In looking over maps of Tuolumne County, I noticed a named summit called Dome
Rock in the southwest corner of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness that I not yet
visited. It is not an easy summit to reach. At first glance, based on trip
reports found on PB, it appears to make for a long hike, some 16-18mi roundtrip.
I then noticed a Forest Service road leading to the Bummers Flat TH to the
west, which would make for a roundtrip hike of around 4mi. I had no idea if
this road was still maintained or open, but I decided to build an overnight
trip around it, giving me a chance to collect a handful of peaks in the
northern part of the county, mostly within the Stanislaus National Forest. Much
of the trip would be Jeeping around Forest roads with short to medium hikes
along the way. I was up early, making for a peaceful drive across the state and
allowing me almost a full day in the hills.
Peak 6,900ft - Peak 6,963ft
These two summits are found to the west of paved Spicer Reservoir Rd. Kerry
Breen has a TR on PB that describes a non-arduous outing to the second peak. I
figured it should be easy enough to combine both in a single outing. I was
only about half a mile along Spicer Reservoir Rd from SR4 when about 50yds
ahead of me, a guy on a BMW touring bike came zipping around a sharp turn in
the opposite direction at a spirited clip. A scattering of sand, dirt and pine
needles proved his undoing as his rear wheel slid out from under him, and sent
both of them skidding across the road and into a ditch. I immediately pulled
the Jeep off the road and went to his assistance. His first thought was to
jump up and try to pull his bike out of the ditch. It was lodged against a
large rock and it would take more than one person to get it out. I asked him if
he was Ok, thinking he might have serious injuries that he didn't even
acknowledge yet. He paused to consider this, but quickly said he was Ok. His
helmet and leather clothing had protected him well, and all we could find later
was some abrasions on one forearm where his jacket sleeve had pulled back as he
slid across the pavement. His heavy breathing indicated he was currently being
fueled by an injection of adrenaline that would take some time to subside. It
was affecting his thinking some, but he managed well enough, considering the
shock he just experienced. Getting the bike out was a bigger problem, but with
the two of us working at it, managed to get it righted and parked
after about 10min's effort. It had a broken windshield, busted rearview
mirror and other minor tweaks, but it started up fine and the steel-tube cage
around the engine had protected it from more serious damage. He thanked me
profusely for helping him out, commenting that he would still be stuck in the
ditch if I hadn't happened along. The road sees regular traffic, so it would
probably be only about 15min before someone else would have wandered by. It was
nice to be able to help the guy out, but I hope he takes it a little easier on
the curves in the future.
I continued on Spicer Reservoir Rd for a few more miles until it makes a sharp
turn just west of Peak 6,900ft. Spur Forest Rte 7N01A forks south here, the
starting point Kerry had used for his effort. I drove in, found a guy camping
at its end, and ended up backing out nearly to the pavement before parking. This
would do nicely. I was only a few minutes in getting my gear together and
just shy of 8:30a. I headed cross-country to the west,
through mostly in a fairly direct line for Peak 6,900ft. As
I 15min later, the forest opens up to a talus and dirt
slope, leading to the volcanic rock outcrops that comprise
. There are several vying for
highpoint honors and I visited them in turn without
making any determination as to which was highest, nor finding a register at
any of them. Views aren't so great from the summit, which I'd rate as pretty
blah.
I off the summit area, descending through forest with
. Partway down, at the top of a rocky cliff area, I had a
view of to the south. It's forested summit suggested poor
views there, too. 20min from Peak 6,900ft's summit, I landed on the poorly
maintained that connects the Wolfboro BSA camp at Hells Kitchen
to the west with Spicer Reservoir to the east. I followed this east and
southeast, following a portion of the trail Kerry had used. Much as he
described, the trail isn't too hard to follow, supplied with regular
and some to keep one on the track. About
1/3mi from Peak 6,963ft on its northeast side, I to head
cross-country for the summit. It took only 10min to find my way to the large
that stands at the highpoint. It can be climbed on its
north side via class 3 thin steps, or from the east with some face climbing,
also class 3. The summit is open to views looking towards
Liberty Hill where I would head later. I collected some rocks to leave
atop the 12-foot summit rock, then retreated back down the
peak via much the same route. Once back to , it would take me
another 20min to find my way back along it to my . I
finished up just short of 10:30a, about 2hr
for the 3mi effort with less than 1,000ft of gain.
Libert Hill
This one's a drive up. I spent the next hour driving back out to SR4, southwest
to Dorrington, then onto Boards Crossing Rd which would take me across the North
Fork Stanislaus River to the Sourgrass Recreation Area where the pavement ends.
