Akawie, Vetter, Mooney, and Devil
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2024 1:18 pm
I drove up the ACH to pick up some easy HPS peaks. These are pretty far down on my list since a lot of the HPS peaks are garbage. But my standards are low, and they fill the time between more interesting adventures. Nothing worth noting at P7160.
Mount Akawie is a small bump across the highway from Waterman. The one hour round trip from the turnout was 1.7 miles, including a stop at P7160. It is a pleasant area, plenty of pines and open country. The benchmark has been stolen, probably a long time ago.
Akawie summit
Vetter was a 4 mile paved hike from Charlton Flats. The new fire lookout was nice, I think the nicest I've seen anywhere. The one on Slide Mountain maybe comes close. The 360 view was amazing. A great choice for a lookout. A volunteer named Andy was there and showed me around. He said all the fire lookouts still use the Osborne fire finder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_Fire_Finder) to pinpoint fires.
While at Charlton, I walked across the highway to get Mt. Mooney and Devil Peak. A dirt road leads to a saddle between the two. A use trail goes about a quarter mile to Mooney, which was disappointing, even for an HPS peak. Less than 300' prom, weak views, an indistinct summit with recent burn scars. "Toasted Turd" might be a better name for it. I went back to the saddle, then took the dirt road toward Devil. I didn't know there was a small observatory there. I learned later it was the Stony Ridge Observatory- https://stony-ridge.org. At the end of the road, a firebreak goes to the top of Devil. Lots of downed trees, poodle dog, and whitethorn, but a decent use trail weaves through it all. No marks or register on Devil.
note: I somehow set my phone in portrait mode on Mooney, so these aren't so good
Devil from Mooney
About 100 sports cars were racing up and down the ACH last Friday. Mostly Porsches, but a little of everything. I saw this crashed Corvette on the way down. No one was with the vehicle.
Mount Akawie is a small bump across the highway from Waterman. The one hour round trip from the turnout was 1.7 miles, including a stop at P7160. It is a pleasant area, plenty of pines and open country. The benchmark has been stolen, probably a long time ago.
Akawie summit
Vetter was a 4 mile paved hike from Charlton Flats. The new fire lookout was nice, I think the nicest I've seen anywhere. The one on Slide Mountain maybe comes close. The 360 view was amazing. A great choice for a lookout. A volunteer named Andy was there and showed me around. He said all the fire lookouts still use the Osborne fire finder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_Fire_Finder) to pinpoint fires.
While at Charlton, I walked across the highway to get Mt. Mooney and Devil Peak. A dirt road leads to a saddle between the two. A use trail goes about a quarter mile to Mooney, which was disappointing, even for an HPS peak. Less than 300' prom, weak views, an indistinct summit with recent burn scars. "Toasted Turd" might be a better name for it. I went back to the saddle, then took the dirt road toward Devil. I didn't know there was a small observatory there. I learned later it was the Stony Ridge Observatory- https://stony-ridge.org. At the end of the road, a firebreak goes to the top of Devil. Lots of downed trees, poodle dog, and whitethorn, but a decent use trail weaves through it all. No marks or register on Devil.
note: I somehow set my phone in portrait mode on Mooney, so these aren't so good
Devil from Mooney
About 100 sports cars were racing up and down the ACH last Friday. Mostly Porsches, but a little of everything. I saw this crashed Corvette on the way down. No one was with the vehicle.