A morning of indecision leads us to Hawley Peak and Sunset Cone.
- May 3, 2015
- Team: John, Tom, and Dan, Grant and Alicia
- Summits:
- Hawley Mountain, 9,752'
- Sunset Cone, 6.410'
- RT: Class 2, 4 miles, 2600' gain, 2:45 hours car-to-car
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
After climbing Bear Peak yesterday, we were enthusiastic but tired. I think our reversals and changes were wearing out Grant and Alicia. But we eventually settled on Hawley Mountain. Except that Tom had already climbed it twice, so he would wait at the car. The road to the trailhead wasn't absolutely horrible, but it was pretty rough. Grant and Alicia had already ruined one tire this weekend, so we had them park and climb into the truck.
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About a hundred yards later, we gave up and parked. Boots on, packs stripped. We didn't expect to take too long, so we were going light, rotten snow be damned. |
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| We simply followed the closest ridge up to the summit ridge. Mostly, it was easy walking. The occasional rock scramble, which could have been avoided, just made it interesting. |  |
| From near the summit ridge, you could see the summit in the not-too-far distance. |  |
It's a pretty good grind up onto the ridge, but not too much elevation after that. |
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Dan and I were a bit behind the others, so the summit was shot solo. Hawley has quite a view. Part of the panorama is shown below.
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We cruised back to the car, then sat in the sun for a while, drying our socks and wetting our whistles. Then it was time to head home from our long weekend. But there was one peak left... Tom had not done Sunset Cone, which starts right from the highway in Craters. But Dan had done it, so this time HE sat in the car. |
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The summit is about 500 feet above the pavement. It took about 15 minutes. |
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Normally I would think that sort of lame. But the views from up here are great! Here's some of that nondescript lava you see from the car window. |
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And here's the plains looking back at Arco. What a great weekend! |
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