There are a couple of mountains that we always look at for quite a while when driving up/down Hwy. 395 on Sierra Nevada trips. We never have the time on these trips to hike them, so I put together a separate trip for these.
Day 1
Jack, Frank, Srisuda and I meet up and convoyed to the “town” of Red Mountain along Hwy. 395. We arrived in the area around noon. For this day we had planed to hike Klinker Mtn. and Dome Mtn. in a ~10 mile loop which included a stop at a petroglyph site. We took Trona road north from Red Mountain and then turned east onto dirt on OHV road RM1444. After following that road for 4 miles we parked at the trailhead for the petroglyph trail. The Steam Wells Petroglyph site is located within the Golden Valley Wilderness area and believed to be over 2000 years old. Unfortunately there was evidence for a lot of vandalism, so it’s not easy to determine what’s old and what’s new.
From the petroglyph site we headed over a saddle towards Klinker Mtn. We then followed a wash to a ridge leading us up to a plateau with Klinker at the edge. Views were great and after a short break we went straight north-east towards Dome Mtn. We had to go down a little, but overall it was a very gentle walk over. From Dome we took a ridge down to the south aiming directly for our vehicles about 3.5 miles away. When we reached the parking area John had arrived. With less than an hour of daylight left we decided to camp right there. We lucked out and it was calm enough for a little camp fire in our fire pan. After a while the wind started to pick up and we got into our sleeping bags.
Day 2
During the night some strong wind gusts blew around us shaking the truck. In the morning a was calmer and we enjoyed our breakfast in peace before breaking up camp and driving east for about another 4 miles on RM1444 to the foot of Almond Mtn. By this time it was quite windy and Srisuda decided not to hike up the ridge fully exposed to the wind. A smart move. As we went up the ridge of black volcanic rock the wind kept getting stronger and stronger. For short sections we were able to stay just below the ridge with some protection from the wind. By the time we arrived at the top the wind was so strong that standing without some support was difficult to impossible. After a short break with some snacks sheltered behind some rocks it was time to go down. Traveling x-country on uneven ground in this wind took a lot of concentration.
Back at the vehicles we had lunch and decided to drive over to Red Mountain and attempt it despite the strong winds. We drove up one of the OHV roads until it became to rough for our vehicles. With winds still strong Srisuda again decided to stay in the truck. We hiked up to a saddle where we had to turn south. From that point on we were in extreme winds for the rest of the hike. Winds easily 50-60 miles an hour. Some gusts made it impossible to walk, standing with hiking poles firmly planted was barely possible. Needles to say we did not stay long on the peak. On the way down Jack got hit by a strong gust and when he braced himself with the poles one of them broke. Shortly afterwards he had to fight another gust and the other pole broke. Walking without support was no option in these winds and so he took one of my poles before we carefully made our way down.
At the truck Jack decided he had spent enough energy and equipment for one trip and went back home. The rest of us drove back to RM1444 and used one of the OHV stating campsites for the night. We parked the trucks to block the wind a bit and were able to have dinner in a reasonably sheltered space this way. As the sun went down, we went to bed. In the early morning hours it rained a little and we woke up to a cloudy sky, and of course wind.
Day 3
Before heading back home we drove up to the ridge west of Red Mountain to check out the locations of 2 benchmarks which are now covered by communications towers. The views were great with very clear air and the clouds mostly gone, but it was very cold in the freezing wind.
We had one little hike left before going home. We drove south on 395 to Fremont road and then due west to Fremont peak. This peak looks almost like a needle from a distance. There is an old mine at the bottom and we parked there. The hike is only about 1.7 miles and 800 ft up, but the wind made it interesting. In fact on the very steep, sandy slope Srisuda was not able to maintain balance and kept being pushed over, I had to fight hard to keep my balance. She decided to wait for us in a somewhat sheltered spot. The top of the mountain looks like a class 3 scramble, but there is a nice crack that makes it easy class 2. Again, with the wind we did not spent much time at the top.
Overall a fun trip with friends, but we could have done with a lot less wind!
(Click on any image to enlarge/start slide show)
