Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

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Snow Nymph
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Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Snow Nymph »

Friday, 31 October 2008 (day 1 of 3)
Silver Mountain in the Coso Range

PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/64 ... 0159_KEFKN


We followed Zdon's directions, but road closure took us to the wrong canyon. TomG figured out we were in Thorndyke Canyon, instead of Lacey Canyon when our route didn't match what was on his map. Thorndyke Canyon was off his map. We climbed up a steep ridge, and tried circumnavigating to avoid dropping back down. We came across other big drops which we couldn't see on the GPS, and took us farther to the east than we expected. This made our 9 mi/2800'gain easy trip into a 15.5 mi/4172'gain day. We got to see Thorndyke Mine, a reservoir with dead snakes and mummified jackrabbits, an old cabin, a live snake, wild horses, and beautiful desert tracked with only hoofprints. Stuff we would have missed if we went a different way. We kept in mind, "a bad day in the mountains is better than a good day at work". We almost passed on making the summit due to time, but when we got closer "summit fever" hit and we summitted just before dark. We headed down the steep west side and turned on the headlamps as we approached the base of the mountain. After walking a flat area for an hour or so, we dropped into Lacey Canyon, and hoped we didn't have to deal with dry falls. We only ran into 2, but were able to climb down. We sent at least 3 SPOT checks to show were we were that didn't go thru due to cloud cover. On the summit 8 hrs after we started, we sent one that went thru (clear skies), which had our SPOT checkers a little concerned and calling each other about the situation. 5.5 hrs later we were back at Thorndyke Canyon. It was a beautiful day and night for hiking, and even though it was long, we kept in mind "a bad day in the mountains is better than a good day at work". And hiking with TomG is always good company!

We had sun, but it was storming in the Sierra
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Thorndyke Mine
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Reservoir
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Mummified jackrabbits inside
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Big joshua trees
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We have to go down where?
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At the bottom, we found an old cabin
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Silver Mtn way out there. How'd we get so far east?
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Making our way up the wash, beautiful colors
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More wild horses!
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Finally on the Silver Mountain . . . we should have been back to the vehicles by now, but we saw a lot of cool stuff going the 'long' way.
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Coming back on an unknown route (to us) was a little exciting at times

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As TomG always says . . . the rest of the world is missing out! I agree! This was an unexpectedly fun trip!
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by tomcat_rc »

What a great adventure of a day. Looks like you had lots of great sights.
Got a little worried when SPOT showed you on summit at 540pm - glad it was the "I'm OK" signal.
Never let it be said that wind and rain can stop a great day.
mountain hiking is addictive:
I can quit anytime I want - I just choose not to want
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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Ranboze »

Wild horses - so very cool!!! Quite an adventure and glad you sent the Spots. Talk about a "big adventure" before heading down under.....!
Walking outside is where I find what's inside.
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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Trailtrekker06 »

Very exciting trip, and yeah, we were a little concerned ;-) Like Tomcat said, good to see the OK signal. Were the horses on Joshua Flat? Very cool.
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Snow Nymph
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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Snow Nymph »

The first horses were by Thorndyke Canyon. The ones we got close to were on the flats below the summit. It was a treat to see them close up.

When you do this hike, its best to go via Joshua Flats and not the way we did. We never saw the road (a drivable one) from Zdon's book.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Trail Bud »

Nice pictures! I really like the pony pics. I've never been out in that area. Are the ponies always in the area? or did you get lucky to see them?
Take care.
The mountains are calling and I must go.
John Muir
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Snow Nymph
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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Snow Nymph »

Hi Doug!

There are wild horses in the area. The first time I saw them was in Centenial Canyon, just east of there. There were 16-17 horses with a donkey that was probably adopted. The donkeys hoarse hee-haw is what gave them away. It was pretty cute!

CLICK ON THUMBNAIL (I hate Webshots!)
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by mountaineer »

Snowy, I keep expecting to see you in the Guiness BOWR for most consecutive weekend excursions!
Those desert exploration trips are the best, some of the best times I have ever had.
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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Trail Bud »

Snow Nymph wrote:Hi Doug!

There are wild horses in the area. The first time I saw them was in Centenial Canyon, just east of there. There were 16-17 horses with a donkey that was probably adopted. The donkeys hoarse hee-haw is what gave them away. It was pretty cute!

CLICK ON THUMBNAIL (I hate Webshots!)
Image
Very Cool!!
Thanks.
The mountains are calling and I must go.
John Muir
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Snow Nymph
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Re: Silver Mtn (Coso Range), Lake Hill, Wildrose Hill

Post by Snow Nymph »

You're welcome, Doug! :)

Jody, I'll keep the streak going as long as I can. 148 weeks as of last weekend. :D

Next month I might need help getting to the Sierra/Desert, depending on what the doc says. :( One option is to rent an automatic vehicle to get me there, and do some easy walking. :-k

If I have to skip a weekend, my 'other' streak of 'consecutive months' will keep going. I've missed 8 or 9 weekends in 10 years, and all driving 3+ hrs to get to where I'm going. We'll see what happens. ;)
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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