Hike Sawmill Mountain and Jacks Mountain Loop Clover Mountains Wilderness BLM, NV

Apr 26, 2020 — After a very long Sonoran and Mojave Desert season this year, mostly due to COVID, but also my general over-psych for desert peakbagging, I was excited to get into some higher elevations to enjoy some greenery. I didn't realize quite how much I missed forests until I started this hike to Sawmill Mountain. I drove in very late, and made some wrong turns. Google Maps really messes you up. To stick to the main road, I recommend navigating to here: 37.46221, -114.26702 and then continuing south along this road that is suitable for all vehicles, though low clearance may struggle slightly.

Some may prefer to do this route from East Pass a bit farther down the road, but I wanted to make the hike into a nice loop to get as much ridgeline view time as I could. I'm happy with my decision and I recommend making a similar loop as I did. I parked at the junction with a spur road and headed south along this road. I turned right when the slope became more mellow and less brushy/forested and continued along a mostly brush-free destroyed stumpland. I was thinking pretty low thoughts of this hike so far, but as I got higher, the views became nicer and eventually I would enter a forested section, leaving the deforested wasteland behind. The slope did have a slightly steeper section and there were a couple of brushy areas, but nothing crazy.

I continued though the pretty coniferous forest up to the summit of Sawmill Mountain, where finally the views became particularly gorgeous. To be fair, I might have found this to be extra pretty because it was such a stark change from the last few months' hikes. I continued east along the ridgeline, encountering only short sections of brush and steepness. I summitted a small peak along the ridge labeled Peak 7379, which had the best views of the day. I continued farther along the ridge and down to East Pass. I enjoyed the ridgeline enough that I eyes nearby Jacks Mountain, but it appeared to be significantly more brushy than my route so far. I hestitantly started up the slope from East Pass on my way to Jacks Mountain, picking my way around manzanitas and other unpleasantness, but really it wasn't so bad. A little character-building doesn't hurt, plus I wanted another peak after driving all the way the hell out here. There were sections of open slope free from brush that I somehow was able to locate regularly, and I made it to the summit before I knew it. There were a ton of bees all over and I was surprised none of them bothered me.

I descended Jacks Mountain a different way, which was far more brushy and unpleasant, so I removed that bit from my attached map. Return the way you came. Back at East Pass, I followed the nice road back to my car.