Spring BM P750 PD
South Knob P900 PD

Continued...

My last day in NE California left me with a few prominence summits before starting the long drive for home. The two summits were located on either side of SR139, about halfway between Adin to the north and Susanville to the south. I had made failed efforts to reach the pair on a previous trip and had come back to close that open thread. I had spent a quiet night camped in the Modoc NF south of Spring BM, not really sure if I was going to be able to reach it from this side, leaving it until morning to work out a plan.

Spring BM

From a cursory look at a topo map, it appears one should be able to drive fairly close to the summit of Spring BM on decent USFS roads. Though the peak itself lies outside the Modoc NF, most of the lands between it and SR139 are within the national forest. Unfortunately, inholdings block access from the northeast and southeast. A route that I settled on in the morning may not be the shortest way to reach it, but it worked, using Forest Road 36N07 to the southeast. I parked where the road goes over a saddle at the junction with a closed spur road shown on the topo map. I hiked up this old spur road to its end a few hundred feet higher, then went cross-country for the remaining distance. The lower part of the route was sidehilling through forest, not terribly brushy. After crossing a dirt road near Box Spring, I went up the SE Ridge to the summit which I found a mix of forest, grass, and some rather heavy brush. It was slow going and would take me nearly an hour and a half to cover a distance of about two and quarter miles. The highpoint was buried in the forest and brush, and I was unable to locate the benchmark, though I did find some old pieces of wood, a coroded battery and a glass bottle. I left a register here before heading back via a similar route, though my efforts to find a less brushy route on the ridge were mostly unsuccessful. Not a very pleasant summit overall.

South Knob

Located on the east side of SR139, my first effort to approach through the national forest from the north was unsuccessful on that previous visit, stopped by an inholding. This morning I used an all BLM route from the southwest starting from the highway. This route worked out nicely, though moderately brushy for portions of the mile and a quarter route to the summit. It took about 45min to make my way to the top where some rocks amongst the brush and trees form the highpoint. I left another register here before heading back via essentially the same route. I finished up by 11:30a with another 7hrs of driving to get home. And another fun NorCal adventure draws to a close...

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