Turtleback Dome

Hiked: 4/18/2025
Distance: 1.1 miles round trip on paved road
Summit Elevation: 5280'
Elevation Gain: 350'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.2
Round trip time: 30 minutes
Recommended water: 0 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee or Annual Pass
Difficulty: Easy

Turtleback Dome is a short hike near the entrance to Wawoma Tunnel in Yosemite. It had zero prominence and just OK views of the Valley. The road was gated with parking for two or three vehicles. Leisa and I were the only ones there. The main reason we wanted to hike this one was because it was mentioned in an awful (but fun) 2023 Lifetime Movie called "Vanished in Yosemite". In once scene, the bad guy invites a girl to do his favorite hike in Yosemite: "Turtleback Dome". After a quick search, I found out it was an actual destination, but the entire hike was on a paved road. It was uncommon and free of tourists (except us). The ascent was half a mile and the road had a couple of switchbacks before reaching a set of communication towers. We didn't find any marks or a register. I saw another tower and more small buildings further down the ridge, but we didn't visit. We just snapped a few photos and circled the towers before heading down. It was no athletic feat, but scratched our Lifetime itch.

Best view of the Valley we could find. Mostly blocked by trees.

Elephant Rock

Hiked: 4/18/2025
Distance: 0.7 miles round trip on use trail
Summit Elevation: 4800'
Elevation Gain: 275'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.2
Round trip time: 25 minutes
Recommended water: 0 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee or Annual Pass
Difficulty: Easy

Elephant Rock is a rock climbing destination just before the Wawona Tunnel heading into Yosemite Valley. Leisa and I had spent the previous two days doing waterfall hikes around Yosemite Valley. We were planning to hike Turtledome Peak on the way out of the park, and Elephant Rock was a short add-on. We parked at a small turnout and followed a use trail down hill. A sign was at the start notifying rock climbers that certain routes were closed for peregrine falcon nesting. It was too short to bother with a pack or water. The trail led to an outcrop of rock ending in a ledge with big air on three sides. There was an excellent view of Wildcat Falls across the valley below. It was a great warm up.

Wildcat Falls

Mount McDill and Mint BM

Hiked: 4/4/2025
Distance: 6.9 miles round trip on trail and dirt road
Summit Elevation: 5187'
Prominence: 784'
Elevation Gain: 1645'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.3
Round trip time: 2 hours 40 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Bouquet Canyon Road
Difficulty: Easy

I drove to Bouquet Canyon Road for a quick hike to Mount McDill (HPS #263). I was driving north on Highway 14 near Santa Clarita, passing a semi-truck when I heard a loud explosion. I saw a cone of large rubber chunks expanding in slow motion directly in front of me. One of the front left tires on the semi had blown out. I braced for the shards of tire to shatter my windshield, but the impact never came. I drove right through the cloud of debris without damage. Pure luck, and the most thrilling moment of the day. I parked across the street from the trailhead at a turnout that held 4-5 cars. While the entire hike can be done on dirt roads, there was a short cut to make it a road-trail-road hike. The gate at the entrance was closed. There was another shortcut at the start to cut off the first switchback on the road. The first leg went under buzzing electrical towers. I spotted the single track shortcut, but wasn't sure, so I went a little beyond before realizing I missed the second leg. The single track was cut shoulder width through soft brush and grass fields. It could use a little maintenance, but was quite pleasant. It intersected the road higher up for the third leg. From the top of the ridge, the road crossed small rolling humps as it traveled east and west. I left the road briefly for Mint BM where I found a bent metal triangle post. Less than a quarter mile further was Mount McDill, where I found a benchmark, but no register. It's hard to believe McDill has 784' of prominence as one of many rolling bumps on the ridge. The weather was warm, the sky was blue, and the wind was still. It was a nice day to be out, but with no reason to hang around, I returned immediately. I increased my pace a little on the way down to make it a light cardio workout.

