Iron Mountain 9171′, Iron Mountain Northwest 9173′ and Iron Mountain North 9094′
Sierra Nevada– California
Total Time: 2:35
Distance: 4.9 miles
Elevation Gain: 1500′
Crux: Class 2
Companions: Naya
Trailhead: Grizzly Lakes, no services
A series of fall storms were working through the Sierra, and I had a day off lined up with a short window between precipitation events. I needed to find a half day option not too far from home, and had been saving the hike up Iron Mountain for such an occasion. The highest summit on the ridgeline above Fresno Dome, Iron Mountain has over 1,000′ of prominence and features a series of small lakes to the northwest as well as in the forested basin to the immediate north. With easy access via Sierra Sky Ranch Road and the established trail to Grizzly Lake, it was perfect for a short day out. I left home after breakfast, driving up past Fresno Dome Trailhead, the road deteriorating the further I went. The drive took a bit longer than I remembered, close to two hours before I pulled into the dirt clearing across from the trailhead. I had Naya with me, and we started along the trail to Grizzly Lakes through lovely old growth forest.
The trail almost immediately passed a small pond and Naya headed straight in, quickly covered in thick mud. I hadn’t realized that there were multiple lakes in this basin, and we quickly reached a second, this one still looking fairly muddy. We continued along, climbing around small pockets of granite before reaching Grizzly Lake less than 30 minutes in.
Naya seemed to be unsure of high grasses growing along the shore despite wanting to go for a swim. I helped her overcome her fear by grabbing her by the scruff and yeeting her into the lake. After she swam back to shore and got her zoomies out, we back tracked and started up granite slabs up the ridgeline east of the lake. It was about as good of a cross country route as you could ask for- clean granite slabs with minimal slabs or loose brush. Naya initially stayed close off trail but quickly grew bolder, running ahead guessing our planned direction of travel and readjusting if needed.
The granite slabs disappeared at a small depression in the ridgeline, the rock appearing a bit more dark grey- presumably the namesake iron color. Some easy talus hopping put us on top of the named summit in under an hour from the start, although it was technically a few feet shorter than the higher northwest summit.
I took a few photos then continued on to the highpoint of the day, dropping down to a forested saddle between the two peaks, taking about 15 minutes to cover the distance between the two summits. From the summit, I had my first look down into Iron Lakes to the north, which looked like it would be an interesting place to explore another day. Finding no summit register, I took a lunch break at the summit, sharing a bit with Naya and eyeing the growing clouds over both the Clark Range to the northeast as well as in the Central Valley to the southwest.
Although unnamed, the North Summit of Iron Mountain was featured on peakbagger, which was reason enough for me to tag it, similarly taking about 15 minutes to cover the distance between the two peaks. The rock on the north summit was more red in color, and I wondered if Iron Mountain was named for the grey rock on the first two summits or the rust colored rock on the third.
Unfortunately this red rock was a bit more loose, and I felt bad for Naya as we descended back to Grizzly Lakes. She didn’t seem to mind, and dove straight into when we hit the shores 20 minutes later, not needing me to toss her in for a little more encouragement.
After she cooled off, we started back along the trail, with a short climb out of the basin before descending past the two other lakes back to the trailhead. The weather seemed to be continuing to hold, and I thought I might tag nearby Quartz Mountain at the edge of Yosemite National Park. My map showed a forest road all the way to the summit, and I thought I could make it a quick drive up, continuing up Sierra Sky Ranch Road to the unmarked road. The dirt road up Quartz Mountain seemed to be in much rougher condition than Sierra Sky Ranch Road and I backed off after the first 50′, continuing along Sierra Sky Ranch Road to the high point in the road just north of the summit of Quartz Mountain. I parked my car in a campsite just off the road and headed cross country directly upslope. There were tons of downed trees in this section of forest, and Naya did admirably leaping on some of the larger fallen giants well over her head. The forest quickly thinned as we reached some bands of rock closer to the summit, eventually hitting the road that would take us nearly to the summit. The high point was on a fin of rock just above the road with a small stretch of class 2 rock to get us to the summit. By now thunder was booming in the distance, with lightning flashes closer to the crest, many miles from our perch. The summit had a nice view of The Balls to the east, one of my favorite local sport climbing areas.
After a short break we descended back the way we came, dropping cross country off the road to the north, stumbling on an old road that had been nearly reclaimed by nature that took us nearly to my car. I had missed it on the ascent, with a huge tree having fallen across it right at the road. With a few raindrops overhead, we hopped in the car and started the bumpy drive back out to Oakhurst, stopping to run a few errands before getting home before dinner.
