East Ord Mountain 6168′
Desert Peak Section
Total Time: 2:45
Distance: 4.4 miles (~1.0 on E-bike)
Elevation Gain: 2300′
Crux: Class 2
Trailhead: BLM Road 6657, no services
My second day in the Mojave would need to be a short one- I had booked a flight from Fresno to Phoenix before getting these days off, and needed to at the airport in time for a 6:30 PM flight. Luckily East Ord Mountain was just outside of Barstow and was the closest physical DPS summit on the entire list to Fresno. It was a short route to boot, less than 5 miles round trip although quite steep. Not taking any chances, I still left the hotel early just before sunrise, briefly heading east on I-40 before exiting for Camp Rock Road. I would be on this dirt road for about 20 miles, although it was in excellent shape at times clipping along at 50 mph on the packed sand. From the north, the Camp Rock Road swung north of both Ord Mountain (higher, but less interesting with a road to the summit) and East Ord Mountain, before swinging around my objective to the east.
Following the DPS guide instructions, I found BLM Road 6657 just beyond some powerlines, and followed this north to a junction with an unmarked 4WD road. I parked here, hoping I could knock out a little bit more of the road with the help of my E-bike. Although it likely saved me a little time, it was probably ultimately more trouble than it was worth, with the 4WD road littered with large rocks and very loose pebbles.
I got just beyond the spot marked “Guzzler” on the topo near a series of old mines when the road got extremely steep and loose, a spot I wouldn’t want to ride up or down. I parked my bike here and continued up the road on foot, only staying on it another 100 yards or so before heading cross country to the north.
The mountain was quite different than the two Mojave summits the day before, the dark volcanic rock and small outcroppings reminding me of the Superstitions in Arizona. Being one of the closer DPS Peaks to Los Angeles, I expected to find a use trail heading up the slopes towards the summit. But I was pleasantly surprised to find the route still fairly wild, boulder hopping up the steepening wash. I was about halfway up when I checked my GPS, seeing that I was trending too far east and had missed a branch point up a drainage that trended northwest. But the cross country was steep but straightforward, and I decided to stay the course directly upslope, ultimately intersecting the DPS A route on the ridgeline proper.
The summit was now only 0.3 miles away but still with over 500′ of gain and a number of rock outcroppings to contend with along the ridgeline. Following along the ridgeline, I eventually did stumble on a use trail which allowed me to skirt a number of the large rock features and move efficiently to the summit rocks. I was just below the high point when I startled a lone Bighorn Sheep, pausing just long enough to let me get a picture before clamoring up and over the summit and out of sight.
It had taken me about an hour and a half to ascend the near trail less 2,300′, giving me plenty of time to descend and drive to the airport in Fresno. After a short break and a few photos, I started my descent, deciding I would stick to the ridgeline until almost back to the mining roads. This worked out well initially, utilizing the use trail initially with some easy scrambling and slabs a bit lower from where I had intersected the ridge on my ascent.
As I approached Point 5038′, the rock became a bit looser and after falling on my ass a few times, I abandoned the ridge and cut directly down slope back into the gully. Intersecting my ascent route, I quickly reach the mining road and hiked down the steep grade to my bike. The ride out was not much smoother than the way in, the road so rough that I basically rode my brake and had one foot out wide at all times for balance- a bit faster than hiking, but not much. The entire outing took me a bit under 3 hours, and after loading my bike in the trunk, I headed back onto Camp Rock Road, stopping in Barstow for lunch and getting back to Fresno with plenty of time before my flight to Arizona.
