Continued...
Today's agenda included a handful of summits south of the Inland Empire, a
primarily agricultural area of upland hills and valleys tucked between the
Santa Ana Mtns to the west and the San Jacinto Mtns to the east. Two are
considered range highpoints because someone saw fit to call a small group of
hills "mountains", while the other two are P900s that I have been collecting
throughout the state.
Double Butte
The western butte is the higher of the two main buttes that comprise this
small collection of hills just south of Homeland along SR74. The western butte
itself is composed of two closely-spaced summits with the lower north summit
featuring some communication towers. A very rough road leads to the towers
from the northwest which can be accessed from Briggs Rd behind a newer
development just off the road. A use trail leads from the saddle between the
two western summits to the highpoint at the south end. The hike is less than
a mile and half one-way with 1,000ft of gain. It appears that the land is
privately owned, but there are no fences and no
No Trespassing signs,
just a lonely
For Sale sign found shortly after starting up the road.
Domenigoni Mountains HP
This small range is found bordering Diamond Valley Lake to the north. The lake
itself is an impressive bit of civil engineering, featuring earthern dams on
three sides. The reservoir holds an immense amount of water with a 20mi-long
perimeter road that can be hiked or, more often, biked. The main entrance is
found on the east side below the dam, with a nice museum, picnicking and boat
launch facilities. On the west end is a to a view
site that is several miles closer to the range highpoint. I arrived at this
gate shortly before 8a, only to find a crotchety old guard who was none too
friendly in telling me they don't open until 8:30a. I waited patiently to the
side until the appointed hour, at which time the guard, having mellowed some -
perhaps having had his morning coffee - checked my ID and let me through to
the viewspot access road. I didn't actually drive to the viewspot as I found
a
with a "Trail" sign a bit closer to where I wanted to
go. I parked off the side so as not to block the gate, though there were no
parking spots and I wasn't sure they'd like me leaving a vehicle here. I was
happy to find it unmolested when I returned.
The first part of the perimeter road that I followed was paved, a very wide,
well-manicured road that seemed entirely too much for what was asked of it
now that the reservoir was completed. It led to a large
, purpose unclear but possibly a pump station, with
a nearby picnic . A
sign indicated the next rest area was 5mi to the east or 15mi to the west. I
think this meant that there was only one other picnic site located at the east
entrance which could be reached by going either way around the lake. Beyond
this, the road led to the with the trail/road going
over the top
along its length. There were dozens of small
mounted on
concrete pillars along the dam and down its north embankment. These were all
aimed in the direction of a
sitting atop a small
knoll, presumeably a high-tech way to monitor the dam for earth movement.
As I was crossing along the top of the dam I noted several boats of
below, trying their luck. Overhead a firefighting
came up from the
lowlands to the north, practicing manuevers at various location around the
reservoir, to ,
, returning to another spot
and repeating, spending perhaps half an hour before flying off for good. At
the east end of the dam the road becomes gravel/dirt, following the contour of
the hills as it makes its way above the water towards the east entrance
station. A spur road is encountered south of the highpoint, a convenient route
to .
Some solar panels and small instruments are found here, otherwise
nothing of note. I was unable to find the register that Richard Carey had
reported leaving here. It appears to be a somewhat popular side trip for
cyclists with a fine view and
the Rawson Mountains
behind it. On a clear day (and this was one of those), the San Bernardino Mtns
can be seen far to with San Jacinto closer to
. The hills
are dry, rocky and mostly barren with only modest vegetation. I decided to
follow
of the range back west, forgoing the use of the road except
where needed to cross .
At the west end, just above the picnic area
were a curious collection of a few , a few
and a lone
juniper. It appears there used to be a homesite here at one time but only
the trees and the large flattened area remain. In all I spent less than 2hrs
on the roundtrip excursion in the Domenigoni Mountains. I waved to the guard as
I passed through his station a second time and was on my way to the next stop.
He seemed much friendlier now.
Rawson Mountains HP
The Rawson Mountains line Diamond Valley Lake on the southern side and appear
a much more range-like group of mountains than the Domenigoni Mtns. There are
two highpoints to the range marked with spot elevations of 2,672ft and 2,671ft.
When Mark Adrian and Richard Carey visited them they
surveyed the southern 2671 point to be
higher than the other by a few inches. That seems a little too precise
considering the summit rocks are surrounded by brush and not easily pinpointed.
