Apr 11, 2018 — I somehow totally overlooked 2016-designated Castle Mountains National Monument until now, so I planned a nice ridgeline traverse, hitting a few of the named summits within the Monument. Note that this area shares a name with the more impressive pinnacles known as the Castle Peaks to the west, this trip report is not for those peaks. This traverse offers a really nice, mostly tame, ridgeline traverse in a part of the Mojave National Preserve that is infrequently visited. I had no trouble reaching the trailhead via the well-graded dirt road. Since the traverse is basically a straight north to south ridge, I planned to start with Hart Peak and end with Linder Peak, and then I'd then just come back to the road and make my way back. This hike could be a bit nicer with a shuttle so you could do the traverse without all the extra time getting back to the car, but I was alone and so it is what it is.
I hiked through lightly brushy terrain from the dirt road up to the base of Hart Peak, where a Class 2/2+ weakness took me up loose terrain to the summit. From Hart Peak, I followed the ridgeline south (Class 2 descent). There are a bunch of bumps along the way, most of which aren't prominent enough to be considered peaks. Along the way there were a bunch of nice desert views and interesting rock outcroppings. Most of the way along the ridgeline I reached a Class 2 summit called Castle Mountain. It wasn't particularly notable, except that it's a true peak.
The descent from Castle Mountain was straightforward, leading to the base of Castle Mountains High Point. I read in a couple places that this peak is also known as Linder Peak. The scree-covered slope on the north side of Linder Peak was a bit tedious, but it was over relatively quickly. After enjoying the summit for a bit, I backtracked to Linder Peak's northern base and took an old mining road back to the main dirt road. The traverse is really pretty, and though the way back follows dirt roads, I got some nice views of the full traverse I had just done.
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