Day 2 of a desert roadtrip was wet one. While the coastal regions of the state
were taking the brunt of a big Pacific storm, some of it was spilling over into
the Mojave Desert where Karl and I had spent the night just north of Baker, CA.
Raindrops had fallen intermittently during the night to little consequence. The
morning brought a 
spectacular sunrise rainbow that soon devolved into a
steady light rain and a heavy overcast that kept us
from venturing outside. We sat in our respective cars parked off SR127
overlooking dry Silver Lake, wondering how long it might last. I could use the
SiriusXM weather app to watch the storm front slowly move across the map on the
Jeep's infotainment display, and it seemed we might have a few hours before a
break in the weather. Karl napped for a time while I read news and looked for
easier peaks we could do once things improved. We ended up doing a short outing
in the morning and then a somewhat longer one in the afternoon, barely enough to
count as exercise. On the plus side, it was good to see moisture coming to the
Mojave which would help the landscape green up in the short springtime season
to come.
Peak 1,696ft
This minor summit is the northernmost peak in the Soda Mountains, a medium-sized desert range found west of Baker. With almost 700ft of prominence, it makes for a modest hike, about 3mi roundtrip, starting from the powerline road north of Silver Lake. There were heavy ore trucks going in and out on this road which accounted for it being well-maintained. Even in the wet conditions, any vehicle could manage it. We parked off one of the spur roads leading to a transmission tower. We
hiked northwest, following 
a drainage that got us
around a lower summit in the foreground that was blocking our view to Peak
1,696ft. 
The terrain
here is rocky and devoid of most vegetation, save for the narrower gullies. It
took us about 45min at a casual pace 
to reach the class 2
summit where we found a 
Richard Carey register
placed four years earlier. Having approached from the
east, we decided to descend an alternate route to the south to change things up,
pausing to don our 
rain gear soon after leaving the summit.
It worked out to be an easier route thanks to the old mining road we found in
the drainage on that side of the summit. We hiked the old road back out to the
flats under the transmission towers and back to the waiting jeep.
Silurian Hills
Before the rain had interrupted our morning, we'd hoped to do a 4 peak loop around the highpoint of the Silurian Hills to the east of the highway, some unfinished business from a trip earlier in the season. After our successful morning hike where we kept mostly dry, we decided to pay an abbreviated visit to the Silurian Hills, tagging just half the peaks we'd planned. The drive in from the highway takes nearly an hour. The powerline road heading east from SR127 is in good shape, albeit a bit sandy, but the less-used road heading north is rougher, going across the grain of the drainages and requiring high-clearance. It was after 1p before we had made our way to the end of the road, about
1/3mi east of the first summit. We climbed steeply up loose
class 2-3 slopes to reach 
the summit in 20min's time. We found
a Smatko/Schuler register 
from 1973 with no
other entries atop Peak 3,034ft. They had dubbed it "Sillurpp Peak," a silly
name we had no reason to reject. It would take us a bit over an hour to get
from 
one summit to 
the other with a 650-foot drop
between them, taking us nearly down to the elevation where we'd left the jeep.
Though several hundred feet higher, the second summit had less prominence, a
quirk of where the saddles were located to their proximate parents. We found
some 
class 3 scrambling on 
the limestone rock that
predominately characterizes this small range. Some light rain fell enroute,
prompting us to put on our 
rain gear a second time, though the wind
would likely have dried our clothes regardless before we'd return to the jeep.
Finding no register on the second summit, we left 
a new one,
christening it as "Mt. Karl" because, well, California needs a Mt. Karl.
The lowering cloud layers marred our views, but it made for an interesting,
PNW-like scene
not usually seen in the desert. Our return was a slight variation
back through the class 3 cliffs, a bit harder than the ascent. The crux was a
30-foot section that went nearly vertical. Though not much to his liking, Karl
followed me down this 
in good style, after which the going becomes
class 2 and much easier. We 
got back to the jeep just after 3:30p and
decided to call it a day, leaving the higher remaining peaks unclimbed. There
was 
some sun to briefly
light up the hills as we were driving back out, our first good sign that the
fickle weather was beginning to break. We drove back out to the powerline road
where we'd left Karl's Element, then drove east 6-7 miles through the hills to
reach our meeting place for the next day's effort. Three others would be joining
us in the morning for a tour of the Shadow Mountains, but for this evening it
was just Karl and I, having dinner in the jeep to ward off the outside cold. It
was not our most productive day in the desert, but we were happy to have gotten
to stretch our legs, considering the forecast...
Continued...