Earlier this day, Adam and I had hiked to the summit of Desatoya Peak in Churchill county. We then made the almost 200-mile drive through Fallon and Winnemucca toward the Santa Rosa Range, about 40 airmiles north of Winnemucca. We followed US-95 to NV-290 and passed through the small town of Paradise Valley, which I thought was pretty cool. From there we took the dirt continuation of NV-290 north into the mountains, following the good gravel/dirt road up to Hinkey Summit, and a lesser road west a short ways, using 4-wheel drive to get up the last bit. I chose to leave the road before its end and park on top of another flat sage-covered hilltop, where we would set up camp. It was about 4 p.m. and we could see Granite Peak's summit just a short ways away. We still had plenty of daylight for a summit bid so we went for it.

We followed the road as it meandered through a marsh, then up and around a small peak before it ended at a fence line. We followed the fence line due west up a steep slope and evenutually topped out on a small ridge just east of the summit. Up to here the hiking took less than an hour and went pretty easy. We took a break and assessed the final route. From below it looks intimidating- sheer rock walls and cliffs. But as we got closer we could see a good route open up in front of us. A fairly obvious rocky spine comes off the peak toward the main saddle, so we went up its left (south) side. It was steep but mainly large granite blocks and solid brush that made travel safe. We simply followed the (to us) path of least resistance.

We had both been hiking up toward a distinct notch in the ridgeline that is just to the right of the summit, but the notch itself quickly cliffs out, so from this notch we traversed left a tiny bit and followed a steep but solid granite slab pile further up toward the top. Finally, the route, so to speak, led us to an 8 foot tall slab with no means of getting around it other than going over it. This slab was definite class-3 but it was quick and offered very comfortable handholds. On top of the slab the route crosses a small ledge then quickly gains the summit. Adam beat me to the top by about 5 minutes and he was already eating and celebrating his 100th county highpoint. Some towers sit amid the rock jumble (I imagine they helicopter the workers in as needed). We took some photos but then started down so as to be back to the truck by a reasonable time. The total round trip was about 3 hours and about 3 miles with about 1,400 feet of gross gain. Back at camp Adam celebrated with some schnapps and we both relaxed at our second cool hilltop camp site in two days!