Distance: 5.3 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 6152' (Black)
Elevation Gain: 1455'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.1
Round trip time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on unnamed road north of Burns Canyon Road
Difficulty: Easy
There are a few HPS peaks between Big Bear and Joshua Tree. Black Mountain #4 (HPS #179) is one of these remote peaks. I got to the starting point by driving up Burns Canyon Road from Pioneertown. The road was in decent shape for being privately maintained. High clearance recommended. Since this was a relatively short hike, I did not push the driving. I could have easily driven a little further. I parked next to a private drive with a sign that read "No Vacancy Ever". There was also a sign on the post that read: "Nothing Here Is Worth Your Life". Friendly folk out in desert.
I continued up the unnamed dirt road (not the private drive!), turned right and went about a half mile to where the road ended. It was cross country from there, but mostly open country with some rocks and rolling hills. A faint use trail appeared then vanished, but much of the route was marked with cairns. It was hard to follow the ridges or determine whether going over or around a bump was better. I followed a GPS track when unsure. Black Mountain didn't come into view until I was at Peak 5990. Before the final slope, I dropped about 200' and crossed a dry stream. The final climb looked steeper than it was, never exceeding class 1. A standard set of HPS cans held a couple of registers. The most recent one was placed in 2021 and only had a few pages of entries. The previous visitor that signed was more than a year ago. I didn't check the other registers, so maybe people were signing into different ones. There were nice views of Tip Top Mountain and nearby HPS peaks. San Jacinto was visible in the distance. The view east was mainly a desert expanse. On the way back, I visited Peak 5990, 150' off route. Below 5990, I spotted an unusual mark. It was stamped 1/4 S19/S30. An Internet search said this was a cadastral survey marker established by the U.S. General Land Office (GLO) in 1937. Unlike USGS or National Geodetic Survey (NGS) benchmarks, which are set to establish precise elevations or geographic coordinates, cadastral markers define legal land ownership boundaries. I ran into a similar one near Tule Mountain in San Diego County.
I stopped twice to pull fox tails out of my socks. Ankle gaiters highly recommended on this one. Packed out one mylar balloon.