I'm inclined to believe the USGS surveyors with more accurate instrumentation,
but it is suggested to visit both "just to be sure." The summits can be
reached from either the north or south. The northern approach uses the 20mi
perimeter bike/hike path around Diamond Valley Lake, then cross-country up
moderately brushy slopes. Evan Rasmussen used this route when he visited a few
days before my own visit. I chose the easier route up from Crown Valley to the
south. This route appears to involve trespassing though I didn't pass through
any
No Trespassing signs along the way. The area can be accessed by a
rough, washboarded dirt road off State St south of Hemet (the east side of
Diamond Valley Lake) or a longer paved route from the south, De Portola Rd.
Crown Valley Rd, decent dirt that any car can navigate, forks off from De
Portola Rd. This can be followed through Crown Valley into Rawson Canyon but
I chose to park in Crown Valley where
appeared to get a bit rough for
my low clearance van. I hiked the road into Rawson Canyon, turning north at a
junction where the uphill starts. A mile after this junction an
is
encountered on the right, clearly visible in the satellite views. It appears to
be an individual enterprise, but the home is definitely occupied. So far, no
gates or signs indicating I'm trespassing, but I don't feel good about it
anyway as I keep expecting someone to come out and ask what I'm doing there.
Just past this is a second, much older homestead. Before reaching it I turned
right onto a spur heading north, crossing an unsigned gate. There are no signs
that this road has been used in many years so it seems safe beyond this point,
other than the road is open to view from the olive ranch to the right as the
road climbs gains elevation.
This road climbs higher, eventually making its way to the saddle between the
two summits, and higher still to a knoll just west of the southern highpoint.
I bypassed the last mile of this road with a shortcut sidehilling around the
east side of Pt. 2,646ft, then modest brush up the SW Ridge to the southern
summit, . It took just short of an hour to reach this
point. I found the year-old Adrian/Carey without any trouble
in a small clump of rocks.
was the only other signature, about a week after the
others. Thankfully the brush
was not difficult and I
managed to get from one to the other in less than 15min. The north summit
offers a better view of ,
but otherwise has much the same
scenery as the south summit. A
found here had the same
signatures as the first one. Oddly, Evan had reported finding neither register
though he clearly climbed the same two bumps. Each summit has several
collections of rocks that might be the highest and it appears he just
didn't make a thorough search (though I found both to be somewhat obvious and
easy to find). It was after 1p before I made my way
to the van, still
seeing and encountering no one along the way. I made a brief effort on my exit
to find a route to nearby Black Mtn (higher than the other two summits and
arguably part of the Rawson Mountains), and though I identified the rough,
dirt Black Mtn Rd, it did not go to the summit which looked to involve more
serious bushwhacking. I was not in the mood for such an effort, and drove out
via the southern route along De Portola Rd.
Sedco Hills HP
This small collection of hills is located east of Lake Elsinore and Interstate
15, near the community of the same name. The hills have seen a good deal of
suburban encroachment, particularly to
in Cottonwood Canyon. 4WD with
sufficient clearance can drive within 1/4mi of the summit
from the north via Lost Rd and Crooked Arrow Rd. A gate bars vehicle traffic
to the lower east summit where a communications tower is located. The road
continues west from the tower
to the very summit. There do not appear to be trespassing issues
in reaching the highpoint. I made the mistake of approaching from the SW at
the Bundy Canyon Rd exit off I-15. I found Lost Rd, but didn't realize I could
have driven further towards the summit. Still, I was less than 1.5mi from the
summit and found the walk easy enough. Hiking Lost Rd is mundane and prone to
dogs barking. One retiree home (with requisite
large motorhome in yard) had upwards of
a dozen dogs that made such a racket I couldn't have heard myself speak. Weak
commands to quiet down from the owners inside were paid no heed. The homes here
are more scattered and eclectic than your typical suburban development. Another
home had hundreds of
and other tropical plants to give this desert
environ a jungle-like atmosphere - complete with a large parrot in a cage out
front, just visible through the forest. The last house on my journey had three
very scary-looking dogs, any one of which could have eaten me in seconds. They
barked and drooled menacingly but made no real effort to breach the fence
separating us. Thank
goodness for strong fences. Rather than continue on the road in the roundabout
fashion to the summit, I struck off cross-country directly up the
which though steep, did not have sufficient brush to be of much concern. A
found at the summit was badly beaten - it's curious that this is
often the case on easy-to-reach summits. Why do folks feel a need to agressively
attack a benchmark?
The are nice, but not outstanding, overlooking the communities
south of Lake Elsinore. In all I spent less than an hour to reach the summit
and return.
I held out some hope that I might be able to pay a visit to Miller Mtn with the
last hour of daylight remaining. I got lost on the backroads of Murrieta
somehow and never made it to Tenaja Rd before the sun was ready to sink. Better
to leave it for the next day when I would have more time (a good thing too,
because I would not have been able to get back before dark, as it turns out,
even if I hadn't made the unneeded detours).
Continued...