Continued...
I'd spent the night camped in the Temblor Mtns, with intentions to tag a few
more summits in the range before heading to the Liebre Range. Morning found the
highest elevations socked in with clouds, leaving the first summit without any
views whatsoever. Things improved somewhat as the day went on before turning to
heavy overcast and light rain in the late afternoon for the last few summit.
Peak 4,234ft/Crocker BM
The Temblor Range stretches for well over 100mi from SR46 at the northwest end
to SR166 at its southeast terminus.
The southern half of the range, much of which I had
driven through the previous day, is BLM land with open access. North of Peak
3,775ft (the last summit I visited the previous day), the BLM lands become
mixed with private lands, eventually becoming almost entire private ranches.
There are many more north of Peak 3,775ft, none of them signed
and it would be difficult to navigate them without studying maps beforehand or
following a GPX track. There
are several places where one has to go through wood & wire gates, easily done
by unhooking the wire loop at one end. I found my way to the top of Peak
4,234ft, about a mile southeast of the range highpoint at McKittrick Summit,
encountering no
No Trespassing signs along the route. There were three
summits to this peak, two of them sporting .
The highest is to the northwest and just with the road
going within a few feet of the
highpoint. I couldn't see McKittrick with the foggy conditions, or much of
anything else for that matter. I had climbed McKittrick on a previous visit by
a very different route, going through private property. The landowner at that
time told me there might be a way to reach it from the south which is the
direction I was approaching today. I didn't continue on the roads to find out,
but it
appears that it might be possible.
After returning to the southeast from Peak 4,234ft,
I stopped for a short hike to Crocker BM, a PB-only point that was on my way
out. I parked at on the main road but could have driven a
rougher road up to the summit had I realized it sooner. I found
and some along with zero views.
Peak 2,625ft/Peak2,675ft
After returning the jeep, I continued south, visiting two lower peaks
in the range, well below the cloud cover and offering better views. A spur road
off Hurricane Road can be used to access both of these, each about a mile
one-way. Peak 2,625ft is accessed from the west at the spur road's end in a
. There are found here, not
currently operational. is , not a
tree to be found. The grass was quite tall and lush, going to seed but not yet
to the annoying stage of filling one's socks and shoes. There is a fenceline to
be crossed, not all that difficult and I saw no signs regarding trespassing.
The views from the summit take in the surrounding Temblor hills to the
west and the vast oil fields around SR33 to . These fields,
taking up
hundreds of square miles, were all but dead about 15yrs ago. The advent of
fracking revived them, the nearby towns of Taft and Maricopa and a host
of oil-related jobs. The other summit, is most easily
approached from the northwest nearer to Hurricane Rd, at a turn in the spur
road. There is to cross here, too, but again no signs
forbidding trespassing. I used cow trails to contour my way around the north
and east side of a nearer, lower point, eventually gaining a saddle and
climbing the peak . are similar to those
on Peak 2,625ft.
Spellacy Hill
Back on Hurricane Rd, I followed it southeast to SR33 and then to the town
of Taft. Spellacy Hill is found on the southwest side of town, an active
oil-producing field. The area is a maze of roads fingering out to the many,
, not all of the roads getting you from A to B. Paved
25 Hill Rd is a public road while all the spur roads appear to be private
access road managed by Chevron and other oil entities. There are few gates and
I found it easy to wander about the facilities, never encountering a security
truck or someone questioning what I was doing there. My defense would have been
that I had gotten lost which was partially true. After
to the rather of Spellacy Hill, I had trouble getting
out of there when I chose to take a different return route. For some reason I
didn't note that there was another nearby named summit called Twentyfive Hill -
I should have tagged that one while I was in the area, too.
Portal Ridge
After gassing up in Taft, I headed to the Liebre Range, almost two hours' drive
away. The San Andreas Rift Zone cuts through the northeast edge of the range
forming Oakgrove and Pine Canyons through which runs paved Pine Canyon Rd.
Portal Ridge is the highpoint of that portion of the range to the north of the
road with a sweeping overlook of Antelope Valley in the western end of the
Mojave Desert. Old USFS roads allow access to the ridge at several locations,
though a mix of private property with the intentionally confusing positioning
of No Trespassing signs make legal access hard to ascertain. I used Forest Road
7N07 to drive a short distance off Pine Canyon Rd.
becomes quite rough and I decided to and hike
the remaining 3/4mi to the summit. The road once the
ridge is gained, leading me to suspect the alternative access road from the
east is probably the better choice. The road skirts south of the highpoint,
necessitating some mild bushwhacking to reach the summit.
, it would seem the bushwhacking through stuff well over
head level could be brutal, but it turns out to not be bad at all with careful
route-finding. is buried amongst all the brush though
it had a surprisingly nice view to overlooking the Antelope
Valley State Poppy Reserve.
Peak 5,726ft
This summit lies on the
Pacific Divide between
Liebre Mtn and Sawmill Mtn. Forest Rte 7N23 climbs
up to a saddle on the crest that any vehicle can drive. High-clearance is needed
to continue west for another 3mi+. The saddle is used to access two HPS summits,
Burnt Peak and Sawtooth Mtn. I continued west past Sawmill Campground to a
junction. The road continuing west up the crest was . The
Atmore Meadows fork continues to the southwest, but as I found, it does not get
one closer to Peak 5,726ft. I returned to the junction and hiked the road from
there, a distance of about 2mi, one-way. I knew the PCT runs across the crest
somewhere in the vicinity, but I was unable to find it on the ascent. The hike
up the road is not particularly memorable, though there are some good views to
. Clouds hung low in the sky, threatening rain, and I
wondered if I'd be able to get to the summit and back without getting wet. The
last 1/3mi to the highpoint took me , following a
combination of old firebreaks and . I found
in a collection of granite boulders with a decent
overlook, but this afternoon. I found
crossing and took this back for the descent, a
through oak forest and chaparral. of
the PCT near is a bit
obscurred which explained why I couldn't find it earlier.
Sawmill Mtn
This summit used to be on the HPS list but was deemed too insignificant. It is
a mere 100yds off the forest route I traveled on my way back to the main
saddle, so to run up and tag it as a light rain began to
fall. I'd been to the summit once before, so this was just gratuitous
stat-padding. I found and snapped a quick picture before
running back to the jeep.
Peak 5,482ft
This summit also lies on the crest of the range, this time east of the main
saddle, about a mile each way. The road is here, so I would
have to walk in the drizzle that was now coming down steadily. I put on my rain
pants and jacket, wool gloves and balaclava, and was quite
comfortable for the cold, wet weather. I used a combination of Forest Road,
firebreak and the PCT to make my way to the summit and back. There wasn't much
to
where a wide firebreak goes over it. When I got back to the saddle and the jeep
I was surprised to find two other vehicles there in such crappy weather. A pair
of gentlemen walking about were as surprised to see me, asking what I was doing
up here in such conditions. I laughed as I explained myself, after which they
were wondering where to find a
campground. I pointed them in the direction of the Sawmill CG but they didn't
like the looks of the road to reach it. I then suggested they could camp right
there at the saddle since I doubt anyone else would be up here this evening
and no one would really care if they did. I had planned to spend the night there
myself, but decided to drive back down the road towards Bushnell Summit to see
if I could find a place with cell reception. I didn't find good cell coverage
and ended up driving east to the Lake Hughes area where I planned to hike the
next day. No cell coverage there, either. The cold shower in
the rain was a bit trying, but it helped me sleep more comfortably that night...
Continued...