3/14/03

Onyx Peak #2
Skinner Peak
Mayan Peak
Butterbredt Peak

Notes:

Doing these four in one day makes sense.  I did these in the middle of 
March which was quite pleasant.  I don't think I would want to do these 
when it is any warmer.  On this day the wildflowers were at their peak.
Sunrise was 06:08am and sunset was 06:02pm.  I started my hiking at
7:48am and finished hiking shortly before dark at 5:55pm.

I was also hoping to possibly do Piute & Sorrell, but these are somewhat 
out of the way.  It probably makes sense to do Bald Eagle, Piute, Sorrell, 
and Weldon on a separate day.  Given an earlier start, a longer day, and
no loss of time it may be possible to do Sorrell & Piute.  According to
the HPS description Piute takes a half hour and Sorrell an hour.  I am
unsure of the driving time, but would guess there's at least an hour.

The Kelso Valley road is paved from Weldon all the way to Mayan.  Shortly
south of Mayan it turns into a dirt road.  The road from Kelso Valley up
to Bird Spring Pass (Skinner Peak trailhead) is dirt and is very rough.
There were one or two washed out spots that I didn't think I was going to
be able to get around.

I lost about an hour trying to find the shorter trailhead to Skinner Peak.
This trailhead is way over on the other side and is simply a waste of time
if you're coming up from Kelso Valley.  Just park at the pass and hike
up from there.  You can save time coming down by descending rapidly down
the sandy slope about half-way back.


Onyx Peak #2

Since the gate was open I drove in and up to about the 3600 foo level.  This
cut the RT hiking distance from 4 miles to 2 miles and lessened the elevation
gain.

Distance: 2 mi RT
Elevation Gain: 1644 ft

Start Time: 07:48am
Reached Summit: 08:43am
Left Summit: 08:56am
Reached Car: 09:23am

Time to Summit: 55 mins
Time On Summit: 13 mins
Return Time: 27 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins


Skinner Peak:

Distance: 5.5? mi RT
Elevation Gain: 1700 ft

Driving Time from Mayan: 56 mins
Start Time: 11:29am
Reached Summit: 01:02pm
Left Summit: 01:13pm
Reached Car: 01:57pm

Time to Summit: 1 hr 33 mins
Time On Summit: 11 mins
Return Time: 44 mins (took rapid descent shortcut)
Total Time: 2 hrs 28 mins


Mayan Peak

One Word: Sand
3 More Words: Lots of It

Distance: 3 mi RT
Elevation Gain: 1800 ft

Driving Time from Skinner (Bird Spring Pass): 51 mins
Start Time: 02:48pm
Reached Summit: 03:45pm
Left Summit: 03:55pm
Reached Car: 04:14pm

Time to Summit: 57 mins
Time On Summit: 10 mins
Return Time: 19 mins (rapid descent down sandy slope)
Total Time: 1 hr 26 mins


Butterbredt Peak

Distance: 2.7 mi RT
Elevation Gain: 1200 ft

Driving Time from Mayan: 29 mins
Start Time: 04:43pm
Reached Summit: 05:23pm
Left Summit: 05:34pm
Reached Car: 05:55pm

Time to Summit: 40 mins
Time On Summit: 11 mins
Return Time: 21 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 12 mins


Total Stats for the Day (All 4 Peaks):

Hiking Distance: 13.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 6,344 feet
Driving Time Between Peaks: 2 hrs 16 mins