Tehachapi Mountain would be my last of four peaks planned for a very compact, 4-peak, 2-day swing through Southern California, including the driving from Arizona. Earlier today I had success on Piute Peak, and drove the 45 miles or so out of the hinterlands back onto highway CA-58, the main artery between Bakersfield and the high desert, passing through the interesting town of Tehachapi along the way. Tehachapi (the city) is the main population center in its namesake Tehachapi Mountains, which run in a broad southwest-northeast pattern, separating the lower San Joaquin Valley to the west from the high deserts to the east. The Tehachapis are mostly broad and rounded in shape, with a heavy coat of pine forest for nearly its entire breadth. Since the highest point in the Tehachapis is a shade below 8,000 feet, the crest is not high enough to be above treeline. The lower slopes are covered in low grasses and dotted with oaks and other trees and brush.

In fact, there is some confusion as to which summit is the highest in the range. Tehachapi Mountain has no spot elevation but is within a 7,960-foot contour (40-foot intervals) so it could be anywhere between 7,960 to 7,999 feet. The Double Mountains located about one air-mile south both have spot elevations of 7,981 feet (although other visitors note some discrepancy between the two summits of the Doubles). One of these peaks—Tehachapi or the Doubles—is the range highpoint. The consensus seems to be in favor of the Doubles. I figured I’d need both peaks to be sure, and Tehachapi Mountain has a nice combination of road and trails to make it an easy, convenient hike, as well as one of the more popular ones in the region. So I opted for Tehachapi for this trip, and would decide on what to do about the Doubles later.

I arrived in Tehachapi around 9:30 a.m. The town is set amid the foothills of the range, a real pretty scape of rolling hills, meadows and forest. It’s high enough to get snow in winter and low enough to be warm in summer, but it looks like it is nice all year. I’ve only passed through Tehachapi a few times over the years and until today, had never explored beyond the highway. From the highway I went south to Highline Road then west to Water Canyon Road, following this road in a few miles to the Tehachapi Mountain Park. I parked at a small parking pullout near the Nuooah Trail, suited up and started my hike around 10 sharp. It was kind of warm with general high clouds. Yesterday had been stormy with afternoon thunderstorms so I was aware things might get interesting later on in the afternoon.

I followed the Nuooah Trail (however it is pronounced) up a few yards, past a bench and a small footbridge where it bent left, past a small post fence, and caught a good side trail to my right (at about an angle of 135 degrees). This short trail is just an access trail up to a water tank; beyond the tank the trail continued up an embankment paralleling a drainage, and in short time, I had reached a major dirt service road. To here I had hiked maybe 1/3 of a mile with maybe 250 feet of gain. I went right on the road and simply walked up this road as it switch-backed right and left and right a number of times, steadily gaining elevation along the way. I met a number of hikers on their way down, all very friendly and willing to give a rookie like me some hints on what to expect higher.

The road portion covers maybe a mile and gains about 800 more feet. After about five switchbacks it surmounts a small pass, emerging from the folds of the canyon and now catching a ridge. Shortly thereafter it comes to a big clearing where the “Captain’s Chairs” can be found: two logs carved out to look like big chairs, sitting in the open. Here I was told I would find the use-trail that would take me to the top.

The use-trail runs up the spine of the ridge, well-beaten and obvious, but very steep and relentless. The only upside is I made good time. I was also told to not get my hopes up for the “four or five” false summits I’d see. The hiking was tiring but easy. In time I came upon a ridge bump where the slope moderated, passed a “private property” boundary, up another false summit and finally, to the real summit. According to my cell-phone’s thing that tells time, it had taken me 1 hour, 45 minutes to make the top, covering 2.2 miles one way (going by the Sierra Club’s HPS figures) and 2,000 feet of gain. Not too bad for me, I guess. I’m sure others have done it much quicker. I noted an old sign stating this was the highest point of the Tehachapi Range and a hand-written rejoinder under it saying “BullSh*t”. Whatever is the highpoint, I sat and relaxed here for a few moments, signed in and rested. I also peered south through the trees at the Double Mountains and their batches of towers. Too close to call. Of higher concern was the lack of sun – the clouds had closed up pretty solid and it looked threatening. I decided to get moving back down.

The hike down went fast (for me), taking just under an hour to egress back to my truck. About 200 feet below the top it started to rain, and it continued to rain for about another 30 minutes, sometimes heavy and even small hail pellets, but no real thunder or lightning (yet). Actually, the rain felt really nice and I enjoyed it very much! Otherwise, it was kind of warm and sticky. It was sunny above me for the last little bit to my truck, and quite humid, and rather uncomfortable (and buggy). But the hike had gone very well and I got what I came looking for: a workout and a peak. I hadn’t done much real hiking in almost two months, so even a hike like this was a little rough at first.

After exiting the park I went west along highway CA-202 into Cummings Valley/Bear Canyon, a beautiful high plateau ringed by mountains, notably Cummings to the south and Bear to the north. This was an old ranch that is slowly being built out with high-end homes and ranchettes. Bear Mountain is a 2,000-foot prominence peak of interest, but it sits on private land (a gated community). If one can get access past the gate, then roads get as high as 800 feet below the top, and from there, dirt roads go the rest of the way. I figured it was worth a try, maybe I’d get lucky. Well, the guy at the gate told me to get lost. I didn’t tell him what I was up to. He did mention I had to be a resident or a guest of a resident to get in. Oh well, I wasn’t expecting success here. I may just do the long hike up the roads from the north or west in the future.

Given the uncertainty of which peak is the range highpoint, I cannot claim Tehachapi Peak as a 2,000-foot prominence peak yet. I did inquire with the Kern County Surveyor’s Office but they have never formally surveyed Tehachapi’s summit and could not provide me much help. So, it looks like I’ll need to hike the Doubles at some point in the future. No problem: there are about another 4 or 5 peaks in this area I want so I will certainly be coming back.

It was almost 3 p.m. when I got back on highway CA-58, which I followed into Mojave, Barstow and points beyond. One gas station right off of the I-15 was charging 50 cents more per gallon than other stations a half-mile into town! What a rip-off! I drove east on I-40 to scout some peaks for a future trip, plus to enjoy the scenery this way, since I rarely drive I-40 anyway. The plan was to possibly camp in the Havasu area. I drove through Lake Havasu City and still felt good so I drove into Parker, getting low on gas, but I made it into Quartzsite with less than an eighth of a tank left, but at least I was able to maintain my streak of not spending any money in Parker ever again (going on 30 months and due to a bogus speeding ticket). Heck, once I was in Quartzsite I just got on the I-10 and zoomed home, arriving about 9 p.m., a 570-mile day overall. I was glad to be home to my wife and new kittens, and happy to have gotten out for a few days for some easy peaks.