Pinyon Peak 6805′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 4:20
Elevation Gain: 3050′
Distance: 5.5 miles
Crux: Class 2
Trailhead: Route 178, no services
After traversing Russell and Backus Peaks in the morning, I was hoping to climb nearby Pinyon Peak in the afternoon, effectively cleaning out all the summit in the Walker Pass area from both the HPS and SPS lists. On paper the hike seemed reasonable, only about 5 miles roundtrip although steep, with over 3000′ of elevation gain, a chunk of which would be on the return. But I had plenty of daylight left, and I pulled off along Route 178 at the start of the Hundred Peak Section “Route 1.” The HPS summits are notoriously over cairned, so as I started up the steep slope, I was a bit surprised that I was unable to pick up a trail.
I was about 100′ over the highway thrashing through sage brush, when a passing biker called out to me.
“What are you doing?” he yelled up.
“Climbing Pinyon Peak!” I yelled back, nodding up above me.
“Is there a trail?” he asked, a bit confused.
“If there is, I haven’t found it yet,” I replied with a bit of a laugh, recognizing how ridiculous I probably looked from below.
“Well…. good luck!” he replied, continuing towards Walker Pass.
I turned and continued climbing up the steep and loose slope, gaining the ridgeline just east of Point 5101′. I had hoped to stumble on the use trail here but found nothing but thin game trails to follow.
Contouring around 5101′, the route followed a very steep ridge up to 6050′, gaining about 1000′ in about a half mile. This was where I felt the months off of serious hiking and climbing I had taken. Having already hiked about 10 miles and climbed 3000′ early that morning, my uphill muscles were feeling this next round of steep climbing, particularly given how loose the soil was. When I did reach the upper ridge at 6101′, I thought I was in the clear with the summit only 700′ higher with what started off as a flat ridgeline.
But there were a lot of ups and downs hidden in the map and plenty of brush, climbing up and over 6522′ before dropping several hundred feet below the summit plateau. Although the desert scrub was replaced by pines at the higher elevations, the tree mortality rate from invasive beetles was high near the summit and I found myself scrambling and crawling over a dozen trees the last quarter of the mile to the summit.
The summit register was tucked in a summit cairn at the high point, although trees obscured the views in most directions. Hardly a summit to recommend.
The climb had taken about 30 minutes longer than I had planned, and I had several hundred feet of climbing to do on the return. So after only a few minutes at the high point, I reversed course, avoiding the deadfall as best I could and making my way back up and over 6522′. Back on the flat section of ridgeline, I completely missed the ridge where I need to drop back down, requiring a descending traverse to the NW to get back on route and avoid a handful of rock out croppings. Luckily, the soft sand a dirt was to my advantage on the descent, and I quickly dropped down back to 5101′ and through the sage brush to my car. I emptied my shoes of sand and headed west back to the Central Valley and back home.
