Hike Old Woman Mountain Old Woman Mountains Wilderness BLM, CA

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Old Woman Mountain sits in the middle of pretty much nowhere, located of historic Route 66. The issue with accessing the peak (as of March 2021) is that the section of Route 66 that passes closest is closed. The road is closed due to timber bridges too old to support vehicles, but bypasses simply go around the road blocks. In fact, the trailhead can likely be reached by any vehicle, though there are a couple of short sandy spots. It's far enough from anywhere that I almost can't imagine getting in trouble if you decide to head to Old Woman Mountain via this direction. However, on our way back through Essex, we passed a highway patrol. I'm not sure they would have cared, but felt I should dispel any thoughts that the area isn't patrolled. Assuming you're okay with breaking some laws, turn onto Danby Road here (34.64879, -115.3704). Navigate to here (34.60764, -115.26676) and continue southeast.

From the wilderness boundary, my new hiking buddy TJ and I hiked along an old mining road to its end, passing by some mining ruins before ascending the prominent gully to the south. Class 2 led us up this gully, where we picked our way around a few big granite boulders, but overall it was pretty easy to navigate. I recommend sticking just left of the drainage for most of the time, which would avoid dryfalls and unnecessary brush. There was even a social trail for parts. We found ourselves on the ridge to the south of the gully, where we ascended the coarse sand slope until Old Woman Mountain came into view. We had the option to continue along the ridge to an unnamed point to the west, but it made sense to side-hill on the mostly pleasant terrain rather than ascend unnecessarily to this point. There are at least two social trails along the slope as we side-hilled, but it's hard to go too wrong. You can see the saddle you're working toward pretty much the whole time. After side-hilling, we found ourselves at the saddle to the north of Old Woman Mountain, and we continued south along the Class 2 ridgeline to the summit.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Old Woman Mountain

5325 ft

2733 rise

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Past the wilderness boundary along a mining road.

Some old Florence Mine mining stuff. There's a little rock house visible center far left in this photo.

Continuing along the mining road.

At the Florence Mine, view back toward the mining road we ascended.

Just above Florence Mine, heading up the gully to the south. We mostly stuck to the left side of the drainage, where we found social trails and less brush.

View back down the gully as we ascend on Class 2 boulders.

Reaching the top of the gully and slope, which brought us to a ridge above.

View back into the gully (left).

Top of the gully/slope. We continued along the ridge for a short time. Old Woman Mountain is visible center.

Class 2 up the ridge, the gully we ascended from visible on the left in this photo.

Old Woman Mountain ahead. We headed for the saddle above TJ's head in this photo. The side-hilling to reach the saddle was totally reasonable.

View back as we side-hilled to the saddle.

At the saddle, view south toward Old Woman Mountain.

View back toward the saddle (left), and the side-hill section from the ridge on the right.

Old Woman Mountain ahead.

Class 2 to the summit.

Easy terrain most of the way along the ridge.

Old Woman Mountain.

Old Woman Mountain, view north.

Old Woman Mountain, view east.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!