Hike Glass Mountain Inyo National Forest, CA

Sep 01, 2024 — From afar, Glass Mountain may appear to be just another large lump in the Great Basin Desert, but as part of the Mono-Inyo Craters volcanic chain, the peak is a geological wonder with a vast amount of obsidian, which is volcanic glass formed from rapidly cooled lava. Of course, it takes some work to reach a point where you can see the shimmering black rocks. Historically, this obsidian was valued by indigenous peoples for crafting tools, but to me it was just a fun and unique feature of the range.

On my drive in I let my GPS navigate me along McGee Canyon Road, which was passable but a bit rockier than if I had taken Sawmill Meadows Road by leaving CA-120 here (37.87564, -118.61818). I parked at the standard trailhead, which began as a sandy road walk through the forest until a steepening singletrack trail ascended west up a wide gully. There were pockets of obsidian on the ground, the large clusters of it much more interesting than I had expected they'd be based on photos. It helped that my legs were pretty shot after the last week in the Sierra, forcing me to take my time up the incline and inspect a couple of the pieces. I thought my original plan of traversing Glass Mountain, Glass Mountain Ridge, Kelty Peak, Wilfred Peak, and Cone Peak was out of the question at this point.

The trail made its way up to the northeastern slope of Glass Mountain. Along the way, it skirted steep slopes and dipped in and out of the forest before emerging into the mostly bald summit area. It was steep the whole way to this point. Some nice walking up the soft slope got me to the summit, where I had a view of the Sierra Mountains. I peered over at the north summit of Glass Mountain, deciding I didn't want to make the effort to reach that unranked peak. Instead, I preferred to put my weary legs to work on a more ambitious traverse. Seeing so many lumps somehow gave me energy. I couldn't possibly skip them.

Next up was Glass Mountain Ridge, beginning with an easy descent with a partial social trail leading down from Glass Mountain to the saddle. A little avoidable lump with a steep south ridge along the crest featured massive hunks of obsidian, so I wasn't too upset to go up and over it, although the social trail around it would have probably saved some of the tread on my sneakers. It was a pretty steep schlep up to the flat summit area of Glass Mountain Ridge, and the views were similar to its taller neighbor. I continued south, avoiding a lump along the way that probably would have been better to just go up and over, as the side-hilling I did was not energy-saving in any way.

A quick, soft descent to the saddle with Kelty Peak was followed by a steep ascent to its summit. The fun, fast downhills and annoyingly steep uphills seemed to be a theme for these peaks. There really hadn't been any scrambling, but the steepness often had me touching the ground for stability, so I suppose one could call the route Class 2. Kelty Peak wasn't particularly noteworthy, which makes sense considering it’s just an unranked bump along the way.

Another fun descent on soft terrain off the east slopes of Kelty Peak lasted much longer than I anticipated, and it was neat to watch Wilfred Peak shift in height on the horizon as I rapidly lost elevation. I managed to find a social trail when I neared the bottom, but it was short-lived. I continued up to the summit of Wilfred Peak, yet another steep hike with similar views, though just as lovely. Tire scars were clear evidence that irresponsible ATVs drive all over the northern slope of Wilfred Peak. I joined the official ATV road and followed it in an arc to get over to my final peak, Cone Peak. This standalone minor summit felt like a silly add-on, but I had enough time and energy to snag it. I enjoyed the meadows dotted with wildflowers along the way, as well as the view down toward Lake Crowley. The road led nearly to the summit, and a tiny bit of brushy Class 2 took me the rest of the way.

Now I just needed to return to my car, but there was no clear ATV road leading directly there. I noted on satellite imagery that somewhere on the eastern slope of the range there appeared to be a road snaking through the forest, so I made this my goal. I backtracked toward Wilfred Peak and descended to the northwest through forest on soft slopes, attempting to contour to stay high and avoid excessive drainages. Although I had to dip in and out a few times, the main difficulty was staying on course. Somehow the slope's angle kept throwing me off, and I had to keep consulting my GPS to ensure I wasn't straying too far. I managed to stay higher than necessary but eventually stumbled upon the road here (37.75593, -118.67706). I took this road all the way back to Sawmill Meadows Campground. An old wooden cabin rested here, and I think I surprised a group of campers who weren't expecting someone to randomly emerge from the forest.