Continued...
My 3rd full day in the Mojave had me doing a collection of summits in the North
Mesquite Mountains Wilderness, found in the NE corner of San Bernardino County,
close to the Nevada border. I had been to the area in 2015 to do the Wilderness
highpoint and a few other summits around it. Today's were all on the periphery
of the Wilderness, including one in the adjacent Mesquite Wilderness.
Peak 3,825ft
This is the northernmost summit in the Wilderness. I had spent the night
off the good BLM road that passes about a mile to
the north. I was up and shortly after 6a, not bothering to have
breakfast - I would do that on the drive to the next summit. I went up
in 40min, and down in about the
same time, to make a loop of it. Adam Walker had left a register
, with a few other entries, most recently only a few weeks ago.
The descent ridge did not go all the way back to the road, but dropped me into
the wash between the two ridges with about 1/3 of the return remaining. The
wash made for a pleasant walk, easier than either ridge. A little less than 2mi
for the roundtrip.
Peak 4,576ft
I breakfasted on my drive back to Excelsior Mine Rd, then off
the pavement when due west of . "Due west" is really an
exact figure, in this case. There is that runs along the
town section line with an old road (now in the Wilderness) running alongside it.
Both run in a straight line to the base of the peak, making for a very
convenient route. The distance is about 1.5mi each way, most of it a very easy
jaunt. Once at the base of the peak, there is a loose
slope to climb, most of this class 2, and on the tedious side. It took an hour
to reach the summit where a fallen is found. I
thought the route interesting enough to leave on the summit,
though it had less than 300ft of prominence. the
since it worked so nicely. Going down the rubbly slope was not
as troublesome as I had expected. Limestone rubble seems to hold together better
than most rock types.
Peak 4,806ft - Peak 4,114ft
I drove the BLM's Kingston Road over Winters Pass for the last three summits.
The two on this outing are found in the Mesquite Wilderness on the south side
of Kingston Rd. I had originally planned to do just Peak 4,806ft on this outing
since Peak 4,114ft can be climbed from the east via a shorter route. However,
the drive to Peak 4,114ft is a bit involved, and once I was atop Peak 4,806ft,
I decided to do them together. It was a good decision because it made for the
best outing of the day. I parked off Kingston Rd and a
heading southeast just after noon. This wash was a bit
brushy, requiring much weaving about. I had planned to follow the wash all the
way to the summit ridge, but it grew brushier after about a mile, so I changed
tactics and to . This worked well,
and I eventually made my way to in about an hour and a
quarter. Adam Walker had left a register here , no other entries
in three years. This was the day's highest summit, also the most prominent with
more than 600ft of prominence. While taking a break at the summit, I noted
a little over a mile to the east. I was feeling pretty
good, so decided to add it to the agenda.
I had first to descend of to
reach a pair of saddles, either of which could be used to reach the connecting
ridgeline to Peak 4,114ft. I chose to use which I called
the banded saddle due to the colorful rock layers. The descent works out to be
, even at the narrowest point, but it then begins to veer
away from the connecting ridgeline. This led to some sidehilling which I can't
recommend, certainly not the easiest way to do this. The better route I
discovered on the way back. I continued to
between the two peaks, found about the halfway point. The
continuing ridge to Peak 4,114ft from the saddle is easier, but there are a
couple of that need bypassing. Careful attention to the
terrain reveals that get you past the difficulties in the
most efficient manner. I took about an hour and a quarter between the two
summits, slower than I had expected, but not bad, considering the terrain. I
left at this second summit, a worthy one, I thought. On
across the connecting ridge, I did a better job of following
the sheep trails. This led me up a steep, but all class 2 route getting back to
the banded saddle, via a section of . Once back at
, I headed off which would
drop nicely into the I could follow back out. This was a
much more pleasant wash than the one I had tried to ascend, and would make a
better route to Peak 4,806ft, too, imho. There are a couple of
, but no need to look for a bypass with easy class 3
descents through them. I eventually returned to
I had started up, and was to the Jeep by 3:40p. Time for one more,
I thought.
Peak 3,763ft
This summit is on of Kingston Rd, a few miles down the road
from the last parking spot. The peak has some steep limestone faces on the south
and west sides that I used. There is a prominent gully going up
that I used for the ascent, with some surprisingly fun
scrambling. Once through the notch at the top, it's a short
to the highpoint, about 40min for the ascent. I found no
register and did not have one with me to leave. Great view of Mesquite Valley to
and east, and well into Nevada and the Bird Spring Range
behind the valley. I to the southwest, intially aiming for a
saddle on that side, but turned before reaching the
saddle, making for a more direct line back to the Jeep. It was after 5p by the
time I , the sun beginning it's final descent over the western
horizon. I would end up camping a few miles down Kingston Rd where it would be
very quiet for the evening. More fun in store tomorrow...
Continued...