I've hiked *around* Barber Peak on a number of occasions, from as early as 2010. But I'd never hiked *up* the mountain. On this last trip, I figured I'd give it a shot.
I started from near the visitor center, then hiked west of Hole in the Wall campground. I bypassed the turn that would have taken me into "The Rings," and continued north. Ahead of me, I saw what looked like a nice ravine to head up, towards the top of the butte. It looked like desert concrete most of the way, with no large barriers to passage.
Turns out that was an illusion. There were many points where the ravine had vertical drops far too tall for me to climb, so I stayed to the right of the ravine for most of my trip up. This route was steep, and the ground was crumbly in points. But there were no steep dropoffs, so I figured the worst that could happen is I'd slide, and maybe get myself a bit scraped up. But it would be mostly over dirt, not sharp volcanic rocks, so I wasn't too worried.
There were a fair amount of desert mallow and other flowers in bloom. I did my best to minimize my impact, walking on solid rock where available, and trying not to cause any slides that would bury the growth. I did see several smallish slids and some boot prints, but not a lot. I mean, it's so close to the big campground, that of course other people must make an attempt to scramble up towards the butte top, but apparently not many, which is probably a good thing.
Once on the flattish top, the view was great. I found this climb a lot longer and tougher than topping Table Top Mountain. The distance to the top is less, but the crumbly crosscountry part is longer.
Also, the top is less flat. Whereas Table Top is mostly flat, Barber Peak slopes quite a bit. The obviously higher part of the butte is to the west, so I walked that way, but with a less-than-direct route: I wanted to be able to enjoy the view.
It was mostly a grassland at the top, with the occasional pinyon pine and juniper. More of those trees surivived somewhat recent wildfires here than had survived on Table Top, or near Mid Hills.
I stepped carefully, looking just 4-8 feet in front of me, so as not to accidentally step near a snake. As a result, the snakes I did see were usually already moving off by the time I saw them. All three I saw were of the species photographed, so clearly not rattlesnakes. Two were about that size (less than two feet long), while the third (the first one I saw) was over three feet long. My best guess is "Mojave Patch-nosed snake."
I got to the point where I figured I was as high as possible. As if to confirm that, I discovered the peak benchmark markers almost immediately upon reaching "the top." There were two of them, separated by maybe ten yards.
I took more pictures. With a clear view to the north, I could see what I assumed were the Castle Mountains. I assume the Providence Moutains were to my south, well beyond Wild Horse Canyon. Later, as I looped around the butte, I could overlook the broad valley that Black Canyon Road traversed.
From near the top, back near where I first got to the top of the butte, my way back down was not obvious. I checked my Alltrails recording a few times, to try to go back more or less the way I came. I mean, this way, I was sure could be done, whereas another way might lead to a ledge that would require backtracking.
Finally, I was off the slope, and back on the Barber Peak Loop Trail. I followed my way back to the visitor center, ate a bit of dinner, then set up for the Star Party that we helped put on for Earth Day Volunteers, at the Black Canyon Grup Campground, which we've also done many times.
My Alltrails recording shows total distance I walked on this hike was 3.9 miles roundtrip from the visitor center, with an elevation gaine of 1240. It's mostly cross-country, so pretty slow going. The recording also shows me with just over three hours of time "moving," which means not a lot over one mile an hour. It's pretty slow going both up and down the butte. Definitely a nice view, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment