USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
Location: Kern County, about 21 miles southeast of Lake Isabella, 200 miles from Los Angeles
Maps
| Auto Club | Kern County |
| Forest Service | Sequoia National Forest |
| USGS Topos | Emerald Mountain 7½, Claraville 7½ |
| Official HPS Maps |
TPO file - Save to your computer then open with National Geographic TOPO! |
| | Viewable JPG file - Approximately 925K |
| | GPX file or Google Earth KML file to
download to GPS units and other map software (How to use GPX and KML files) |
| | Routes as shown on
CalTopo using the above files (How to use CalTopo) |
Nearby Peaks: Sorrell Peak, Piute Lookout
ROUTE 1
- Distance: 7 miles round trip on trail, road, and cross-country
- Gain: 1600' total, 800' out plus 800' on return
- Time: 4-5 hours round trip
- Rating: Class 2, moderate, optional summit block is short class 3
- Navigation: Moderate
Original: Charlie Knapke, December 1993
DRIVING ROUTE 1
(Southern approach)
- From Mojave, go north on SR 14 for 19.5 miles to Jawbone Canyon Road
on the left. Turn left, note your odometer and go as follows:
- At 4.2 miles, pavement ends.
- At 6.2 miles, fork. This is the parking area for Cross
Mountain. Turn right.
- At 14.7 miles, saddle. This is the parking area for Butterbredt
Peak.
- At 17.9 miles, fork. Keep left.
- At 18.2 miles, intersection of Jawbone Canyon Road and Kelso Valley
Road. Go straght, continuing on Jawbone Canyon Road.
- Continue on this road for 6.8 miles as it begins to switchback up
the hill (Geringer Grade). It soon comes to the top of the ridge
and turns sharply right, passing a dirt road on the left with a locked
gate.
- Continue about 0.3 mile north of this locked gate. There is convenient
parking on the right in an obscure junction with an old
jeep road. This spot (UTM 250158) is just north of small bump
6385' shown on the USGS topo.
(Northern approach)
The parking area for Route 1 can be reached from Claraville Flat to
the north via County Route 589. This allows this peak to be combined with
Sorrell Peak or Piute Lookout.
HIKING ROUTE 1
- From the parking area (6360'), hike down the slope (southwest) a short
distance to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Note: The PCT is shown
incorrectly on the 1994 topo.
- Turn left on the PCT and
hike about 1/2 mile to a BLM easement post next to the trail. The trail
enters private property here. Continue on the trail to where it meets a
dirt road.
- Turn right on this road and follow it about 1/4 miles down
to a fork.
- Keep left here and continue on the main road past a locked
cable gate, continuing for another 3/4 mile to where the road levels out at a
junction (about 5600') which is marked "Casa de Oso".
Take the right fork to stay on the
main road for about 250 feet to where the PCT leaves the road on the left.
- Follow the PCT for about 1/3 mile over a low ridge and down into the next significant gully.
There may be a duck here.
- Leave the PCT, follow the gully southeast, and
then continue in the same general direction to the main ridgeline.
- The
summit register has been placed on a conspicuous 60' pinnacle in the
farthest northeast corner of the summit plateau. On the topo,
this spot is located 0.2 mile north of the letters "do" of "Weldon
Peak".
- To reach this spot, turn left at the main ridgeline, staying
high. The summit block is obvious.
- The register is found 2/3 of the way to
the top of the rock. It is reached by a short class 3 route that begins at
the northwest corner. Caution: On the return from the summit, trend
westward and northwest to avoid encroaching on the property of "Casa
de Oso", a hunting club.
