Volcan Mountain

Hiked: 3/24/2023
Distance: 5 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 5353'
Elevation Gain: 1240'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Farmer Road
Difficulty: Easy

Volcon Mountain is nestled in a San Diego County Preserve near Julian, CA. Parking is free on the shoulder of Farmer Road. It is a very popular hike, so expect crowds on the weekends. There were two portable toilets at the trailhead. Around 11 AM, I started with no one else around. The wide trail began ascending steadily. After four days of rain, the trail was muddy and soft. Rivulets carved grooves into the footpath. It was still cool outside and would have been colder but the wind was blocked by the mountain most of the way. While pleasant, there was nothing remarkable about most of the ascent. The trail forked near the top, with Peak 5360' to the left and Volcan to the right. Bits of snow hid in the shadows below the trees, a rarity in San Diego County, especially in spring. After the fork, the rest of the mountain was a broad plateau and 30-40 mph winds battered me. Undeterred, I circled the summit, where a small radio tower stood sentinel. I found a benchmark on the east side, along with signs used for social media braggadocio. I took in the views of San Felipe Valley (with the Cigarette Hills below) and walked to the high point inside a copse of summit trees, discovering more resilient pockets of snow. I looped around the summit and started down while the wind's icy tendrils left a faint numbness on my face. The wind died as soon I got off the plateau. On the way down, I met several parties on the way up. Both Volcan and the Cigarette Hills had been low on my list, but they were on my list and are now complete.

Mark placed by Norman Glover in 1938

High point

Cigarette Hills Loop

Hiked: 3/24/2023
Distance: 4.1 miles round trip on dirt road and cross country
Summit Elevation: 2920' (South), 2765' (North)
Elevation Gain: 875'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.7
Round trip time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Recommended water: 24 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Highway 78
Difficulty: Easy

The enigmatic Cigarette Hills lie north of Granite Mountain in the San Felipe Wilderness, just outside Anza-Borrego State Park. The hills straddle both sides of Highway 78. I parked on the shoulder at Mastros Trailer Park Road and started walking up the dirt road. Maps showed the road passing near the South high point. In less than a mile, I left the road to reach the low ridgeline, then followed it to the top. It was relatively open country but was guarded by clusters of cacti and agave. At the summit was a register in a glass jar with a handful of entries. I added my name, then placed it back inside the transparent walls. No signs of any marks. Without fanfare, I continued northeast down the other ridge. I had to crawl under a barbed wire fence on both sides of Highway 78 when I crossed to the north side.

South summit

Looking south to Granite Mountain, a more serious undertaking

Trees on the north side grew to 15' or more, but I made steady progress through the maze. Past the trees was a wide plain where jackrabbits played. They would pause briefly to look back at me before bolting out of sight, only to stop and look again. I never had enough time to take photos of them, but they were legion. I ascended directly to the North high point, everything class 1. At the summit was another glass jar register. A clay cylinder looked like it once held a benchmark, but no longer. I took a short break on North, then completed the ridge traverse going northwest. Once off the ridge, I wandered in the general direction of the truck, but emerged on Highway 78 some distance away. I walked along the highway to close the loop. The open country was very manageable with less brush than expected. I packed everything up, then drove to the Volcan Mountain trailhead.

Cigarette Hills north in the foreground

Register was under the rock, possible benchmark mount point

Little Chuckwalla Mountains High Point

Hiked: 3/3/2023
Distance: 6.1 miles round trip on dirt road and cross country
Summit Elevation: 2466'
Elevation Gain: 1142'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.9
Round trip time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Graham Pass Road
Difficulty: Moderate (route finding)

Since the hike to Chuckwalla was short, I had looked for nearby peaks to combine with it. After looking at a couple of ideas, I decided to blaze a route from Graham Pass Road to Little Chuckwalla Mountains High Point. The few recorded ascents I found were from the south near Bradshaw Trail. I plotted a route using CalTopo trying to minimize obstacles, but topo maps don't reveal all features of the terrain. While driving back along Graham Pass Road, I found a turnout and unmarked dirt road near where I had randomly selected my starting point. I parked, started down the faint road that happened to go the right way, then stopped and thought I should drive as far as possible on the road. Then, stopped, and thought I needed some extra miles and didn't want to risk getting stuck in deep sand on an unknown road. So I continued on foot. The road turned out to be in great shape and I could have driven almost another mile toward Little Chuckwalla.

When the road started to veer away, I left it and dropped into a wash with 20' walls. There were many washes and canyons to cross. The deepest one was about 100'. I had to go slightly out of the way to a find spot to cross the deepest one. As I got closer to Little Chuckwalla, the rocks and boulders got bigger and more dense. Some of the rocks were black volcanic. My topo track had me going straight up, the other option was to follow a large gully around the left side and come up behind the summit. With plenty of obstacles in the gully, I decided to attempt the direct approach. It was going OK, but the rocks and dirt were chossy and I was sliding around a lot. About 100' below the top, I decided to side hill over to the gully, then walked up to the high point. I found a register in a glass jar, and someone had left a small pile of quartz stones. The register was slightly brittle, like it had dried out after being wet. There were no marks that I found. I did my rituals and enjoyed the scenery. It was a satisfying hike since success was not a given until the very end. I descended the gully and hit no big surprises. The long drive back was easier with Little Chuckwalla in the bag.

Chuckwalla Mountain

Hiked: 3/3/2023
Distance: 3 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 3466'
Prominence: 1406'
Elevation Gain: 1575'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.2
Round trip time: 4 hours
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on BLM Road 588
Difficulty: Moderate

Chuckwalla Mountain (DPS #91) is a very remote desert peak about 20 miles south of I-10. The drive in on Graham Pass Road was long, but the road was in very good shape. There were only a couple of sections that might give a sedan problems. After ~16 miles, I turned north on BLM Road 588. It was only another 1.5 miles to the start. I was the only person at the trailhead. The two main ways to the top are the south ridge and south gully. You have to take the gully about half way, then decide which looks better. I decided to take the ridge on the way up and the gully on the way down. The ridge has a little more scrambling, but all class 2 with some route finding. It was slow going and I found the ridge quite enjoyable.

Long pre-dawn drive

Start

Leaving the gully for the ridge

The summit was sandy and narrow. A register was placed at the top of a pile of rocks at the high point, while the official benchmark was at the end of the summit. The benchmark was stamped "Bunch", matching the topo map. Not sure when/why the mountain was renamed to Chuckwalla. I did see a small chuckwalla hiding in the crack between two rocks, but she was the only one. The previous visitor in the register was in December, 2022, though the register book started in 1992. Views made up for the very long drive. There was a feeling of isolation here. The only sounds I heard were from low flying jets and the distant rumble of exploding ordinance in the nearby Chocolate Mountains Aerial Gunnery Range. I shot some videos, then started down the gully. Going down was no faster than going up. Steep, loose rocks kept me alert until I was near the bottom. I followed the gully a little too far and made a minor course correction at the end. Chuckwalla was fun from the jump. I still had half the day left so packed up and headed off to explore the Little Chuckwalla high point.

Ascent ridge

Descent gully