On the single track

Mint BM

The non-descript McDill summit

Start of the single track on the way down

Castle Dome, AZ

Hiked: 4/4/2025
Distance: 6.2 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 3788'
Prominence: 2088'
Elevation Gain: 2068'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.6
Round trip time: 5 hours
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on McPhearson Pass Road
Difficulty: Moderate

Fresh off the triumph of reaching Signal Peak just weeks before, I returned to the Kofa Refuge for Castle Dome (DPS #88), another Sierra Club Desert Peak. I considered doing an overnight, but decided to gut out the drive both ways as a day hike. I left at 2:30 AM cruising east on I-8. This was my first time driving through Yuma, near the Army Proving Ground. I took Highway 95 north from Yuma, then followed a Military Police pickup onto Castle Dome Mine Road. Based on previous reports of issues with the proprietor of the Castle Dome Museum, I followed Mirian Khamis' track onto McPhearson Pass Road. McPhearson required high clearance and I bottomed out once crossing a stream. Seven more miles of dirt road delivered me to the trailhead. Much of the hike was up a gravely wash. A conspicuous arrow of stones marked the spot to leave the wash for a use trail. The trail headed directly at the vertical north buttress of Castle Dome. I relished the saguaro cacti and green feel of the Kofa Refuge as the trail curved east around the base.

Arrow of stones where the use trail starts

Castle Dome after leaving the wash

Split in the base where the scramble begins.

If you reach this chockstone, you've gone too far. Main route is 100' below.
I walked past a split in the rock where the scramble started, reversing course when I realized I had gone too far. I made a second mistake hiking to the notch below a giant pillar. The continuation there was at least class 4. I back tracked and spotted the class 3 chute main route. The rock was volcanic and solid with many holds. Navigation was reasonable with the help of well constructed cairns marking key turns. I passed a wind cave, then traversed further east to reach easier stair step scrambling. Most of this section was class 2 with a short class 3 finish. Staggering views were waiting on top. The summit was long but not very wide. I found one reference mark, but no benchmark. An ammo box with a broken lid held several active registers. Many recent entries testified to the popularity of Castle Dome, though I had it to myself that day. High wind gusts blasted the summit unpredictably, followed by unnatural calm. It added to the mystery of the place. I lingered longer than usual on the summit and flew the drone, attracting curious birds. The drone crash landed during a random gust, but seems to be OK. The descent was uneventful. The noon sun warmed the world by the time I got back to the truck. Adrenaline lasted half the drive home. The rest of the drive was powered by red bull and diet coke. Door to door was 16 hours.

Giant pillar from above

Summit

Heading down

Quartz Vein Peak

Hiked: 3/28/2025
Distance: 3 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 2582'
Elevation Gain: 1450'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.1
Round trip time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free in Quartz Vein Wash
Difficulty: Easy (but chossy dirt and rock)

Quartz Vein Peak, aka Peak 2582, is a sub-peak of Sunset Mountain. The easiest approach is probably from Pinyon Wash to the south. However, I wanted to explore Quartz Vein Wash, so I started from the north just off Highway 78. There were a few camping spots along the dirt road in the wash. I chose the widest wash, which might not be Quartz Vein proper, but it was on a more direct line to the peak. It narrowed in places, then grew wide again. Granite rocks filled the bed and the walls were mostly dried mud. I never saw a large quartz vein, other than within individual boulders. Many smaller gullies fed into the main one. Some were quite substantial. I knew I would need to take one of the side washes to reach the ridge line. I picked one that looked good and started up. It grew steep. Just before the ridge, it was class 2 on crumbly dirt and poor rock. This was not the ideal line. I reached a false summit and noted a better drainage I planned to take down. Out of the protection of the wash, the wind hit hard. Steady 20mph and gusts up to 45mph were expected. The summit was broad and it was hard to find the high point. I checked a few different boulders, eventually finding one with a cairn on top. GPS later confirmed it was the high point. I found a register in a red can below the summit boulder. I climbed on top and took in the nice views, including the bulk of Sunset Mountain next door. Because of the wind, I didn't linger. I descended far enough to get out of the wind before grabbing some calories. I descended down the parallel gully and it was better. Still crumbly and steep, but better angles. I recommend it for ascent as well. When the mud walls got smaller, I went up and over to get back into the ascent gully. I struggled to rate the difficulty of the hike. One one hand, the stats and physical effort were pretty low. On the other, the terrain and chossy dirt make the steep sections hard. So, it fell somewhere between easy and moderate. I decided to go with easy. Lots of bighorn scat, no bighorns.

Mud walls

Side drainage, heading for the ridge

Summit boulders

Sunset Mountain

Descent gully was an improvement