Peak 3,277ft P300

Continued...

On my way back to San Jose from the Las Vegas area, I stopped to pick up this orphaned summit off Interstate 15. Peak 3,277ft lies north of the freeway, just outside the Hollow Hills Wilderness. There are several BLM roads that can get one near the summit, the closest via Cree Camp Rd. This is a long drive from either of the two nearest freeway exits, so I decided on an easier drive from the Halloran Springs exit (where I'd spent the night) to get me to the east side of the peak. There are two roads that can be used to reach my starting point - the one nearest the freeway is rougher with minor washouts, Jeep-capable but not really pleasant. The better option is the utility road following a transmission line to the north of the first road. Any high-clearance vehicle can manage it. The two options converge on a north-trending road that takes you within a mile of the summit on its southeast side. This road follows a wash and has no definite end - just drive until you no longer feel comfortable in the sand or run out of driving room. All of this is outside the Wilderness area.

The hike is an easy one, with various options. I chose to hike northwest up a wash leading to a saddle on the northeast side of the peak. Before reaching the saddle, I climbed out of the wash and followed easy class 2 slopes up to a higher saddle east of the summit, then onto the summit. I had started at first light and was atop the peak before sunrise. It was too chilly to hang around for the 15min or so until sunrise, so I left a register and started back down. I had seen a couple of buildings to the northwest and decided to go check them out on a whim. Later, I found that these constitute the Cree Camp site on the topo map. Both buildings are in poor condition, years since anyone has given them attention. The larger building was a ranch home, the smaller one a storage shed. It may take a few more decades, but the desert is slowly reclaiming both. I went back over the lower saddle to the east on my way back, rejoining my original route, then back to the Jeep by 7:30a, taking about an hour and a half for the effort. With that, I started on my way back to San Jose, finishing off a fine 13-day roadtrip...

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