This was the first day of a short roadtrip to NorCal to continue working on
my quest of the CA P1Ks. Freaner Peak was the only P1K in this bunch,
the others just bonus peaks in the area. All of them are located in
Lassen National Forest between two P2Ks, Burney Mtn and Crater Peak. Leaving
San Jose around 7a, I
didn't get started with the hikes until 1p, leaving me about half a
day. I extended the outing until after sunset to give me more time, and
I ended up with a nice collection of summits in about seven hours' time.
Freaner Peak
This was the only one that was a semi-serious hike, about 3mi each way and
2,000ft of gain. I used the on the west side of the
peak. A goes to Lake Eiler found on the south side of
Freaner, but I didn't reach the lake or even see it on my visit. After about 2mi
on the trail I turned right to head up to the peak cross-country for the
last mile. The south side of the peak has some dense
at chest level that are to be avoided. Other large sections of the mountain are
volcanic boulder fields, so my route was chosen to follow through
as much as possible since these had the easiest
travel. There are no trip reports available on PB, so I was a little
concerned that I might find some heavy bushwhacking. I was happy to find
no serious brush at all with careful route-finding, taking only 90min to
reach the top. The views are open in all directions, and
the obvious bigger peaks on
either side. Behind Burney can be seen snowy Mt. Shasta and to the south
of Crater is Lassen Peak. The bonus peaks I was interested in were all to
the west, north and northeast. Finding no register among the summit rocks,
I of my own before returning back via nearly the same route.
Horse Heaven Buttes West
This one is located 3.5mi west of Freaner. Forest roads get one to within 0.35mi
on the NE side of the peak. A is found just off the road,
but most of the route goes through dense forest. Lots of downfall, but no brush,
at least. is buried in forest with no views. I only
visited the higher west summit. With only 200ft of prominence, I didn't
bother with the east summit.
Twin Buttes
These are found 3mi NNW of Freaner Peak. The 2014 Eiler
Fire burned over much of the terrain east and north of Freaner, leaving lots
of dead snags. There was a lot of salvage logging, but most of the snags
remain. Brush is growing back in the meantime, though currently it isn't
too hard to wade through the thickest of it. A forest road goes across the
saddle between the two peaks and I used this as my starting point for both. I
went up the of the higher south butte and then
before going up the north butte. There were
on both summit thanks to the fire, but trees would otherwise
them. looms high only a few miles to the northwest,
dominating the view from the north butte. can be seen to
advantage from the south butte.
Doyle Butte
This butte lies 3mi north of Twin Buttes. Decent forest roads lead very close
to the summit, on the south side. There's little gain
and moderate brush to make it to in about 5min. The town of
Burney can be seen about five miles to the northwest along SR299. Burney
Mtn dominates the view to the west.
Cornaz Peak
This minor summit has 760ft of prominence, the second highest for the day's
collection. A dirt road gets within 0.35mi on .
Modest brush and a steep slope lead to up . The rocky summit
is again thanks to the same fire that swept over this
peak, too. There are numerous small rock cairns and some
broken glass about the base of the summit rocks. Seems to get at least a
few visitors. Hat Creek Valley and SR89 lie 1.5mi to the east and 2,000ft
below Cornaz Peak. Good cell reception from here.
Red Rock Hill
This last peak was done with barely enough light to see
by. A rough road winds up towards the peak from the northwest, getting within
about 0.40mi. There was moderate brush with downfall half-hidden among it,
making this pretty tricky at this time of night. More careful
route-finding might have found less brush, but I was feeling rushed to
get back in quick order. It was twilight when I reached the summit, neat
skies , but otherwise getting pretty dark. The highpoint was
found among snags and unburned trees that cover much of the summit. After
getting back to the jeep, I only drove a short distance down the hill to
find to shower and spend the night. More fun on tap for
tomorrow...
Continued...