Ship Benchmark and Yaqui Peak

Hiked: 11/24/2025
Distance: 7 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 1617' (Ship), 3398' (Yaqui)
Elevation Gain: 2125'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.7
Round trip time: 4 hours 40 minutes
Recommended water: 104 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Highway 78 Turnout
Difficulty: Moderate

Yaqui Pass Road connects Highway 78 with Borrego Springs. I parked at a turnout below Ship Benchmark. The hike up to Ship was about 200' of gain and less than fifteen minutes. It had a couple of registers, the oldest going back to 2007. It appeared to get about four visits a year. From the top of Ship, I couldn't pinpoint the top of Yaqui Peak. I debated whether to take on the gullies up or stick to the ridges. There were three major gullies, two that ended on a ridge south of the summit and that ended to the north. I took the middle gully. It had the usual sharp denizens: cat claw, barrel cactus, agave, and dreaded cholla. There were also a series of class 2 dry falls that made it fun. I spotted some cairns at a few falls marking bypass routes. This gully was not a stranger to humans. After intersecting the ridge, I continued another mile weaving around cactus. ON the way, I stumbled across a rosie boa, the first I'd seen in Anza-Borrego in over 100 trips. The snake was sluggish and barely moved when I nudged it with my foot. Maybe it had some prey, but it didn't come out of the hole nor go further in. I let it be and weaved my way around cactus to the top. Yaqui Peak had a metal ammo box containing several registers going back to 1997. Yaqui sported a beautiful view of Borrego Springs to the north and some of my favorite desert mountains: San Ysidro, Indianhead, Coyote, the Santa Rosa ridge, and even snowy San Jacinto. Yaqui exceeded expectations.

Ship Benchmark

Yaqui Peak on the right

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Yaqui Peak, Wilson Benchmark behind

Looking down on the starting point

Borrego Springs and L to R: Toro Peak, Indianhead Peak, San Jacinto (distant)

Plum Peak and Peak 2755

Hiked: 11/24/2025
Distance: 3.6 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 2937' (Plum)
Elevation Gain: 1084'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.8
Round trip time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Plum Canyon Road
Difficulty: Easy

After a couple of days of rain, I headed to Anza-Borrego for a few unclimbed peaks near Highway 78. I drove a short distance east of scissors crossing, then turned north on Plum Canyon Road, an easy dirt road with no serious obstacles. The road forks at the midpoint and I followed the left fork, though either would work. I parked at the end and start hiking up a gully on the right. There was some vegetation to get around, but nothing sharp got me. From the top of the gully, I gained the ridge and followed it to Plum Peak. A register was there in a glass jar going back to 2017 with only a few signatures. There was no benchmark, but someone left antlers from a deer shed next to it. Plum had nice views of Sentenac, Grapevine, and Granite Mountain. After signing, I continued down the other ridge toward Peak 2755, a low prominence peak between Plum and Sentenac. 2755 had a small cairn, but no register. On the way back, I took a short cut back to my approach ridge and returned to the truck. A fine warm up for the next couple of peaks.

Plum Peak

Granite Mountain

Peak 2775 with Grapevine Mountain in the background

Hawes Grand Slam

Hiked: 11/7/2025
Distance: 9.8 miles round trip on trail, use trail, and cross country
Summit Elevation: 6714' (Shay), 6355' (Ingham), 6635' (Little Shay), 6751' (Hawes)
Elevation Gain: 2900'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.3
Round trip time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 132 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Hawes Ranch Trail
Difficulty: Strenuous (combined)

Hawes Grand Slam is a made up moniker, but sounds better than Hawes Peak and three others. I picked Hawes as the name for the loop since it was last in the rotation and also the tallest. This group of HPS peaks NE of Big Bear Lake are typically climbed together:

• Shay Mountain (HPS #138)
• Ingham Peak (HPS #162)
• Little Shay Mountain (HPS #145)
• Hawes Peak (HPS #135)

From Fawnskin, I drove north on Forest Road 3N14 to the small spur 3N41, the start of Hawes Ranch Trail. It took about an hour of driving on dirt. The roughest spots were after Big Pine Camp. High clearance needed. The drive might have been faster from Victorville. When I pulled up, two deer hunters were just starting down the trail. I caught up with them before I needed to leave the trail to make them aware of my presence and let them know my route. They were pleasant and assured me they wouldn't mistake me for a deer. A half mile further, I set out over open country toward the saddle north of Shay Mountain. As I got closer, sparse brush started filling the slopes. This set the theme of the day. Some brush contact was unavoidable, but it was mostly waist high and easy to push though. Mostly, I spent the extra steps to go around, but that also slowed me down. At the saddle, I picked up a use trail and took it to the summit. Another repeated theme was a set of standard red HPS cans with a register and no benchmark. There were metal posts on a couple, but not USGS marks. The most recent visitors to Shay were from March. I looked down the other side of Shay at Little Shay, but I wasn't sure which smaller peak was Ingham. I would find out I got there.

Hawes Ranch Trail

Open country heading to Shay

Down the ridge toward Ingham (back) and Little Shay (left)

Ingham at the end of the ridge
The ridges looked thick with chaparral, but as I got into it, it was more sparse coverage like on Shay. Just below Little Shay, was finally able to identify it. I dropped down the connecting ridge and found a use trail that took a side hill route around the intervening bump. Careful footing was required not to slip. Ingham had great views west toward Arrowhead Lake and the Angeles. It also had the oldest registers, dating from 1988. I found the Mars Bonfire 25x entry, hiking lore. Two metal posts were on Ingham. I returned toward Little Shay. The brush was thicker on Little Shay, and a there were a lot of burned trees to step over. At the summit, I emptied my boots of debris and took a longer break. Views were similar to those on Ingham. It also had it's own metal post. I steeled myself for the final bit of the Slam to adjacent Hawes Peak. I would have to give back 900' of elevation, then gain 1000'+ in two miles. The descent from Little Shay had the hardest route finding. It was on an overgrown firebreak that required frequent zig zags. The bottom of the descent was a 40 degree angle. Between Little Shay and Hawes, I met the deer hunters again. They had not seen any deer but seemed content to be outside. We had a nice chat and parted ways again.

Little Shay from Ingham

Gabes in the distance

Up to Little Shay

Looking back at Shay Mountain

Arrowhead Lake

Descent from Little Shay

Hawes Peak from Little Shay

I began the ascent of Hawes in earnest. Bits of use trail appeared and faded. There were a lot of burned trees on Hawes, too. The summit was farther back than it appeared from Little Shay, giving rise to false summits along the way. My pace slowed a little, but I continued to grind. Below the summit, I crossed an OHV trail and found a metal bench covered in stickers. I continued the last bit to the top for the best views of the day. The entire route was clear from Hawes. After some photos, I dropped down to the trail and followed it back to the truck. The deer hunters were packing up when I got back and we exchanged waves. I debated whether to attempt another HPS peak that was close by. My water was low and I didn't want to drive out in the dark, so I called it a day.

False summit

Hawes ahead

Hawes Peak, not Howes

The grand slam

Monster from Alien:Earth