Various then climb out of the drainage, climbing more than
3,000ft in about 10mi. The last quarter mile to the summit of Liberty Hill is on
a rougher track, more suitable for OHVs than street-legal ones.
is flat and wide, making for a fine campsite with some trees
for shade and views open to . Even with a low-clearance
vehicle, this would be an easy, short walk to the top.
Peak 7,656ft
This is the highest summit in this part of the Stanislaus NF, with nearly 600ft
of prominence, found about 2mi southeast of Liberty Bell. It is a short distance
off Forest Rte 52 (also designated as ), which wraps around the
south side of the peak. The topo map shows various lesser Forest roads getting
very close to the summit, but most of these are no longer driveable. I
approached from the southeast, but one
may be able to drive even closer
from the northwest. I found the old roads , but
still quite serviceable , and it took less than 20min to find my
way to the nondescript . No views, no
obvious summit, no good place to leave a register that won't get torched in the
next fire to sweep over the place. About 35min for the roundtrip effort.
Dome Rock
It would take another hour of driving to negotiate about 17mi to reach the
Bummers Flat TH. The last 5-6mi were on spur Forest Rte 6N05. The first 1.5mi
of this road to the crossing of Basin Creek were in good shape, beyond that, not
so much. There are a number of camp areas along the creek and the Forest
Service appears to provide good access to these. The last section of 3mi or
so appear to have been cleared by users, not the Forest Service, with
encroaching brush and logs cut with clearances that just allowed the Jeep
through. Still, I was happy to find the road open and the Jeep capable to get
me to the TH. It was 2p when I headed out on foot with plenty of daylight.
is marked by a simple
Road Closed sign. Better
were knocked down and half buried under the brush on the
continuing road, now closed to traffic. continues for a
while, but deteriorates quickly under downfall and brush, and this is where the
real adventure begins. The old trail is no longer maintained, marked
periodically with ducks and flagging, but not enough to keep from losing the
trail. What saved me was the GPSr with the trail marked fairly accurately,
allowing me to consult it regularly to see whether to look right or left for the
trail's continuation. It took me through , ,
creek-crossings and areas as it made its way
northeast,
southeast and east to the western edge of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. Dome
Rock actually sits on this western edge, so my time in the Wilderness would be
very brief today. When I was northwest of the summit with about 1/3mi to go,
I left the hard-to-stay-on trail and headed up the steep
slope to . It all made for a fun little adventure, taking me
about an hour and a quarter to find my way to the open summit overlooking the
. The summit is ,
composed of granite slabs and some large boulders forming the "dome" of the
mountain. Donnell Lake lies just below to , but unseen as the
bottom of the canyon is not visible from the summit. The summit outcrop goes at
class 3 with modest exposure. I found in a glass jar left by
Levi Cover a year earlier. I looked around for
the older register left by Dingus Milktoast, but like Levi, had no luck locating
it. Though I was now familiar with the route, went no faster
as I had the same issues with losing on a regular basis. For
the most part, it was easier to travel along the trail sections rather than just
forge ahead cross-country thanks to abundant downfall, so I did my best to stick
to it. It was after 4:30p by the time I to the Jeep, leaving
me with a few more hours of daylight to visit one more summit.
Peak 5,100ft
The longest driving segment was between these last two summits, taking
an hour and a half to cover about 20mi on sometimes good, sometimes not-so-good
Forest roads. It led me southwest to a part of the forest where large sections
were owned and managed by the Sierra Pacific logging company. Though they don't
allow camping, hunting or fires on their lands, they seem Ok to allow driving
and hiking. I had seen the satellite views beforehand, showing a patchwork of
clearcut areas, so it was no surprise to see such activity along the route.
These areas often have newer roads than those shown on the maps, and it pays to
examine the satellite views to find ones that can be helpful. Most of Peak
5,100ft and my route to it would go through Sierra Pacific lands, and I was able
to get within about a quarter mile on its north side. There was some heavy
logging machinery along the way that normally would have kept me out, but it was
after 6p and the workers had all gone home. I parked off the side of the newer,
dusty road I traveled, and went that had been logged about a
decade earlier. Once I reached the upper end of the cut area, I had some heavy
brush that had me in places, but thankfully lasted only a
short distance. I found several vying for the highpoint
honors, and after surveying for the highest, went up with
the aid of a tree that made class 3 out of what otherwise would be a class 5
boulder problem. I took from the top of the rock, then back
down and flat ground. I was to the Jeep by
6:45p and finally ready to call it a day.
I would end up driving another 45min or so back north on a meandering path
until I was close to the next day's first target, Shumake Knoll. I found a flat
spot to park off the road and spend the night. Mostly I was confined to the
inside of the Jeep thanks to the pesky mosquitoes that are still plaguing the
Sierra late into August. Seems like they will still be around this year even in
September...
Continued...