I specifically wanted to do a hike this weekend where I wasn’t looking for rock art or ruins or any of the sort of thing I typically go out in search of. What I really wanted to do is some peakbagging, preferably something with a lot of elevation gain, but any of the prominent West Desert peaks I had in mind were too far a drive for a day trip, and I didn’t want to deal with snow in the closer, higher mountains, so I settled for a pair of relatively nearby desert peaks, each with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain. I brought my dog Delta and parked along the road right between Cedar Mountain and East Cedar Mountain, which rise up between Mussentuchit Flat and Slaughter Slopes in the southwestern San Rafael Swell. I got started at about 8:00 AM, opting to first climb Cedar Mountain, which is about nine feet taller than East Cedar. The route took me across a flat, up a steep slope to a break in the cliffs surrounding the mountain, then turned 90 degrees and followed a ridgeline to the summit. I crossed several volcanic dikes that cut across this area of the desert, then climbed a bouldery slope until it was safe to traverse across to the ridge.
Distant break in the cliffs
Volcanic dike
Delta is raring to go!
Another dike
Beginning of the bouldery climb
Above yet another dike
Still climbing
Nearly at the top of the slope
View toward the summit
There were a few steep sections on the ridge ascent, and in a flat area above one such climb I found a single piece of chert that didn’t appear to be a natural flake. The last stretch below the summit was steep and a bit loose, and I had to find my way around a low cliff formed by an exposed volcanic sill.
Delta checking out a big cairn
East Cedar from the rim of Cedar Mountain
Another steep climb
Possibly a manmade flake
View off the other side of Cedar Mountain
Very steep final ascent
Final climb to the top
The climb to the summit took about two hours (with a long snack break on the way), and there I made my way to the survey marker and tried locating both the reference markers mentioned in the datasheet. The reference marker embedded in a boulder was easy to find but I couldn’t locate the other, which was supposed to be a “copper nail and washer driven into blaze in juniper tree, 11.85 ft. from station mark.” The only tree that matched the description of being about 12 feet from the survey marker was a dead pinyon pine with all its bark missing, but I didn’t see a nail or any signs of a blaze. Pieces of the wooden survey tower were strewn around the summit. The views were great, with many landmarks and other peaks that I’ve climbed visible on the horizon.
Delta at the summit of Cedar Mountain
Cedar Mountain survey marker
USGS reference mark
Tree nearest the survey marker
Survey pole
Survey equipment below the summit
Survey equipment below the summit
View over Chimney Canyon
The Flat Tops
Henry Mountains
L-R: Thousand Lake Mountain, Hen’s Hole Peak, Geyser Peak
Thousand Lake Mountain
Hen’s Hole and Geyser peaks
Hilgard Mountain
Musinia Peak (or Mary’s Nipple or Molly’s Nipple)
I walked around the flat mesa on top of the mountain before descending via the same route, reaching the truck in about 1.5 hours. Delta and I ate lunch, hydrated, and rested briefly before I refilled my water bottles and we headed toward East Cedar Mountain.
Exploring the small mesa top
View southwest off the top
Descending Cedar Mountain
Back down the steep rocky slope
Off-leash the rest of the way to the truck
The route up East Cedar started with a gentle slope that gradually got steeper and rockier. Then the ridge narrowed up and was covered in larger boulders before opening back up to a smoother flat spot. After a little more climbing and dropping down into a saddle, I was finally below the summit.
Volcanic dike
Western slope of East Cedar Mountain
View toward Cedar Mountain
Very rocky ascent
Climbing through the boulders
The summit block
Northerly view
View of the actual summit
Saddle before the summit
Unfortunately the last short distance to the summit felt too sketchy and I didn’t dare attempt it. I could only see two possible ways up: a short climb onto a steep and gravelly slope that looked like I would slide right back down, or a traverse below a cliff with an even more gravelly slope, no good handholds, and too much exposure below. I was really disappointed at having to turn back so close to the summit, but I do enjoy not being dead so it was an easy decision to retreat. 🙂 It took just over an hour to get from my turnaround point back to the truck. Delta had seemed fine the entire trip, but after getting home I could tell her paws were bothering her a bit. She’d worn down a few of her pads on the rough volcanic rocks and for the next day and a half she didn’t even want to get out of bed, but then suddenly after that she was back to her normal, hyper and playful self. It was her longest hike yet at only 6.2 miles, and I know she could handle much more if only the ground surface wasn’t so rough.
In the saddle
Too loose and steep
Loose sloping traverse below the cliff
Head of Chimney Canyon
Heading back down in defeat
Descent through the boulders
Butte at the bottom
Somewhere during the day (I won’t say where) I found this really, really cool broken pot. It’s upside-down with the top rim buried in the ground, with an intact handle that has a stick through it. I looked around closely and didn’t see a single piece of the broken portion (though I did find a single chert flake on the ground nearby), so it may have broken elsewhere and been discarded here. The stick through the handle was confounding at first, but I think the pot may have originally been hung by the handle on a tree branch that broke. It was pleasing to find this on a trip where I wasn’t even looking for artifacts, and in an area where I wouldn’t have expected anything like this.
Single chert flake near the pot
Photo Gallery: Cedar and East Cedar Mountains