W6/NE-113

I climbed this peak after coming down from Payne Peak. To get to the trailhead, take County Road 58 (paved) to 58B (gravel). In my little sedan, I only drove as far as the sharp turn just inside the NF boundary. A high clearance, 4WD car could go much farther. There was plenty of parking space here.

My parking space. No shade, sadly.

Take the road over the small hill. At the intersection at the bottom, turn right, onto 42N50, towards Lower Dry Creek Basin. After this intersection the road gets much rougher, but no problem for my feet. I took the road up to an intersection in the basin, where I left it to go cross country.

The road was generally well shaded, with dense forest on either side.

Stepping off the road, the forest was somewhat dense, but quickly thinned out. I had no trouble going up, but I did have to weave around the fallen trees and brambles. The slope is steep in places, but no problems getting up. There are some cliffs below the summit, but there are plenty of ways to go around them.

The summit.

I came up onto the ridge in-between the summit and a peak that is nearly as high. There were some great views here, and I was in the activation zone, but I decided to head over the real summit. I followed the ridge over, and found the high point. The location given on SotaMaps appears to be higher. Unsurprisingly, I didn't find a register or benchmark. I setup in the shade of a tree.

The rocky summit, looking over to Warren and Squaw.

Again, I had great service, and was able to spot myself. I quickly got a pileup on 20 meters, which I worked through. 30 and 40 didn't get as many contacts. After finishing I headed down. I drifted a bit far south, and had to work my way over a small ridge to get back to the face of the mountain I wanted to be on. Back at the road I followed it down and out to the car, where I went back into Alturas before heading up to Buck Mountain.

Operating position under the tree.

Trailhead: End of County Road 58B, at the sharp bend just inside the NF boundary

Website: SOTA Site.

Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.

Route: Take 42N50 up to the intersection in the Dry Creek Basin. Go cross country up to the summit.

Red Tape: None.

Typical view from the off-trail section.