Continued...
I would have liked to spend another day doing a longer hike to one or more of
the higher peaks in the Trinity Alps, but I had to be back in San Jose the same
evening which would include a 5hr drive. I thought I would use the half
day I had available to tag a few lower P1Ks that needed to be scratched off the
list - there would be more time for the Trinities as the snow melted and summer
arrived. I wish I could report these as exciting hidden gems, but that would be
a lie.
Oregon Mtn / Peak 4,377ft
This pair of summits is located SW of Weaverville. There is a private community
west of Oregon Summit that would provide easier access to both summits were it
not heavily signed for No Trespassing. In all likelihood no one would bother to
stop you if you just drove in, but I wasn't feeling confident when I explored
that option earlier and decided to look for another way. I found it on the NE
side of Oregon Mtn off dirt Democrat Gulch Rd. I had spent the night parked
just off the road, drawing the attention of a few rural residents who slowed
down to check me out, but not of sufficient interest to bother stopping to
investigate. In the morning I was up and on my way by 6:30a, using my bike to
follow an old now only used by the occasional motorcyclist. A
patchwork of BLM lands, private forest lands and the private community's
property is confusing enough to discourage most public usage. Much of the
uphill sections were too steep to ride. Rather than abandon the bike, I resorted
to pushing it uphill, expecting the route between the two summits to be rideable
as well as the downhill return. It took about an hour of pushing/riding through
forest to reach the more open near
, home to an array of .
Because it isn't even 4,000ft in height, are limited to the
immediate area around Weaverville.
The higher Peak 4,377ft is almost 2mi SSW of Oregon Mtn. It was a nice downhill
ride to
and then further towards the second summit until I
reached a small clearing at the end of the road just east of Pt. 1,263.5m shown
on the 7.5' topo map. A much older logging road continues south from here and
I initially attempted to follow it pushing the bike, but it was too overgrown
to make good progress. I
and continued on foot. It was not
long before I abandoned the road altogether as it was too overgrown with small
trees and brush. I climbed steeply up the embankment to reach the crest of the
mountain north of the summit. From here, under
forest cover leads to the summit area. A bit of bushwhacking leads to
with that appears to be the
highest point. Rather disappointing.
I went back to retrieve the bike, rode back through Sweepstake Flat and then
began to explore an alternate return
route that would save me the trouble of going
back over Oregon Mtn. This was a mixed bag, the majority of which made it a weak
choice. It started off well but was descending the wrong side of the mountain.
I needed to get back to the east side and found a junction with an old logging
road. This led around to an old,
with a rusty bedspring lying
atop the pile. It's probably been 70 or more years since that cabin last stood
upright. From here, I ended up pushing the bike up the ridgeline for a quarter
mile to reach the OHV road I had taken initially. Luckily the ridgeline was
fairly open and there was no brush to fight with in addition to gravity. Once
back on the road, it was an easy 15min to get .
Wells Mtn / Hoosimbim Mtn
These two summits lie south of SR3 between Douglas City and Hayfork. Once again,
land ownership is far from obvious. The topo maps shows both on Forest Service
lands, but others show differently. There may be inholdings or perhaps land
swaps in the past, but it seems that logging interests control most of what
goes on in this area. At Hayfork
Summit, located along the highway between two summits, is a short turnoff that
allowed me to park and access an OHV that leads
steeply up
Hoosimbim's North Ridge. Hoosimbim is just a bonus on the way to the P1K, Wells,
with the route I selected going up and over the one on they way to the other.
From the starting point, Wells is about 3mi distance, a relatively short outing
even without the bike, which was a good thing since the
is
exceedingly steep and I put the bike back in the van soon after discovering
this. It is not a scenic or pretty hike. There are to
be had along portions of the route, often where clearcuts have left open
sections of forest. As I hiked up the ridgeline I crossed over several quite
servicable
not depicted on the topo map or my GPS. I suspect these
are newer roads to help with the harvesting efforts in this area. These roads
might be used to more easily reach the summits, but where they originate or go
is hard to guess. The was recently logged (or raped,
depending on your enviro-leanings), leaving it . From the top
of Wells one can look south into the , with the
summit of the same name dominating the skyline in that direction. I found
to be at the far north end of a short summit ridge.
is a brushy
pile of rocks among some trees, less interesting than Wells. I spent just under
2.5hrs on the effort, not seeing another soul - probably a good thing...