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The second day of a NorCal roadtrip found me in the southern part of the Warner Mtns in the NE corner of the state. My last time in this particular area was with my son to tag a pair of county highpoints more than 10yrs ago. Today I was back for some lesser summits but a fine day nonetheless.

Little Hat Mountain

This is one of the southernmost summits in the range and a P900 which is how i it had gotten my attention. Getting to it is not easy from any direction. I approached from the northeast, spending the night near Newland Reservoir, reached by a pretty rough 4WD road off excellent gravel Red Rock Rd. In the morning I drove about a mile closer, passing through a cattle fence with an old sign marked for No Trespassing. Though the summit is on BLM lands, it appears the area along Bare Creek where I would hike is private land that sees little use, judging by the condition of the road. I parked when the brush seemed to get worse, leaving me less than 3mi from the summit - close enough. It was 27F when I started out at 7a, rather on the frigid side, but my fleece, balaclava and wool gloves served me nicely. It would warm up as the sun came up over the Hays Canyon Range to the east, eventually leaving me with temps in the 40s and 50s for much of the day, far more reasonable. From my parking spot, I hiked up the continuing road for about a mile and a half to the 6,500-foot level, until almost due north of the peak. From here, I had about a mile of cross-country and 1,200ft of gain, through forest to start, but then modest brush above the trees. The route worked far nicer than I had expected (it looks brushier in the satellite views), getting me to the NE Ridge and from there on up to the top by 8:20a. I found a few cairns with old wood pieces sticking out. There was no register, so I left one of my own as I rested up and took in the scenery. There is a good view of Hat Mtn to the north and Red Rock Valley to the southwest. Hard-to-reach Boot Lake is seen to the west. My return was pretty much along the same route, finishing up by 9:30a, hours earlier than I had expected this one to take.

Mahogany Mountain

This was a bonus peak along the drive back down from Little Hat Mtn. Red Rock Road gets within a mile of the summit on the northwest side. My route up favored the Southwest Ridge which I thought might make for easy going, but it was moderately brushy and a bit tedious. On the way down I went directly off the steep Northwest Face, finding the volcanic rubble there preferrable to the brush I'd ascended through. The summit is buried in the scraggly and dusty trees, but a short walk will get you you nice views looking west and north. I left a register on this one as well, figuring it will see maybe one visitor in the next decade.

Horse Mountain

After returning to Surprise Valley on the east side of the range, I headed north towards Eagleville and then west on the excellent Forest Road 64 (County Rd 42) up into the hills. Horse Mtn was my first stop, an easy bonus peak on the way to Emerson Peak. There was a good deal of snow coverage above 7,500ft in the range, but most of it wasn't more than a few inches deep. The topo map shows a road going over the summit, but I somehow missed it. Instead I parked about half a mile to the north and made the easy walk from there. Some slopes had lots of snow, but the summit area was mostly clear. I wasn't sure which rock up there was highest, so visited the likely candidates to call it good. Hat Mtn can be seen to the southwest, Emerson Peak to the northwest, Surprise Valley far below to the northeast. On my way back down I crossed paths with a pair of hunters out looking for deer on their ATVs. I hadn't seen a deer all day nor heard a gunshot though the forest was filled with hunters. If there were any deer about, they were doing a good job of cowering under cover until the season is over.

Emerson Peak

This peak lands on the Western States Climbers list, which made it the main goal for the day and the highest summit, only a few feet below 9,000ft. Most folks seem to use the Summit Trail from The Patterson Guard Station TH to the southwest, but the route from Bearcamp Flat is much shorter. I drove down to near the saddle between Horse and Emerson, getting stopped by some downfall on the road, but it was only about a mile and a quarter each way from where I parked. The brush was very modest and the hike up the SE Slopes and Ridge enjoyable. Not surprisingly, the summit had the best views of the day. One could easily see Mt. Shasta and Lassen Peak far to the west. Eagle Peak, the range and county highpoint rises almost 1,000ft higher to the north, sporting a good deal more snow, most of it from an unusual winter storm a week earlier. There were two registers found in a small plastic tub. The older one had been chewed badly by rodents and now useless. The second was left in 2016 by Andrew Kirmse, probably with the plastic tub. It's a pretty busy summit with 12 pages of entries in three years. Ladybugs were holding a convention in the nooks of the summit rocks, not moving all that much due to the chill. Going back via the same route, the whole outing took but an hour and a quarter.

Black Cone

This minor summit is an easy bonus, lying between Horse Mtn and Hat Mtn. A good road passes within a quarter mile of the summit. A cross-country hike through forest leads to the summit rocks which nicely rise above the forest to provide views in all directions.

Buck Mountain

This high summit west of Hat Mtn has a road leading nearly to the top. It's about 4.5mi each way from Black Cone, but the short distance I'd driven to Black Cone told me to expect more snow and mud. The jeep was already coated with enough mud to dissuade me from doing 9mi of such roads, so I gave it up. Sort of. I knew Sean Casserly had been to it a year ago and I really didn't want to leave it so easily. So as I was driving down the west side of the range I kept an eye out for other roads that might work better. I found just such a spur road that I was able to drive a mile off the main road to get me within 1.5mi to the northwest. It was 4p when I started off and the hike would take me longer than I expected because most of it was through 2-4" of snow, more like a winter outing than a fall one. Though my boots would be practically soaked by the time I returned, I found it the most enjoyable hike of the day. It had been some time since I'd last hiked in the snow and I'd almost forgotten how fun it can be. Most of the route went through forest with nary a view, but I did get one as I neared the saddle on the west side. The last few hundred feet of gain went up moderately brushy slopes and made more challenging with a mix of snow and wet ground. I found 4 cairns at the summit, each with a stick protruding, not really sure what that was about. There aren't any views right from the summit, but just to the north can be found fine views looking both north and west. I had fun following my tracks through the snow on the way back, occasionally needing to use the GPSr to find my track when I lost the footprints. I finished right at 6p with the sun having gone down behind the trees to the west. I took a shower in the chilly air, about 41F now, but at least my shower water was lukewarm. A surprisingly fun day, overall.

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