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| Hollow Rock Peak on Approach |
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| Trail Overlook |
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| Bike Trail |
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| Bruce and Mike |
Mike, Bruce and I drove up to the Mountains Springs Trailhead on this beautiful and warm day to hike Hollow Rock Peak using the bike trail that was installed a few years ago. Hollow Rock Peak is located on one of the benches that reach out from the Sandstone Bluffs of the Keystone Thrust. Each bench has a name as do the canyons between them. Hollow Rock Peak is the southernmost bench extending from the escarpment but some may say that it shares its bench with a separate sandstone peak named South Peak. To reach Hollow Rock Peak, we used the ridge trail for many many years. When the bike trail was installed, the journey was made much simpler and a bit easier.
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| Bike Trail - Mt. Potosi Beyond |
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| Mike at Trail Overlook - Bike Trail Below |
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| Mt. Potosi, Bike Trail, Scramble Canyon |
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| Juniper at Hollow Rock Campsite |
To get to the bike trail, you begin by hiking east on the service road that runs parallel to SR 160 from the trailhead at Mountain Springs Pass. After passing over a driveway that services a house on the hill, the bike trail veers to the left and off you go! The trail winds around the hillside until it passes right next to a rock wall to the north. Just after this wall, there is a vague trail junction that turns to the left. A short vague trail will take you up to an old abandoned dirt road. Continue up this road until you reach the overlook slab on the right. After a pause for a view check, continue up the road and onto a small trail that will take you down to cross the wash. This trail will continue around to the right and halfway up the red sandstone terrain.
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| Snow on the Spring Mountains from Hollow Rock Campsite |
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| Starting out the Hollow Rock Bench |
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| Bench Trail |
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| Bench Trail |
A trail will take you across the broken sandstone and up to the ridge. Follow the ridge up to the left until you reach the campsite area where you will junction with the original Hollow Rock Trail. From there, it is a light scramble on top of the bench ridge until you drop down to the right. You will hit two different saddles with a deep dip in between each. The size of the scrambles will depend on the route you choose to take. On the saddle after the second dip, Big Bubba or Hollow Rock's brother, rises with a cairn. This peak is usually done on the way out to the end of the bench. The peak on the end of the bench is a big sandstone boulder called Hollow Rock. The braver or more skilled hikers will climb up the side of this then wonder how to get down.
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| Second "Dip" - Big Bubba on Left - Mt. Potosi to Right |
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| Bruce and Mike on Big Bubba |
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| Las Vegas Strip from Hollow Rock Peak |
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| Taking a Break at Hollow Rock Peak |
We took a long break at Hollow Rock, today, taking in the view all around. The day felt wonderful! After photos and snacks, we returned back to the cars on the same path we took to get out there. It was a great day on the trails.
Stats: 5 miles; 1050' gain; 3.5 hours
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| Keystone Thrust - Limestone over Sandstone |
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| Bruce and Mike walking the Ledge |
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| Dropping down to the Trail across the Scramble Canyon |
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