Boundary Peak, Nevada

Boundary Peak, Nevada

  9:30 PM    Ted Glick

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tldr; the video trip report is on YouTube here.

The way my vacation meanderings worked out, Boundary Peak would be my last hike/climb of the somewhat epic, seven-state, 2018 End-of-Summer road trip; aka, Ted's Excellent Adventure. I was disappointed that I never got good enough weather to try Borah Peak in Idaho or Kings Peak in Utah, but all things considered, everything worked out pretty well and I got to see and do a lot of things that I wanted to see and do.

I left Bishop, California, very early in the morning, trying not to wake up others in the little motel I was staying in. I grabbed some coffee from the Starbucks in town and avoided the temptation to get a donut from the donut shop next door, and I ate a protein bar instead as I headed north on Highway 6 towards the Dirt Road From Hell™ that would take me to Boundary Peak trailhead.

Two miles into Nevada I turned south onto the unmarked dirt/gravel trailhead approach road, just as I had done 9 days earlier when a sharp rock and a flat tire thwarted my plans to climb the mountain. This time I drove very slowly and carefully, but it's not like you can avoid hazards on this road. It took me over 30 minutes to make my way 6 miles up the road towards the trailhead. This is the worst road I have ever attempted to drive on. I've read a lot of Boundary Peak trip reports that briefly mention the poor state of this road, but let me make it clear. Your rental Prius/Corolla/Charger/Mustang/minivan/whatever isn't going to make it up this road. You need pretty much a real Jeep or a dirt bike if you expect to make it all the way to the trailhead.

I have a Nissan Murano that has relatively good ground clearance for the small-SUV type of vehicle it is, but I was tense all the way on this road. It is full of sharp rocks, ruts, washouts and high spots that are just trying to rip up a tire or take off your oil pan. This road is no joke. Dash cam video doesn't do it justice at all, but here's some from my dash cam.

I got to a point right at Queen Mine where I could see the final bit of road leading up to the trailhead, and that was as close as I felt I could get without risk of damage to my car. This would have to do as my starting point, so I parked and got my gear ready, threw my pack on and started up the road to the trailhead on foot.

Even though it is a sought-after state high point, Boundary Peak is a little obscure and out-of-the-way, so I know it's not a high-traffic mountain. I truly expected to be the only climber on the mountain on a Wednesday in mid-September, so I was surprised first when I saw an empty Volkswagen SUV parked a little higher up along the road, and then again when I saw a white Jeep slowly crawling its way up the road far below me as I hiked up towards the trailhead. I guess I would have company today.

The white Jeep caught up to me when I was about a half-mile up from my car. They stopped and the two guys inside offered me a ride. It looked like it would be inconvenient for them to rearrange the back to make room for me and my pack, so I politely declined and just let them go on. Unfortunately for me, my inconvenient parking spot added a mile each way on my hike, plus over 800 vertical feet just to get up to the trailhead. It was making an already difficult day much harder.

Some extra work just to get to the trailhead

I caught up to the guys in the Jeep at the trailhead, and we talked about the various mountains we have climbed for a good 20 minutes or so. Nice guys; looked to be in their 20's and fit, so I knew they'd be fast and I wouldn't see them the rest of the day. As they departed up the trail, another group of six guys came up from the east side of the trailhead. They'd come in the other way in a rental minivan that didn't get anywhere near the trailhead. They had hiked up 3 or 4 miles just to get to the trailhead. But they too were young guys and strong climbers; they could handle it.

We all started up the mountain right at about 8 AM, and they all soon outpaced me, so I was well behind them and hiking alone within an hour. I also stopped fairly often to take pictures and shoot video, and try a new thing where I sort of narrate what's going on with the climb. I'll see if I can string those video segments together for some sort of useful video trip report to post on YouTube.

After a moderate 1,000 foot ascent, the trail more-of-less levels out for nearly 2 miles as you approach Trail Canyon Saddle at the base of the imposing-looking Hosebag Peak. You have to climb Hosebag to get to Boundary Peak's north ridge, which leads up to the summit.

