Hollow Rock Peak - 9/7/23

Hollow Rock Peak on Approach

View to South Peak and on to Mt. Potosi from Hollow Rock Peak

Wildlife watering tanks at Overlook

Mt. Potosi from Bike Trail

Resigned to hiking in the lower elevations until next summer ... likely & hopefully, ... our small group of hikers returned to the trail from Mountain Springs Pass Trailhead. Hundreds of feet of roadway were damaged in the floods created by Hurricane Hilary and the record deluge two weeks later. Even though the lower elevation trailheads in Kyle Canyon are officially open, (the trails on Kyle Canyon Road are NOT yet open)   unofficially, they really really prefer that hikers not come up the mountain and clog up the works. If it were to become too crowded, the trailheads (even lower down from Deer Creek Road) may be closed again. Word is that they are working feverishly to fix things. ... And, there are a lot of things to fix. Btw, Lee Canyon is completely closed to the public. Have you noticed that there didn't seem to be any video of the flood in Lee Canyon at all? Hmm. We heard the ski slopes were devastated but how about the road? We also have seen that the flood made it all the way down to SR 95 where mud and rocks were pushed onto the highway. Even the man made berm was punctured somewhere. Let's stay off the mountain so the workers can do their job as quickly and efficiently as possible. I have faith in you Las Vegas!

Bike Trail

The group at the Overlook

Odie waits for Ralyn and Ralph

Ralyn & Kay hiking the Hollow Rock Bench

So, five and a half of us got up early and headed up to the Mountain Springs Trailhead to hike to Hollow Rock Peak via the bike trail. We kept a decent pace for the whole 5 miles and definitely got our workout. Starting out the dirt road that runs along SR 160 east, we crossed the paved driveway then soon found the cairned trail junction veering to the left. As you can see on the maps below, this trail zigs and zags for about half a mile until we came to a spur trail on the left.

Neighboring Windy Peak

Gathering at the rise just before the first Big Dip

Working on the second Big Dip

Odie enjoys the Break

The spur trail is not marked well but you will see where the old abandoned dirt road makes a hairpin turn about 50 feet above. Connect with the spur trail and abandoned road. Climb up to the next curve where there is a rock outcrop with a great view of the canyon. Continue on the road until you begin following the trail at the end. We crossed a gulley, circled around to the right and started a climb up the sandstone littered hill. I got our trajectory messed up for this hike but we still attained the ridge and found the Hollow Rock Peak Trail. Correcting ourselves, we turned to the right on the trail and started out the narrow sandstone bench. Familiar with the route of scrambling, we followed the ridge then dipped and climbed twice to see the peak. At this point, we followed the trail traversing around to the end point.

Taking our break in the shade of Hollow Rock

Hiking back over to Big Bubba

Rebuilt Cairn on Big Bubba

Laszlo watches us from the top of the Bench

We took a break in the shade of Hollow Rock enjoying the slight breeze. On the return, Mike, Chuck, Ralyn and Odie climbed to the top of Big Bubba, a small sandstone peak that rises next to the top of the second dip. I always use this time to enjoy the scenery and listen to the happy voices from the peak above. After Big Bubba, we did the two dips and hiked back along the ridge to see an old friend waiting for us at the top of the bench. Laszlo took the pic of us seen to the right that shows us at the Big Bubba stop. As always, it was good to see Laszlo and we went on our way back the way we came. It was a great morning with decent morning temperatures. Be smart about your choices of hikes and the mountain closure will be over before you know it! ... she said.

Stats: 5 miles; 1100' gain; 3.5 hours

Climbing out of the first Big Dip

Meeting Laszlo at the top of the Bench

Bike Trail Return