Peak 2,220ft P300
Eagle Peak P500

Continued...

Following our successful outing to Williams Peak, we were left to devise individual plans for the next day since we didn't really have a common objective we could settle on. I decided on two fairly easy peaks around the Leonard Lake Reserve where we were staying and then getting a jump on the four hour drive home.

Peak 2,220ft

This modest summit is located immediately above Leonard Lake, a hike of only about 1/6mi but a steep climb of more than 400ft. I thought Sean would have jumped at it, but he appears to be more interested in named summits in the area before tackling the minor unnamed ones. It took less than 15min to find my way to the forested summit with sunlight filtering through the trees from the east. An old logging road that looks like it might get some traffic runs across the top, leading me to believe it could be a drive-up for those more familiar with the roads in the area. The descent took but half the time and I was back 20min after I'd started.

Eagle Peak

Daryn, Sean and Asaka had already climbed this peak on a previous visit. It's found about 2mi east of Leonard Lake, but most easily approached from the north off Reeves Canyon Rd. The summit is located on BLM lands, but surrounded by private property. Sean had done some trail work for one of the Leonard Lake Reserve owners, trying to help reestablish a trail that the owner had used as a child. The route starts as an old logging road along a creek, becoming a trail as it turns southwest and makes a meandering climb up the slopes to reach the peak from the northwest. I lost the trail several times and decided to simply head straight up the steep slope rather than waste time looking for a trail not so easily spotted. After about 400ft of gain, I came across an old logging road that proved to be quite good with only a few downfalls to block vehicles, but no obstacle on foot. This brought me to the west side of Eagle Peak, very nearly to the ridge. A few hundred feet of easy travel in the understory brought me to the ridgeline, a first view of Eagle Peak's large summit pinnacle and best of all - a trail. The trail follows along the ridge, clipped through the brush and evidently maintained, but not be Sean. At the base of the pinnacle there was a first ladder with a handline above that, then a second ladder to make it all a pretty easy affair. There's a bit of easy class 3 above the second ladder, but all pretty simple.

The summit has a fantastically open view, unlike most of the forested summits in the area. Of course the views aren't all that fantastical - they're mostly a series of convoluted forest ridges and drainages looking off in all directions. There is a small circle of rocks like a fire pit in the spacious summit area, a set of nested cans holding the register left by the others back in November. Interestingly, there were two other parties having visited shortly afterwards. After descending back down the ladders and trail, I initially thought I'd follow it to see where it goes. Unfortunately it doesn't go down the north side where I'd come from, but seens to follow the ridge to the east and southeast. So I went back down to the top of the old road I'd followed and thought I'd see if that offered a better way down to Reeves Canyon Rd. I was able to follow it most of the way down before I came upon evidence of vehicle traffic, most likely ATVs. The traffic is fairly light, but I didn't want to continue down to the back of someone's homestead, especially if they have dogs. With about 400ft to go, I turned left and returned to the original route I'd started up, intersecting right where the original road had turned to trail. There were no fences crossed the whole time, so it may all be the same property owner(s), or not, hard to say. I'll leave that to Sean to try and figure out, especially since it might prove a better route than trying to maintain a trail up these steep slopes.

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