Looking south from the ridge trail towards Trail Canyon Saddle, Hosebag Peak and Boundary Peak

The hike to Trail Canyon Saddle was uneventful, and Hosebag Peak loomed large. It looked very difficult. The trail up Hosebag gains over 1,100 feet in a bit over a half-mile, so it's quite steep and a very physically demanding section of trail. There was also a very strong, cold wind blowing consistently in this area, and I was concerned for awhile about being mildly hypothermic. It was very tiring. Partway up Hosebag I met the Volkswagen SUV owners on their way down. They were early starters and fast movers for sure. We chatted for a bit--they were nice folks.

The trail ceases to be a trail about a third of the way up Hosebag Peak. As with most climbers' trails, tracks just spider web all over the place and you just have to try to pick the line of least resistance for yourself as you ascend or descend. And it's 90% boulder hopping anyway, trying to find good rocks that don't move under your feet. These mountains are really just big piles of rocks held together with a little bit of dirt.

After getting past Hosebag and part way up Boundary's north ridge, I became aware of a very deep and ominous-sounding rumble from some distance away. I stopped to look around, puzzled as to what was happening. My first thought was that I was hearing an earthquake because it sounded like a very loud and not-too-distant earthquake. This worried me because if this mountain started shaking, big boulders were going to start falling, probably including the ones I was standing on, and it could get ugly fast, for me and the other 10 people on the mountain. But as I heard more rumbling and didn't feel any movement, I figured it had to be something else. I now could see a very large plume of dirt or smoke or ash in the distance to the west, probably 30 to 40 miles away. As I took some video of that, I now (wrongly) surmised that Mammoth Mountain, a very seismically-active volcano, had had a volcanic 'burp'. That's what the plume looked like; a small volcanic ash cloud. Thankful that the mountain I was on wasn't doing anything, I watched the plume until all the rumbling noises stopped before continuing up the mountain.

I now think that this was probably some very large-scale blasting for some sort of highway or mining project. I can't think of anything else it could have been.

Anyway, now above 12,200 feet, the climb was just a matter of stubbornness; a climber's most valuable commodity. Climb 20 or 30 steps, stop, rest, pant for air, repeat. Eventually you make it to the top, which I did at around 1:30 PM.

I took some pictures and video, ate a small snack and signed the summit register found in a large ammo can. It was a clear and cloudless day with zero wind on top, and the views were spectacular in every direction. I didn't think a desert mountain would be much to look at, but Boundary Peak is a very good-looking mountain.

On the summit

Just over a half-mile to the southwest was Montgomery Peak, sticking up a couple hundred feet higher than Boundary Peak. Montgomery is over the state line in California, though, so Boundary is king in Nevada. In planning this hike I thought I'd also like to also get over to Montgomery while on this climb, but the connecting saddle is seven tenths of a mile of very rugged terrain with an additional climb of several hundred feet, and that would add an hour or more to the trip, so I decided that I would not make the attempt.

At around 2 PM I closed up my pack and the summit register box (an ammo can) and started down. All others were well below me now and I was for all intents and purposes alone on the mountain for the rest of the day. I don't mind this. Solitude on a big mountain is a special thing which I covet as a rare treat.

The trip down the north ridge and Hosebag's steeply-descending boulder field was slow and arduous, as expected. Then when I reached the more-or-less flat 2-mile section, it seemed to go on forever. Every time I thought I was near the end, another section of trail appeared over the crest and it just went on and on.

I finally got to the last 1,000-foot descent to the trailhead where I signed out of the log and sat on a rock to rest for a few minutes. Then I started down the last mile on the rocky road to my car at Queen Mine. It was a very quiet and lonely mountain with everyone long gone by now. Approaching early evening, the shadows grew long and I kept my head on a swivel for cougars (not the good kind). There's been too much news of cougar attacks lately which makes your mind go to dark places when you're alone in the wilderness.

I had myself a nice wet-wipe bath at the car and put on some clean clothes as it would be hours before I reached any place with a motel, and then it took me a good 30 minutes to get my car down the mountain safely before I jumped on Highway 6 westbound and headed for Highway 395 in California. I had a new granddaughter, my first grand-baby, to go visit tomorrow.

