I attempted to hike up Black and Black Pine peaks but unfortunately the road was blocked on the western approach road by barbed wire. No idea if the way up is just blocked off now or maybe it just hasn't opened up yet for hiking. I'll probably try the hike later in the year and probably from the East side and see how it goes. That was fail number one for the day. Since I was sort of in the area and didn't want to just drive back home without doing anything at all, I decided to go to City of Rocks and see if there did indeed exist a trail along the northern side of CoR (along the Granite Peak ridge). I had seen one website at one point (which I never found again and never saw on any other sites) mention something about a ridge run or ridge trail. Although I didn't see anything in Google Earth I did see a trail going up to Steinfells Dome and I thought that if there was a trail going around the northern side and following that ridgeline to the west following granite peak and going all the way over to the Indian Grove trail, that would be the starting point. The trail up to Steinfells Dome was steep but short, and there was no trail after getting to the dome. I went off trail for a short time while the terrain was not too bad, but it turned more rocky and steep with thick low trees that made going tough. Since I had no real reason to push on as there obviously was no trail and it would be very difficult and probably take most of the day, I turned around and went back to the dome and down to the car. It took about 1hr 30min to go about 2.3 miles.
City of Rocks Ridge Hike (2018)
