We got a relatively late start out of San Jose, not leaving until almost 4:30a, about an hour after I had planned. Seems I still haven't figured out how to set a watch properly - one I've owned for more than seven years now. No matter, this wasn't going to be a hard day. When we got to the SR88/89 junction in Hope Valley we found the dirt road heading towards Hawkins in decent shape and easily driveable by our Honda Accord. We drove almost five miles from the pavement, following directions from Yamagata's web site. They seemed a bit overly complicated, mostly because they tried to acknowledge all the side roads that branch off from it. I might suggest simpler directions:
From the SR88/89 junction, turn right onto a dirt road that will take you around to the west side of Pickett and Hawkins. Take no sharp forks to the left or right, staying on the most-used roadway. Keep left at a major junction about halfway in, then follow the road gradually up as it climbs to a shallow saddle around the 4.6mi mark. Turn left onto a steeper side road heading up towards Hawkins. Park at the gate about 0.3mi further up. Suitable for all vehicles.
At the gate by 8:30a, we set off shortly thereafter, hiking
past 
the gate and up the
road. It was easy to follow and nicely graded, making for an 
easy hike
up 
towards the peak
from the west side. Where the road forked near the base of
the peak we turned right, followed it a short ways, then headed directly for
the peak cross-country across sparse, 
scrubby slopes.
Ryan slowed as it 
grew steeper and turned to scree,
eventually wishing he hadn't been the one to suggest the direct
approach ("But it looked so close from the road..."). The only rock on the peak
I found interesting was the very steep
South Face that looked class 3-4 for
about 30-40ft. I intended to go up it myself while directing Ryan around to the
easier class 2 on the east side, but he wanted to try the harder route. Bold,
these young ones be.
Up 
we went.
It was not as hard as I had feared, nor as non-chalant as Ryan
seemed to treat it. He clearly didn't appreciate that he could die on such
terrain, and knowing this I took extra precautions.
I made him climb slowly ahead
of me so I could check any slip or fall, all the while I'm yammering about him
to test each hold and pay attention and what not. I was so involved in the
effort that I only got one photo in the class 3 terrain, right at the beginning.
He thought the short section was great fun, even the part with 20ft+ of air on
a short step across. I had been a bit worried while we were climbing that we
might get stopped by a wall and have to climb down, but thankfully that didn't
materialize. We got over the last obstacle and found
easier climbing the last short distance to the summit.
Hawkin's summit
is strewn with a small menagerie of antennae, enough to be a little annoying
but not enough to block the views. Ryan 
climbed up one that had
rungs like you see on telephone poles, getting up about as high as one could
safely go on Hawkins. Smoke from various fires in California and neighboring
Nevada pervaded much of the far views, but not as bad as reported in many places
throughout the state recently.
Ryan wasn't really in the mood to do Pickett, but I told him it was too early to head back (not yet 10:30a). So we headed down the east side, Hawkin's easiest route. Though not all that steep, the slope has lots of loose rock that one must be careful of. Downclimbing a little too recklessly, Ryan unleashed a few of the larger dinner plates pieces of talus, slipping a few feet down. One of the large pieces scraped up against his leg, forcing a cry of anguish from Ryan. Tears came immediately as he started crying. In his mind he imagined his leg had just been shredded, blood must be everywhere and bones probably sticking out. But with long pants on he could not immediately verify this. I got him to sit down to keep him from hurting himself further in his panic. There was no sign of blood seeping through his pants and his cries soon diminished to sobs which made me believe it wasn't serious. I figured it would probably be better not to take a look and have him start up again. We didn't have a first aid kit, so there wasn't much I was going to be able to do anyway (I know - way to go, Dad...). I talked and yapped about being careful and taking it easy and what not, mostly to take the focus off his pain which was soon receding. After things settled down I got up to start leading us down again, when I heard another cry of anguish. "Oh my God, it's horrible!" He apparently snuck a peek at his leg right after I turned around. Having a little less sympathy now, I calmed him down again and responded, "Told you not to look..." At the end of the day after he'd taken a shower I took a closer look - three or four scratches down his leg, almost no skin loss, none of the cuts more than superficial. I chided him about how "horrible" it was, and he sheepishly tried to reason, "but it looked a lot worse with all the blood!" I didn't find a blood stain on his pants.
After calming down the second time, Ryan asked in a soft, whimpering, pleading
voice, "Do we still have to go to Pickett?" My response - "Yup." Evil Dad.
Down we went.
A lot more carefully this time. Ryan had gotten a little needed religion on how
rockfields can be dangerous.
Down at the base of the 
east side we picked up the road
that heads around the north side of the peak. We followed this until on the
broad 
North Ridge
which we descended cross-country on easy ground to a second
dirt road located below. It was 11:30a when we reached the bend in the road at
the saddle
between the two peaks. Here I gave Ryan the option of continuing to
Pickett or waiting for me, and to no great surprise he chose to wait. I gave
him my watch, told him I'd be back in an hour, and pointed to a patch of snow
he could play in off the east side of the ridge while I was gone. This wasn't
the first time I'd left him to do a little extra hiking, and he was getting
more comfortable with it each time.
Pickett
is a good deal lower than Hawkins, but the summits are similar in shape
and difficulty. The route I took along the ridge from the saddle was easy to
follow, and Ryan reported that my white shirt could be easily spotted most of
the way. Similar to Hawkins, I climbed some class 3 rock on the short
South Face before reaching the summit.
The top of Pickett is a field of 
large boulders,
more difficult to manuever around on than Hawkins. It might have made
Ryan extra nervous after his accident. I didn't find a register anywhere
at the summit (nor had we found one on Hawkins), and I beat a hasty retreat the
same way I had come. When I got back to Ryan, reclining against the daypack I
had left with him, he commented, "Not bad - only 54 minutes."
We headed back down the road which took us nicely down to the main road we had
driven in on, about a mile and a half from our car at the trailhead. It was a
simple matter of hiking back up the road to our car where
we arrived at 1:30p.
Well, simple for one of us anyway. Ryan was pretty tired by this time and was
more than glad to be done. I had planned to take him fishing in the Carson
River after the hike, but he wasn't interested. That was a bit of a surprise -
he almost never passes up an opportunity for fishing, his favorite pasttime. So
off we drove to Carson City where we took a motel for the next two nights. Ryan
soon revived as we engaged in his other favorite pasttime - moteling. This
involves a number of activities he doesn't normally get to engage in, such as
eating and drinking in bed while watching TV. We also took a nice tour of the
town, including a self-guided tour through the state capitol buildings. Nevada
had been Ryan's state of choice for a school report so he took particular
interest in it. He knew the Governor's name, the state bird, motto, etc, and
was delighted to see all this stuff displayed around the halls of the assembly
and senate building. The old capitol building, used until 1937, was loaded with
interesting historical artifacts and displays. Good stuff.
Continued...