Old Man Mountain

Old Man Mountain 4252′
Desert Peak Section
Total Time: 2:15
Distance: 5.3 miles (~1.3 on E-bike)
Elevation Gain: 1900′
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Jackass Canyon Road, no services

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After making good time on Avawatz, I headed straight south into Mojave Preserve to try and tag Old Man Mountain with the remaining daylight I had left. With a short stop in Baker for some Gatoraid, it took me a little over an hour and a half to navigate from Avawatz Peak to the starting point for Old Man Mountain in Jackass Canyon. Compared to Avawatz that morning, the 7 miles of dirt roads in Jackass Canyon were about as good as one could ask for, mostly packed sand with a few rougher spots, but nothing a standard high clearance couldn’t handle. I had a GPS track downloaded for a rough driving route that headed directly north up the wash, shaving off about 0.7 miles of hiking each way. And with only about 2 hours of daylight left, I needed to make the most of what I had. So I unloaded my E-bike from the trunk and started directly up the wash, following tire tracks and the remnants of the old road where I could.

This actually would wind up being the best riding of the short trip, very little large rocks with mostly packed dirt and sand. I hooked east around a Y-shaped hill in the center of the canyon, and parked my bike at the end of the GPS driving track.

The mountain rose directly out of the wash above me, and it looked like it would have some fun scrambling to reach the summit directly above. Cutting across the wash, I entered a side canyon on the face, leaving it quickly to get on a shallow ridge of rock just to the north. The rock here was completely different from Avawatz that morning, and felt more like the sharp Limestone of the redwall layer of the Grand Canyon, although it may have been volcanic in origin with cinder cones off to the east.

There were plenty of cairns to lead the way, with the route trending up and two the right, traversing several ledge systems to avoid some of the bigger cliff bands. There were a series of small caves higher up, one beneath a tricky class 3 more to gain a slab, likely the crux of the route. That being said, it was clear there were probably many ways to reach the summit, and as I grew closer I tried not to be too strict on following the cairns or GPS track. I topped out at 4:30 PM, a little over an hour from starting out. The desert looked fantastic in the evening light, and I had enough service to Facetime Holly and Avery from the summit.

With my descent route to the east and the sun low on the horizon, I knew it would get dark fast, and after trying to hang up unsuccessfully a few times, kept my phone on so Avery could watch the hike down. I slipped the phone in my pocket for the handful of class 3 sections, but otherwise was able to keep connected with them almost back to my bike before losing service lower in the canyon.

It looked like I would have just enough light to make it back to the car, and I turned the bike headlight on for the short 0.7 mile ride out, getting back to the car with the western sky ablaze with a deep orange sunset. Tossing my bike into the trunk, I headed out in darkness down the dirt road, to Kelbacker Road, the I-15 and back to Barstow for some In N Out at the hotel and an early bedtime.