2020 Flowers at Flattop and Warm Springs

The saddle at the Flattop

The brittlebush are busting out at Flattop Mtn near Needles and the southern Warm Springs Wilderness.

Stepladder Mountains Wilderness, Chemehuevi

Two main roads come in from US 95. The PG&E road departs at mp 45.6. It's the best. Another road with more sand comes in from mp 37.5 and goes 11 miles along power lines to meet the PG&E road and then on another 16 miles to I-40. These are easy 4wd and might get graded again. Posted 2020.

• STEPLADDER MOUNTAINS HIGH POINT el 2900 -  a tedious road comes in from the NE. Take US 95 to mp 45.6 and turn on the PG& E and go about 9 miles to a faint road at N34 40706, W114 47469. Go south on that for half a dozen miles to the wilderness boundary. There are a million shallow ruts crossing the road the whole 6 miles, like inverted speed bumps. A 5 mph cruise control is needed here. Walk the flats for a couple miles to a valley at 35157, 50481 el 1800. It's an easy walk up the valley to the peak. A 1964 date is on a left boulder along the way and right after that is the Black Knight wagon reading 35278, 51476. At the peak, get on the NE ridge at 35346, 52300 el 2500. A hiker trail can be seen there and it goes straight up the ridge to ledges that zigzag up to the reg at 35258, 52370. The ledges are wide as a car. No stepladder needed. 4 and a half hours for the whole hike,  800 feet of gain from the base. I was expecting to be hiking on tire tracks, but that wasn't the case. Posted 2016. CONICAL BENCHMARK el 2683 is at the south end of the range. Start at the same parking spot and walk to an Indian trail at 34635, 50238. It comes out of the Mopah Range to ?. Keep going to high ground at 34329, 50687 and up that for a tenth mile to another Indian trail. Go on to the east canyon at 33738, 51347 el 1900 then up that to the south saddle el 2550. Then it's a short walk to the BM at 33774, 51788. 4 hours, 45 minutes and only 800 noticeable gain. It would be a dozen miles to do both peaks as a loop. Posted 2020.
• PEAK 849 (meters) is a huge plateau that dominates the northern wilderness. Take US 95 to mp 45.6 and turn on the PG& E road and go about 17 miles to road #237 at N34 41069, W114 54962. Go SE on that for .7 mile to a fork near a crag and go right. Keep going SW for a couple of miles then walk to the obvious easy north ridge and on to the summit cairn at 37789, 53857 el 2785. I wandered along the summit plateau then saw a good flower show in the SW canyon. I descended at 37216, 54538 el 2400 and walked down to the flats and circled back to the start. The peak is a 2 hour hike roundtrip with 800 noticeable gain, but the loop I made took 5 hours. BIG CHIEF BENCHMARK el 2936 is on the north side of the PG&E road. I parked at a wash reading 40988, 49734 el 2350 and walked up it to avoid cholla. The summit is at 41499, 49828. CHIEF BENCHMARK el 2539 is on the south side of the PG&E road at 40695, 52417. I didn't visit that one. Posted 2020.
• TRAMPAS PEAK el 2987 is what I call the peak at the head of Trampas Wash in the Chemehuevi Mountains. I made a loop up the closed Blue Boy Mine road then down the NW canyon. I parked along US 95 near mp 45 and walked to the mine road as shown on the topo. I followed it up a wash to el 2000 where boulders block vehicular travel. The miners walked from there for a quarter mile thru a narrows then used a trail on the right bank. That fades then the next trail is on the left bank at N34 39038, W114 35099 el 2200. It soon crosses to the right bank then dips into the creekbed a short way then resumes on the right bank then fades again. I stayed in the main wash and followed the topo to get on the NE ridge el 2550 of peak 2828. Then I had a sheep trail to follow on the high ridge running south to survey junk on the summit at 37797, 34954. I then retraced to the north saddle el 2800 and dropped down the canyon to my left. Soon I came to falls so I moved left to 37900, 35083 el 2650 to bypass then had an easy wash back to the mine road. 5 hours and maybe 500 noticeable gain, easy terrain. I rarely visit this range anymore. It's dull and overrun by burros, but this hike ain't half bad. Posted 2020.
• ROCKY 2 BENCHMARK el 3551 seems to be the second highest in the Chemehuevi Mountains yet I can find no info on the internet. A class 2 route goes up the south canyon. Take the Lake Havasu highway to mp 10.4 then go north on a high clearance road that is mtn bikeable and in a mile you come to the wilderness boundary. Go left a tenth mile and park el 1100. Walk to a wash at N34 29319, W114 30871 then another at 29943, 31134. Get on the right bank at 30274, 31291 and it seems to end in a fifth mile but you can keep going a lot more. Stay on the low ground to 31191, 31353 then 31640, 31384 then a trail at 31895, 31181. It goes along the base for a quarter mile to the huge south canyon el 1500. Go up and get on the left bank at 32132, 31181. When that ends, step up to the next level and when that ends cut over to the far right bank. Go up to the east rim of a fork at 32408, 31550 el 1850. Go up the rim for a distance of 200 feet then merge into the canyon. Go up bank to bank and be on the right bank at 32766, 31473 el 2750. Soon comes a fork so stay left to el 3250 then move right for 60 feet to 32895, 31554 where it's obvious how to angle up below the summit ridge to a saddle at 32944, 31515 el 3500. The summit is 200 feet east with the pole still standing. I could find no reg or BM disc. 8 hours with about 2000 noticeable gain. They don't call it Rocky for nothing. The ascent canyon has some bedrock and a lot of bank walking to ameliorate that. Posted 2021.

  

  Rocky 2 BM