W6/SS-328 Pine Mountain

 After activating Bald Mountain I drove back around to the base of Pine Mountain, my next destination. This summit in the Domeland Wilderness has no trail to the summit, and promised an interesting hike. There is a decent size pullout along the road, easy to see in the satellite view. It also seemed like the only place to park in the area.

Parking area.

From here I decided the best route would be to go over the small knoll, then aim towards the col, and head up the north face. This seemed to work. Walking over to the col it seemed like I was following an old fire break. There was trash and other evidence that people go this way somewhat frequently.

Not many pine trees for a Pine Mountain.

As we hiked closer, the skies got darker and darker. It looked like rain in the distance, but so far it hadn't rained where we were. 

Happy before the climb.

At the bottom of the hill, there didn't seem to be any obvious route up. I decided that the rocky outcropping on a small ridge appeared to have the least amount of brush, so went up that way. 

Interesting burned tree.

It was a steep slog up the hill, made more interesting when the rain started. Luckily it wasn't very heavy, nor did it last too long, but the wet rock was more fun. I was clad to get to the summit area, where I found the summit block was easy to walk up. I didn't see a register. 

Summit of Pine Mountain.

I went down to a flatter area to put up the antenna. As I expected, there was no cell service. I had trouble getting chasers, but eventually I got my four. The rain had held off while I was operating, which was nice of it, and it didn't rain the rest of the day. 

Excellent views of the southern Sierra.

I mostly retraced my steps on the way down, but didn't try to go down the rocks. It seems it was easy enough to find gaps in the brush to descend through, and the sandy slopes made the descent fast. Back at the car I was still feeling good, so decided to get one more summit before returning to the hotel.

Trailhead: Pullout on the south side of 22S05. See the map linked below.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Head around the hill to the base of the north face. Climb up to the summit.
Red Tape: None.