I had a week off before resuming teaching chores at ASU for the summer, and thought about making a quick swing into California to bag some desert peaks and to visit my brother’s family in Cucamonga. A very rare May rain and snow storm moved through during the previous few days, dropping temperatures in the deserts (and everywhere) by about 20 degrees below normal. Whereas temperatures in the high Mojave deserts would probably be hanging near 100 this time of year and making hiking uncomfortable and probably dangerous, the lower temperatures gave me a window of opportunity to visit two peaks on my radar: Rodman and Ord Mountains. Both are located in the deserts north of Lucerne Valley, south of Daggett and Interstate-40, and very near the gigantic Twentynine Palms Marine Training Facility. Ord is probably a tiny bit more well-known that Rodman since it is visible from some points along Interstate-15 south of Barstow (it has a distinct saddle-shaped summit set far back east of the highway). Rodman is essentially invisible as it is set further back and mostly hidden from view from most travelers on the interstates. Both have high prominence: Ord ranks fairly high with approximately 3,300 feet of prominence, while Rodman barely squeaks onto the 2000-footer list with just 2,010 feet. However, both peaks reach above 6,000 feet elevation, making them two of the higher peaks in this section of the Mojave.

I left Chandler today at about 10 a.m. with plans to get into this area around 4ish, then set up camp and go from there. I wasn’t sure which peak I’d try first. The drive went without event, following Interstate-10 to Blythe, up US-95 to Vidal Junction, west on CA-62 through Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley, then up CA-247 into Lucerne Valley. In all the years I lived in SoCal, I do not recall ever driving on (or being a passenger) this highway. It was rather scenic, better than I expected. In Lucerne Valley I drove north up Camp Rock Road past the meager civilization bits and past the end of the pavement. The road continued northeasterly, now a wide graded gravel road, and passing by many off-road vehicle staging areas. Ord’s three summits dominate the skyline (Middle Ord being the highpoint), while Rodman stands pretty tall itself a bit off to the northeast and behind some foothills. It was nearing 5 p.m. when I came into the area so I decided on the spot to go visit Rodman first, then try Ord the next morning.

Going right on a major gravel road (unsigned by name, but leading to the Bessemer Mine), I approached Rodman, which was still about four miles distant. Communications towers could be seen on its broad summit ridge. Surprisingly, the road becomes paved again about two miles in, but the pavement is in horrendous shape and I tried to avoid it if possible. Finally, I came to the road split with the right going up about two miles to the top. The road isn’t bad, and I drove in about three-quarters of a mile to a short straight section where I could turn the truck and park and be out of sight from the main road. I got some simple supplies together and started up the road about 5:15 p.m. in beautiful weather.

The hike to the top is very easy: the road enters into a more pronounced canyon, makes a long left switchback up the headwall, then a long right up and onto the main summit ridge and plateau, gaining about 700 feet from my truck in about 1.25 miles. I covered this leg in about 30 minutes. There are four distinct communication tower groupings on the summit, but the actual highpoint is beyond the end of the road and up a somewhat challenging 50-foot boulder pile. I dropped my bag and made a quick hike/scramble up the rocks, achieving the top after a few more minutes. Not too bad! I took some photos and surveyed the surroundings. The sun was getting low enough west to make some long shadows on the deserts below. The big massif of Ord Mountain was the main obvious peak immediately west of me. North was the Newberry Range and in the far distance, the Cady and Calico Mountains. I could see a big mine east of me (the Bessemer Mine?), and south, still covered in late-May snow, was the big broad profile of San Gorgonio Mountain, the highest peak in all of Southern California.

The hike down took maybe twenty minutes; I was back to my truck about 6:30 p.m., with a good hour-plus of daylight still to go. Rodman had gone well, better than expected, and I had not expected to make a hike today necessarily. All in all it is a nice desert mountain with stark slopes of rock and short scrub and low cactus. The road naturally makes for an easy ascent. I drove back down and onto the main road, and eventually back onto Camp Rock Road, which now bent northwesterly and made a long sweep north of the Ord Mountains. Big East Ord comes first, then bigger Middle Ord second. This area also features some private lands and some scattered ranches. I finally found the road turn-off I was looking for: Ord Mountain Road. Following this south about two miles I found a decent campspot in the open off some mine roads against the foothills. I had no map and wasn’t too sure if I was in the “right” starting area, but it was as good a place as any. This set me up for my hike of Ord Mountain the next morning.