Distance: 4.5 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 3640' (North Pinyon), 3300 (Peak 3300)
Elevation Gain: 1665'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.33
Round trip time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Plum Canyon Road
Difficulty: Easy
An overcast day was perfect for climbing North Pinyon Mountain (Peak 3640), #58 on the San Diego Peaks list. The trailhead is close to Sentenac, but on the eastern spur of Plum Canyon Road. Any car should be able to travel the road to the end. I arrived late in the morning and was the only one there. I didn't see anyone all day. The path followed a sandy wash about a half mile before it started gaining elevation toward the ridge line. Past the sandy part, the wash held three dry falls, though only one required a class 2 move. The others could be easily bypassed. True to the name, a few pinyon pines grew in or near the wash. I emerged from the wash on peak 3300 with good views and clearing skies. Next came a 100' drop to a saddle to reach the North Pinyon ridge. There was plenty of agave, cholla, barrel cactus, and cats claw to dodge. The first major summit was false, though it was only slightly lower than the North Pinyon high point. From the false summit, it was a short and easy walk up. There were no summit boulders to scale. The register was mostly loose papers in a glass jar inside the normal red cans. An older set of papers was hard to get out so I only looked at the most recent entries that went back to 2012. There were no benchmarks. The views were quite nice of Granite, Grapevine, the Laguna Mountains, and Earthquake Valley. I also had a hazy view of the Salton Sea. After signing in, I returned the same way and enjoyed a second pass through the wash. When I got back to the sandy section, I slow jogged the rest of the way. One step closer to the SDC list finish.
Start
Pinyon pines
One of three dry falls
North Pinyon from the saddle
From the false summit
Register
Granite Mountain
Grapevine Mountain
Descending
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