Standard Peak, Tungsten Hills

11 Feb 1999 - by Eric Beck

This is the SE highpoint of the Tungsten Hills west of Bishop. Yesterday was cold and windy, although clear; a good day for a WIMP ( Winter, Inyo, Mono Peak ). I joined Joe Kelsey and Toby for this ascent. The name is given by Don Slager as it is a standard one hour ascent.

We drove up the Tungsten City road about two miles from Ed Powers road, took a short left and parked in an area which had seen much shooting. We followed the road up the canyon to the southwest about one half mile until the slope steepend. We worked out way up the slope on a series of switchbacks cut into the slope. Don says that these are not real switchbacks, rather they are just cuts into the surface looking for ore deposits. Indeed, several of them just ended in the sage. This section had several inches of snow. We gained the shoulder west of the peak, followed another cut along the south flank and then took a short use trail to the top. Amazingly, the most pleasant conditions of the trip were on the summit. There was a register with only the top half of a pair of nested cans.

Round trip stats: 3 miles, 1000 feet, 2 hours. It appears that coming from Buttermilk road to the south, one could drive to the shoulder west of the peak, only 200 feet below.


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