With a few free days, I headed north on a P1K mission. My targets were
around the Lake Shasta Area, along
Fenders Ferry Rd 27
that winds its way
through mountainous terrain for almost 40mi from the McCloud Bridge on Lake
Shasta to SR299.
Along the way were many spurs to various peaks, some successful, others less-so.
Poison oak is rampant throughout the area and was often the reason for not
making it to one peak or another. Ticks, too, were present, though not
abundantly. I flicked a few off my clothing and non-chalantly flicked one off
my hat the next morning before I put it on. No bites, this time out.
I was out the door in San Jose around 6a,
getting gas outside Redding at the TA Travel Center. From there my gas would
just last for the two days it took to drive Fenders Ferry Rd 27, refueling in
Burney on SR299.
Fail - I drove out on Bear Mtn Rd to Jones Valley, finding the gate to
the lookout locked and for No Trespassing. This one needs to be
stealthed. Note that Bear Mtn is not the actual P1K, which is the next bump
to the north, Peak 2,659ft. The cross-country climb from the road may be brushy,
so a night hike doesn't seem advised.
Fail - Though located on USFS lands, access is a significant problem
here. Tunnel Rd goes to
the summit from Mountain Gate on the west side of I-5, but
not open to the public. The name comes from the tunnel the road goes through
under railroad tracks that parallel I-5 on the west side. Unfortunately, the
road goes through someone's property right before the tunnel and the tunnel is
.
There appears to be an alternate access to Tunnel Rd via a mining
road, but that, too, is closed to public use. Please contact me if you figure
out a way to this one.
Hirz Mountain/Hirz Mountain Lookout
This isn't a P1K, but after two failed summits and hours of driving, I was eager
to claim some success. I saw a sign for the lookout on my way to McCloud Bridge,
and with 840ft of prominence I figured it was worth a visit. The spur
road was about 5mi in length and
I was able to drive it to the just below the
summit where I found a USFS truck parked. It took less than 10min to
to the summit where I met a ranger in . The tower
has some pretty overlooking the
of Shasta Lake. The slightly higher Hirz Mtn is found
to . Returning to the
Jeep, I drove back along the road about a mile, parking at a location just
north of the higher Hirz Mtn. I went steeply up from the road, cross-country
through forest before finding my way to the brushy summit. The top is loaded
with poison oak and if I wasn't within a 100ft of the top I probably would have
turned back. Lots of dancing around to find
buried under more of the same, with no views. I was
beginning to realize how rough this area can be.
Hanland Peak
Fail - This one started out promising. A dirt road forks off just before
McCloud Bridge, going seven miles to get me within a mile of Hanland Peak, a
P1K. The , but I followed a hunters' trail through forest
and , making some use of
before running out of luck. I made
my way about 1/4 of the distance to the summit when I called a halt as the
poison oak became abundant and unavoidable. On a daytrip I could just push
through it all and then wrap my clothes up as contaminated when I got back,
use a generous supply of Technu while showering, wash my clothes and call it
good. When out for a few days, continuing on would risk contaminating the Jeep
and everything in it. With plans to spend a few night sleeping inside, poison
oak could not be ignored so easily. I went. I had failed on the
first three P1Ks so far, not a good sign.
Bollibokka Mtn/Peak 3,525ft/Nosoni Mtn
I drove to the end of the pavement at , then started
on Road 27. Bollibokka Mtn is about 1.6mi due east of the bridge. A spur road
goes 4.5mi up to a saddle northeast of the summit, about .
It was almost twice the distance as Hanland Peak which did not give me much
hope, but I decided I needed to at least find out. I was glad I did. The
along wasn't bad at all, and the
poison oak mostly avoidable. I came across that made me
jump though it never moved a muscle while I watched it. It took me about 70min
to make to the summit where I found in most
directions. Snowy Mt. Lassen to , Mt. Shasta to
. I found no register but , happy to
finally have made it one of these P1Ks, and a good one, too. Back at the Jeep,
I decided to visit Peak 3,525ft, an easy bonus only 0.4mi north of where I
parked. An goes most of the way to the summit,
followed by some careful navigation through a PO-infested area to find
. A to the north can be had.
A mile east of where I'd parked is Nosoni Mtn, so after returning to the Jeep
a second time, I drove it a mile towards Nosoni, parking
below the steep SW Slopes. Though only 1/4mi away at this point, it was a tough
climb up slippery slopes to find no views at , but a modestly
interesting
class 3 summit block made tricky by the poison oak strategically growing around
it. I left a register on this one, too. It was after 7:30p by the time I
returned to the Jeep. I hadn't put in may miles on foot today, but they were
a tough few miles.
I showered and then did more driving, finding my way to the starting point
for Salt Creek Mtn in the dark. A P2K, there are numerous TRs on PB and
elsewhere that one can find, so I knew this one was a sure thing for the next
day, something I sorely needed...
Continued...