Boundary Peak is a great climb and a fantastic mountain. It's a very challenging hike and the mountain is probably more scenic than what you'd expect in the Nevada desert, and the summit views are incredible. Highly recommended (but only if you have a very good, high clearance 4WD vehicle to get there!).

The elevation profile from my GPS watch (not the most accurate thing in the world)

Click here for an interactive topo map on caltopo.com with my GPS track overlay.

There are not a lot of photos in this post as I mostly took video during this one. If you'd like to see that edited video trip report, it's here on YouTube.

Thanks for reading!

Ted

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New Mexico to Nevada

New Mexico to Nevada

  5:42 PM    Ted Glick

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After the Sunday Wheeler Peak climb in northern New Mexico, my plan was to drive to Los Alamos and get a motel room for the night. As it turns out, the Wheeler Peak climb went faster than expected so I ended up getting to Los Alamos pretty early in the day and I spontaneously decided to continue west and stop for the night in either Cuba or Farmington, New Mexico. This would put me ahead of schedule for Monday.

I was impressed with Los Alamos; it was a good-looking little city and seemed like a nice place to live. Too hot for me, but otherwise pretty nice.

This is now a roadside rest stop

Following my GPS guidance, I departed Los Alamos going west on Highway 501. I was a little confused when this route looped around and took me to a set of gates, one for each lane, where I had to show my driver's license to a guard.

Suddenly, gates...

I told the guard I was not sure why I had ended up at these gates, and I was only trying to travel west on the highway and I was not trying to enter any sort of restricted area. I asked him if this was highway 501 and he said he didn't know. Really? You work here in a little booth right in the middle of this road every day, and you don't know what road it is? Seems like knowing where you are should be a job requirement. At any rate, he returned my license and waved me through, and there I was, driving through Los Alamos National Laboratory. Okaaaay...

Leaving the expansive laboratory grounds, I found myself traveling through the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which is a beautiful forested, mountainous area. The scenery was spectacular, and it distracted me to the point where I almost ran myself out of gas. Instead of continuing west towards Cuba, I had to detour south on Highway 4 in hopes of finding some gas, which I did find in San Ysidro. I put 19.9 gallons into my 19 gallon tank. That was close.

It was still early in the day, so I decided to push on northward through Cuba and all the way to Farmington for the night. I've never actually been to Farmington, but I've flown over it countless times in my Air Force career. It was a large farming town; pretty much as I expected.

Anyway, I rolled into town at dinnertime, and finding no local offerings that looked good, I settled on the Golden Corral for dinner. Hungry after a long day, I had seconds and dessert before waddling over to the local La Quinta to get a room for the night.

On Monday my destination was southwest Utah, but I'd allotted a couple of hours along the way to explore a bit of Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de Shey) National Monument in northwestern Arizona, so I headed southwest from Farmington and passed through Shiprock once again along the way.

Shiprock

Canyon de Chelly has an incredible history as home and strategic stronghold of the Navajo, and a tactical nightmare for the US Calvary in the 1860's. I've wanted to see it for many years, and it didn't disappoint. It's a visually striking geological feature with sweeping views and sheer cliffs, and it's full of natural caves and ancient adobe dwellings. To tour inside the canyon you must make arrangements with a Navajo guide and my schedule didn't really allow for that, but I did stop and explore at several rim viewpoints. I hope to come back soon with my daughter and explore inside the canyon with a guide.

My plan for Tuesday was to hike the iconic Angel's Landing trail in Zion National Park (even though I never seem to have good experiences at national parks due to overcrowding), so I'd made a hotel reservation in the tiny town of Hildale in southwest Utah. The Hildale hotel seemed to be a good bargain compared to expensive rooms a similar distance from Zion in the Kanab, Hurricane or Springdale areas. But Hildale turned out to be a very strange place...

