Bare (Butt) Mountain, 6317', near Beatty NV

pics by Harlan W.S.
Mar 29, 2011

I don't know why I found this hike so pleasant; perhaps it was the cool day, the lack of brush, the views... but in any case, I had a good time. I had no idea where I was going, as I had originally intended to start in another canyon, but was turned back by a "No Tresspassing” sign,  so I came back to the road described by Zdon. And it was (in March 2011) a very good gravel road.

The ridge that I took up is class 3 on very frictional rock. Once up on the ridge at 5000', you can just walk along, occasionally hugging the wall at L to find the best footing.
The wash that I took down is mostly class 2, with some dryfalls near the bottom; most can be passed or downclimbed class 3. The last is about 15', and is slippery and vertical; best to avoid it (and the shorter dryfall that precedes it) by cutting W at the top, traversing over light-brown scree and dirt, into the next gully.  

 

When I got back home, I read Zdon's description of this route, and was totally mystified; I don't know where the heck he went.

Obviously this is a cool-weather hike. There is no water, and the area has some nasty poisonous snakes that come out in warmer weather. The RT is ~3.6 miles with 2500' elevaton gain; I took 1.6 hrs for the ascent, and didn’t feel rushed.

 

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The 24k topo.  The ridge and gully
look deceptively smooth.

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A broader view, via 100k topo.

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Early view back to my car, with
Telescope Peak in the distance at L.

 

 

 

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View NE; I headed to the R of the fin
in order to mount the ridge.

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The ridge is steep, but very frictional.
 Watch out for loose rock.  Sticky rubber
is a problem on this rock, as it may
not let go of your foot!

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A view E, showing the high angle of
the strata.

 

 

 

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Another view of the typical ridge angle.

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Telescope to SW.

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At the top of the steep ridge,
just head up! The ridgetop has
some spiky sections, and is eventually
an effort to follow. so you might as
well walk on the S side.

 

 

 

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Ridges to SE; rough country.

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The California Sierra are visible
to W as a white band.

 

 

 

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You can just walk S of this wall.

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Finally you see the "gun sight."
Head between the two rocks

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To WNW are the  Grapevine Mts, on the
edge of Death Valley.

 

 

 

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Boudinage in limestone.

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The gun sight approaches!

 

 

 

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Sierra again.

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View N to the bare butt!

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Charleston Peak and the Spring Mountains.

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This is the set of ridges I took to the peak.

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View off into NTS.

 

 

 

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That little nubbin, R of center near

ehe horizon, is Eagle Peak.

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Heading back down WSW.

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The wash on descent... not all that
smooth. Be careful with your
footing, as there are many 5-10' dryfalls.

 

 

 

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I set the camera at 45 degrees to
capture what I had just down-climbed...

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...same for this shot.

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The last dryfall was over this lip, and
was too much.  I had rap material,
and could have buried an anchor in
the pothole, but...

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...just chose to climb back out.
I'm visible at R. Here's one place
where the sticky rubber was useful!

 

 

 

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It's not worth trying to drive this last
bit of road.  The fence at L looks
like a tortoise fence.