Hiked: 4/23/2021
Distance: 4.4 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 5680' (Queen), 5677' (Queen Benchmark)
Elevation Gain: 1432'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.1
Round trip time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: $30 National Parks Fee (1 car good for 1 week)
Difficulty: Moderate (navigation)
Queen Mountain (HPS #217) was the third of my planned peaks in JT for the day. The closest parking is a turnaround not far from the base. Queen Valley Trail is a one way road, so I took Queen Valley Road and turned north onto O'Dell Road to reach the trailhead. I was able to take Queen Valley Trail on the way out.
I started north from the turnaround and followed an old road that goes around bump 4628'. The road ends at the base of the mountain but a single track use trail takes over from there. I had planned 4 hours for the trip expecting it to be cross country. The use trail with periodic cairns made it easier than expected. After gaining some elevation, the trail side hills into the major drainage that separates Queen Mountain (hiker left) and Queen Benchmark (hiker right). I headed left to Queen Mountain first. The upper part of the drainage has some class 2 as well as the big summit block. On top was a reference mark pointing 0.2 miles away to the official but lower by 3' benchmark. I also found and signed the HPS register. Great views in all directions with lots of unusual rock formations. By far, the best views of the day. The Wonderland of Rocks was also in sight. After a quick photoshoot, I climbed down and followed a different use trail to Queen Benchmark. In addition to the benchmark, there was a large plastic ammo box with many registers. I think all of them were placed by the Boy Scouts, who use this mountain for navigation training. It was odd the official mark was placed on the lower of the two summits, but it was impossible to tell without precise instruments so I gave the USGS some slack. I had to make two course corrections on the way back after following the wrong set of cairns. I found the use trail a little harder to follow on the way down in the side hill section. I was on the fence about whether to rate this hike easy or moderate. The Sierra club rates it moderate so I'll leave it that based on navigation. Queen was a lot of fun.
Sounds like Queen is easier than I thought - and it's all ducked? Good news.
ReplyDeleteAlso sounds like the road out to Eureka is easy-peasy. As much as I like hiking in the desert, getting that one quickly would open up time for other peaks. Nice.
You've going out to JT more lately - hope you're digging it like I do. I need to get out there again. Wasn't able to during my spring break. Now it might be too hot. Oh well.
Nice write up, Keith.
Mike Martin
Mike,
DeleteYeah, Queen is ducked all the way but a couple sections still require some route finding because some ducks are misleading. Love JT. I didn't know there were so many HPS peaks. Too many for me to finish last trip. Also some non-listed peaks and routes I want to do. I usually push desert season into June.
I'm thinking, too, about going out there in June. At 4000 feet, it might be a little higher than the heatiest heat. I also need to finish some Desert Divide peaks, so I may go up there. I haven't been out since July. (!!!) - this school year has been tough, to put it mildly.
ReplyDelete