Hike Central Peak Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, NV

Oct 01, 2022 — Central Peak worked nicely as a warm-up day for our planned outing tomorrow, but it's sort of just another one of those big Great Basin limestone-riddled peaks that blends in with the rest. It's got some fun scrambling and route-finding, but was mostly nice for just the fact that it's a remote hike with typical expansive views, and to catch up with friends. To reach the trailhead, leave the highway and go north here (39.05631, -114.03663), and then head left here (39.30896, -114.00631). The road is overall good and shouldn't cause issues for any car, though decent tires are a good idea.

The peak is surrounded by limestone cliff bands in most directions, but a steep drainage/weakness on the east slope seemed like a good option for reaching the summit. We were just sort of fooling around and managed to find two routes, both coming from the east via this drainage. Our ascent route headed up the ridge to the north of the drainage, while the descent was using the southern option. I'd say our ascent route was more fun, but less scenic than the latter. You can also likely make the route easier if you stick closer to the drainage, since both of our route options had rock outcroppings along the ridges, while the drainage seemed to have fewer, though I'm really not sure.

We entered the drainage and hiked until we saw a dryfall ahead. We escaped the wash to the north, picking Class 3 moves on solid limestone, nothing too difficult or exposed. Once above these cliffs, we worked up to the ridgeline, choosing the path with the least brush and climbing up slabby rock when possible. It was mostly just a steep slope with some Class 2 and Class 2+ mixed in here and there. Once along the ridgeline, we realized a limestone outcropping would serve as a fun scrambling obstacle for some time. I guess we were in one of those scrambly kinds of moods rather than efficiency. Though, I chose to take the easiest route when possible, my risk tolerance a bit lower than my companions, keeping left of the outcropping on Class 2/3 terrain, while Sam and Luke tried exploring the jagged crest, often getting cliffed-out and needing to backtrack.

The rocky ridge cleared at around 8400' and we continued west up the sparsely-vegetated steep slope to the summit of Central Peak, where we took in the views of Mount Moriah nearby and of the Deep Creeks to the north. I had earlier judged Luke's choice to get a brownie from a remote gas station as poor, but it was probably the best brownie I ever had, so I praised him for longer than was probably necessary. He regularly makes excellent culinary choices, later that night bringing a full-on charcuterie board to dinner. He claimed it was "just a cutting board", but the fancy sardines and fine cheese selection spoke otherwise.

We decided to head down Central Peak via the southern ridge that straddles the aforementioned drainage. After backtracking along the steeper, rock-free stuff higher up, we continued on still pretty easy terrain. The descent had a bit more sandy and steeper sections, and on the right were a few rock outcrops that we found best to avoid on their left. There was one section at around 7000' where we chose to drop down the slope to avoid a particularly big cliff and the steep/brushy slope at its base, but then we got back to the ridge once the cliff dissipated. Somehow we actually stumbled on the remains of an old mining trail, though it was barely visible. From here it was easy hiking down back to the floor below.