Distance: 7.6 miles round trip on paved road, dirt road, use trail, and cross country
Summit Elevation: 5908' (Vetter), 5849' (Mooney), 5896' (Devil)
Elevation Gain: 1350'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 3 hours
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass or National Parks Pass
Difficulty: Moderate (combined)
My other goal for the day was Vetter Mountain (HPS #191) with a central fire lookout tower. I parked at the Charlton Flats picnic area and displayed my National Parks pass. There was a restroom at the parking area. Behind the locked gate, a paved road goes to the base of Vetter. The final quarter mile is a dirt road. Along the way, there were multiple picnic tables and benches. Each one had a restroom, but when I looked inside one, it looked unmaintained and filled with construction equipment and materials. No one was using any of the facilities. The only interesting thing I saw on the hike to Vetter was a giant pile of bear scat. The fire lookout looked clean and new, probably the nicest I've seen. The only tower I've seen that came close was the one on Slide Mountain. A volunteer named Andy was working and he invited me in to look around. He explained the Osborne fire finder, a mechanical wheel that let's you sight and locate a fire (via trigonometry). He said they were always looking for volunteers, and they provided extensive training every March. I said I would consider it. I never realized how central Vetter was and what great 360 views it had. I spent about 20 minutes talking with Andy and forgot to look for a benchmark. When I got back to the truck, I still had plenty of time left so I decided to head for Mooney and Devil peak on the other side of ACH.
A dirt road heads up toward Mooney (HPS #198). The gate was open and I could have driven to the base of it, but I didn't. I thought about going up the firebreak and that would have been shorter, but the area was overrun with whitethorn and the firebreak might not have been worked. From the base, I followed a use trail to the flat summit. A pair of black cans held the HPS register. With only 229' of prominence, Mooney doesn't technically quality as a standalone peak. Most of it had burn scars and the views were not special. Hard to believe this was an actual HPS peak. "Toasted Turd" might be a better name for it. Somewhere on Mooney, I accidentally put my camera into portrait mode, which blurred the edges. It mostly ruined the photos.
I returned to the road, then went around a gate toward Devil Peak (not an HPS peak), less than a mile away. I passed a small observatory I didn't know existed. At the end of the road, a firebreak led to the top of Devil. There were a lot of downed trees, burned and decayed. Poodle dog and whitethorn were also in abundance, but a use trail made it navigable. Views from the top were OK, but blocked by trees and brush to the west. I found a cairn at the summit, but no marks and no register. The firebreak continued down the south side. I spent 5 minutes on top, then returned to the truck. Mooney and Devil were ugly peaks, but I still had fun.
This one hit a wall.
That's Stony Ridge Observatory- https://stony-ridge.org.
ReplyDeleteChris,
DeleteThanks for the link! That's it. The dome is kind of hidden, but I could see it from the road once I was looking for it.