Continued...
Today's summits were a collection of P1Ks in and around Klamath National Forest,
including an incursion into Oregon to tag a P2K just over the border. None of
the hikes were very long nor very hard, but involved lots of driving through
this sparsely populated area of Northern California.
Sharp Mountain
Sharp Mtn is located in a forgotten pocket of the state between Lava Beds NM
to the east and US97 to the west. I had spent the night a few miles to the
south near Wild Horse Mtn, the last summit I'd climbed the previous day. I was
up early to drive the short distance to my along a forest
road that skirts the mountain on its southwest side. This forested area is used
for cattle grazing, a that were more curious than
frightened by
my presence when I started just after 6a. The distance to the summit was a bit
over a mile, but 1,500ft of gain. After a short stint through the flatter, lower
forest where the cows roam, the climb begins at a pretty steady gradient all the
way to the top. The forest to more open
with views and to Red Rock Valley. There are a lot
of lava rocks strewn among the grass, brush and trees along
I
used for most of the ascent, requiring some caution. At the
I found and
with a few scraps of paper along with older, unreadable pages. I returned via
the same route, taking just over an hour and a half for the outing.
Mt. Dome
Located about 8.5mi NE of Sharp Mtn, this lies just
outside the western
edge of Modoc National Forest, on adjacent BLM lands, though most of my route
was through the national forest. My driving route from paved Red Rock Rd took me
through a collection of private , passing through
, none
of them locked nor signed for No Trespassing. From the vicinity of Lairds Camp
on the south side of the mountain, a very rough road climbs about 600ft higher
up that side of the mountain. I drove only half of this because the road was so
bad and ended up parking its side the grassy slope. The
hike up the south side is , but the brush
as one gains elevation
with a tangle of trees across the summit. The highpoint is found at the northern
end of a 1/3mi-long summit ridge. An old hubcab was found in the summit rocks
at the lower . had
through the brush years ago that is still useable though not easy to discern. I
found and remains of the old among
the summit rocks at the highpoint, along with a register in a PVC tube. The
register dated though there was an from
2013. Of the half dozen or so entries, the I recognized
were Richard Carey and Chris Kerth. The others were locals, BLM surveyors, or
conservationists cutting junipers to help establish bald eagle habitat. It
sounds weird, but the idea is that junipers compete with the pines that the
birds prefer to nest in, and due to fire suppression efforts of the past,
have come to encroach on much of the sagebrush steppes in this part of the
state and neighboring Oregon. The junipers were cut and collected into
that can be found along the summit ridge, though they don't seem to have
been too greatly diminished by the efforts - new junipers are growing up in
their place. At 3mi roundtrip and 1,800ft of gain, this was the second longest
of the day's hikes, taking two and a quarter hours.
Secret Spring Mountain
While heading west back along Red Rock Rd, I first attempted to reach Sheep Mtn,
a P1K on the north side of Red Rock Valley. The topo map shows a road coming
up from the southeast off Red Rock Rd, but this no longer appears to exist. I
ended up in the yard of one of the locals who came out to see what I was about.
He was very friendly and gave me somewhat vague instructions on how to get to
Sheep Mtn. I drove back out to Red Rock Rd and found that
fit the description he'd given me, but it ended up petering out in
about a mile from the pavement. I
on foot looking for something I
could drive on, but in the end gave it up. More research later showed another
option off Red Rock Rd further east. I shall try that next time.
Back on the pavement, I drove west to the small town of Macdoel where I got gas
and headed off towards Secret Spring Mtn. Located only a few miles from the
Oregon border, the peak lies in a patchwork of private, BLM and Forest Service
lands. Dennis Poulin provided good beta on PB for a route from the south. There
are roads from the east that get one closer, but Dennis mentions these seem to
be blocked by private property. I first checked out this eastern option, but
found locked gates at the end of the publicly accessible roads. I then followed
Dennis's southern route, finding it has grown quite brushy in the past six
years. Where it goes through a section of private property, it is now signed
for No Trespassing, but there was no gate to block driving. I continued on,
finding the road back on Forest Service land , adding
considerable depth to my pinstriping collection. I of
the saddle Dennis described reaching, giving the jeep a break from the brush and
walking this last half mile instead. The route was a total of about six miles
roundtrip,
following the South Ridge with its modest gradient. The area around the saddle
and far up the ridgeline is home to a herd of , about a
dozen of which I saw on my way and . There are
the horses have developed over the seasons, and some o
f these can be used going up and down the ridgeline through some of the brushier
areas. The brush was never bad enough to call it bushwhacking and for the most
part is pleasant enough. I crossed over three
on my way up, the last is the described by Dennis. Above
this, the gradient gets a bit steeper and the open slopes become more heavily
forested. For fun, I hunted out the Beswick benchmark about half a mile from the
summit, as shown on the topo map. I found one of the reference marks and the
collapsed , but after briefly digging under the tower's
location, I gave up finding the benchmark itself. I continued on to the
northwest end of the summit area to find wide-open views looking ,
west and . Dennis further hinted that some of the rocks east of
this point may be higher and indeed they were when I went to check them out.
Unfortunately, they are buried under heavy tree cover and have no views, but I
left here at the before
the same
way. In all, I spent two and three quarter hours on the roundtrip effort.
Chase Mtn/Hamaker Mtn
In driving back out to US97, I noted that there was a P2K just over the Oregon
border to the north, a drive-up. I'd had enough hiking for the day, so this
seemed like a nice way to spend a few hours and let the jeep do most of the
work. That it was paved the whole way was a double bonus. Nearby is another
named summit that can be driven to by any vehicle as well, on a decent gravel
road. I first visited Chase Mtn with its . The cabin
shutters were all opened, but there was no one onsite at the moment and the
door to the observation deck was locked. I climbed the stairs as high as I could
to take some , then headed back to the pavement. Continuing up to
the summit of Hamaker Mtn, I found a large goverment
there. The fence surrounding it and the
highpoint is formidable but not impenetrable. I walked up to the
around the fence to call it good.
Mt. Hebron
Back in California and heading south on US97 towards Weed, I stopped near
Hebron Summit for this last peak. The dirt road from the highway is about 3mi
in length, growing rougher the further one goes. The road eventually
altogether a short distance below the summit on the east
side. 4WD and high-clearance are needed to get to this point, but it's not a
very long hike to simply climb it , closer to the highway.
Fire had burned over the entire mountain in the 2009 Tennant Fire, leaving snags
and a in its wake. is found to
the north of the summit area, one of three rocky points vying for the honors. I
found the remains of an at ,
its contents too brittle from being toasted to be of much use anymore. It was
7:45p by the time to the jeep, content to
call it a day. I showered before heading back to the highway, eventually driving
on to Weed where I got dinner and then further south on Interstate 5 before
finding a place to sleep for the night.
Continued...