off and I
would have to walk it if I was to use this route. I decided to call it a day
and camp right there. The road sees little traffic and I would be able to sleep
quietly at one of the nearby turnouts.
Continued...