Roost Benchmark

Roost Benchmark ©

February 3, 2016, Joel Hawk

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Wanting to get back on the trails after a long hiatus playing ball, I decided to go on an easy one.  I asked a good buddy if he wanted to go with me and he agreed.  Paul Lederman has climbed and hunted all these mountains over the last 40 years, so I was looking forward to learning about the history of this area firsthand.  That man is a wealth of knowledge about the Indians who used to live here and their migration habits.  I look forward to learning more.

We met at Kwaaymii Point at sunrise where the PCT crosses and there is parking available.  We decided to shorten the hike and drive down the road to the jeep road just inside the Anza-Borrego Desert Park and take 3 miles off.  Gorgeous views from Kwaaymii Point if you get the chance.  The morning was brisk at 24 degrees and there was some snow on the ground from a recent snowfall.  Looking like fun.
Once we reached the parking area, we donned our gear and headed off.  At first, we used the jeep trail.

The route I had planned was to snag both Oriflamme Mountain and Oriflamme Mountain North along the ridge to Roost.  It was a perfect day for a hike.  This is a pano from Oriflamme Mountain.  What views...We actually found both the register and a Terra-cache here.

On toward Oriflamme North walking along the ridge in an easy scramble (other than the occasional and normal poke in the legs from burnt manzanita).  This was a short jaunt and we stayed on the ridge to save losing altitude only to have to regain it again.  As you can see below, Paul is quite the explorer.

While on top of Oriflamme North, Paul saw a camping site.  So when we descended from the summit, we took an off-trail route to explore.  We came across an old, abandoned car on the way.  We suspect a miner of long ago left it.  You can see the camp and water tank about 200 yards or so out.

So back on our original track, we head for Roost.  Paul takes point.  

As we come up to the base of Roost, she looks like fun.  We went straight up, but an easier route is to go around and summit from the backside.  This is how we came back down.

After ascending, Paul tells me, "I love this stuff."

 Captain Morgan has arrived.  And yes, my bag of Cheetos came along with me.

There are two benchmarks, both from 1940.  One is pictured here.

 Nice views from the summit.  We saw deer and a condor while on the summit.  Looking over toward NE, we spotted Granite which I think will be my next climb.

 This was a great hike and fairly easy.  We saw coyote and bobcat tracks, but not them naturally.  They probably watched us clamor all over the area from the safety of their bedding down spots.  We opted to ditch the jeep road on the way back and bushwhack back.  We could have used the trails, but that would have been boring.
Paul had to get back, but I was being beaconed to climb one more peak before sunset.  Peak 5444 is a short 1/2 miler up next to where we parked, so up I went.

At first I climbed up to the left thinking that was the summit, but here wasn't a benchmark nor a register.  So I kept looking and found the typical metal fence post marking the "survey" point.  The altitude was 5444 so I knew I had made the summit.

 It was a grand day, so I headed home for a hot dinner.  

 Total mileage was 10.3 and total ascent was 4631 with max elevation of 5468.  Life is good.

Be safe, enjoy living and appreciate our lands.   ~ Joel
 

Directions and the numbers:

Take I-8 to Sunrise Highway.  Travel through Laguna and park at the Lucky 5 gate on the left (not in front of the gate please).

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