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Mar 27, 2018 — Most hikers know of Kraft Mountain becasue of the Kraft Mountain Loop, a trail that wraps around the the peak's circumference. Boulderers refer to the ares at the peak's southern base the "Kraft Boulders". This route leads to the summit of the named peak. This trailhead within the Calico Hills doesn't require a fee or reservation and any car can make it. The parking lot is full of camper vans and climbers gearing up.
From the parking lot, I headed along the official trail for a time until I saw a weakness on the southeast face of Kraft Mountain. I used a steep, Class 2 slope that brought me to a ledge. This ledge traversed east for a short time before Class 2/3 scrambling led up the weakness seen from below, ultimately directly up to the ridgeline. Now on the east ridge of Kraft Mountain, I continued toward its summit on Class 2/3 boulder-hopping fun. There were a couple of fun obstacles, but if you're pulling any moves that feel too difficult, there's likely another option that's easier.
Along the way to Kraft Mountain I took a quick stop at Big Bird Peak. This is an unranked and locally-named minor summit that's really just one big, fun Class 4 boulder. It's a nice add-on if that's your thing. Whether you tag the top of Big Bird Peak or just continue on, the ridgeline continues pleasantly the more significant scramblnig now behind me. The summit of Kraft Mountain gave me some great views toward the other various peaks in the Calico Hills, such as Grey Cap Peak, Turtlehead Peak, and my next summit, New Peak. I continued along the now widening ridgeline, heading northwest. The aim was to find a reasonable route amongst the chaos of zebra-striped boulders to get to the saddle between Kraft and New Peak, a pass known as Pink Goblin Pass. I was able to keep the route Class 2 for the most part, but then I reached a signficant cliff system that spans the base of Kraft Mountain. I was able to located a short Class 3 drop through a wide crevasse to overcome the cliffs. The pass was visible just below, Class 2 bringing me there.
Now at Pink Goblin Pass, I noted the the sandstone boulders of Kraft Mountain abuptly became limestone, a result of the wild geology of the area. I followed a social trail from the pass up toward New Peak. Initially just a steep trail, it became more loose higher up. Before the summit, the route became more spicy, a few brief sections of Class 3 along the ridge crest. You may be able to avoid a couple of them, but not the one just below the summit. The moves had a bit of exposure, but excellent holds. The sharp and grippy rock was much different in character from the Kraft Mountain sandstone.
From the summit of New Peak, I dropped west along its ridgeline. There were a couple more Class 3 moves, but nothing harder than on the way up New Peak on its east side earlier. The limestone tends to create small cliffs that need to be wrapped around. Eventually the limestone faded away and became a steep descent slope, which led to the head of Ash Canyon, the gully on the southwest side of New Peak. I would soon learn that the Ash Canyon Trail isn't really much of a trail, since it becomes faded and ultimately leads into the drainage proper, where boulder-hopping ensues. I was then able to pick the trail up again and follow it back to the trailhead.
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