I rolled into town and immediately had trouble finding the hotel. I found a modest sign for the hotel on a tall brick wall that surrounded a compound of sorts that took up one fourth of a large city block. After circling the block looking for the entrance, I pulled into the compound through an open gate, and found a door that looked like a residential front door. There was an unplugged 'Open' sign above the door, but no indication that this was the hotel, and I felt like I'd be walking into someone's living room if I went in. I called the hotel and was told I was at the right place and to come in, so I did. The young woman at the desk in what looked like a dorm day room checked me in, charging my card and completing the check-in process on her iPhone. She gave me an old-fashioned metal key and led me through long winding hallways to my room. This place didn't look like a hotel. It looked like a very large dormitory. There were hallway alcoves with washers and dryers. There were intercom speakers everywhere, and thermostats along the hallways that anybody could adjust. My room was a bit of a rundown room with a ceiling fan and basic hotel accouterments. There were no signs about fire exit routes or check-out times or anything like that. I wondered what the original purpose of this building was.

The vibe of this place was just strange. And a little unsettling. As I headed out to find some dinner at one of the three places in town that served food, I found the town to be just downright creepy. Many homes were extra large and surrounded by high brick or steel panel walls. Like 8 to 12 feet high. Gates were solid and there were no decorative openings or breaks of any sort in the walls or gates. Living in one of these houses has to be like living in a prison with no view of the outside world. There was no pedestrian traffic in town. No kids playing in yards. It was just so strange...

This is a totally normal home in Hildale

While waiting for my dinner, I googled the town and learned something along the lines of what I already suspected. Hildale is the headquarters of the FLDS, the Fundamentalist branch of the LDS church, and that most (or all?) residents were members, and many Hildale families are plural marriage families. Yeah, remember that guy, Warren Jeffs?  This is his town.  I knew that bigamy was still a thing in southwest Utah, but I didn't expect to find myself in the middle of it like this. And probably support it to a small degree with my money.

So that explains the walls. Yeesh. I should have paid more and stayed somewhere else. It did not feel good at all to be a strange face in a strange car with out-of-state plates in this town. I felt like everybody was giving me the eye. I went back to my creepy hotel and went to bed, and got up early on Tuesday morning and left before anyone at the hotel was up. I wound my way through the dark hallways with my little flashlight and left my key on the front desk, threw my stuff into my car and jumped on the highway heading out of town.

Anywhoo...
It took me an hour or so to get to Zion National Park west entrance, and the $35 entrance fee set me off right away. I was expecting $20 or $30, but $35? Remember when our taxes paid for our parks? Remember when every American could afford to visit a park? I guess it's more important for rich people to have lower taxes. What's it going to be next year, $50? And then the gate ranger just outright badgered me for not having exact change, and for not wanting to pay with a credit card. She said, "It's early and we're low on fives." Okay, how is that my fault or my problem? I'm sorry I don't have what you want, now please get off my ass and let me in, is what I was thinking. I gave her the stink-eye, she relented and 'fessed up my change, and I rolled into the park already in a bad mood.

I headed for the Grotto trailhead, and was very surprised to find that only shuttles were allowed on that road; the only road to get there. I was hoping to avoid the hordes of people today, but I guess I was going to have to go back to the entrance and get on a shuttle. Crowd management; I understand. Not what I wanted to do; not what I planned on, but I understand. So I headed back to the entrance.

I then find that, even before 7 AM on a Tuesday in the off season, the shuttle parking lot is packed and absolutely gridlocked. You can't even get in there because there are so many people looking for a spot and queueing up for the shuttle. That was the last straw for me. I turned around and headed for the east park exit. All of my experiences with National Parks are like this. Big expenses, grand plans and high hopes, always trashed by hordes of people. I'm absolutely done with national parks. Never again will I enter or try to do anything in a national park.

I looped around from the Zion east gate, up through the Dixie national forest (which is quite beautiful, by the way), and got some breakfast at the IHOP in Cedar City. Then I crossed over into Nevada and headed west on the Extraterrestrial Highway to Tonopah, then down to Bishop, California for the night.

Nevada is weird

The forecast for 13,147-foot Boundary Peak on the very western edge of Nevada was nearly perfect, so climbing that state high point was the plan for Wednesday....

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