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Jan 24, 2021 — Desert National Wildlife Refuge is mostly known as the home to Hayford Peak, but there are a bunch of other mostly unmemorable desert peaks in the area. Target Benchmark is one such peak, but Jon and I had a good time. Apparently this area is at risk of being commandeered by the Nellis Air Force Range, you know, because the military doesn't already have enough land apparently. The road leading to the trailhead is overall very good, but it does get a little rocky so decent tires are a good idea. We parked at a "no cars" sign, despite the existence of a road and followed this old road for a while, leaving it to head toward the eastern spur ridge leading to Target Benchmark. Class 2 led us most of the way up, with a short Class 2+ move on very solid rock about 3/4 of the way along the ridge. The summit views were nice from Target Benchmark and we decided to continue along the ridge to Bullseye Peak to the south. We named it this due to its proximity to "Target Benchmark", since it was previously labeled the alluring "Peak 5938". The ridgeline was a little steep leading down to the saddle, but barely even Class 2.
A Class 2 loose slope led to jsut below the summit of Bullseye Peak, and the final ridgeline went at Class 2. We dropped back to the saddle and descended the slope (it looks steeper on a map than it was) into a rocky drainage. The drainage entered a short canyon, and then continued through the desert back to the car.
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