Route Editor
Route Scout
You can see for miles & miles & miles ... by kingsnake The summit of Tanner Peak is less than a mile from the summit of Armer Mountain. You could do both in one hike, but it would add 1000 AEG of bushwhacking to your day. 1000 AEG on a trail is not so bad, but bushwhacking it makes much harder, slower & physical. Going up & down a trail is legs & lungs, but doing it through brush and over rocks is a full body workout, likely involving plasma loss. I don’t know what the northwest slope of Armer Mountain is like, but I do know the wash up from Sawmill Flats Campground is full of razor blades, so if I was to do both Tanner Peak and Armer Mountain, I try it instead from the Rose Creek Campground. At least most of the mileage would be on old jeep trail. From the Rose Creek Campground, hike south, up slope, past the pit toilet. It’s a steep little climb, and quite slippery on all the pine needles. Turn north onto FR-95, which is mostly smooth sailing. FR-95 is level for about 0.75 miles, before dipping about 200 ft. to some access roads to private property, on which I saw several barns / hunting cabins. At 1.5 miles, FR-95 turns west, away from the private property, and begins switchbacking up hill, about 800 ft. in a mile and a half. Halfway up the climb, on the right hand side of the trail is an abandoned truck, in pretty good condition as such things go. FR-95 levels out for the next 1.5 miles, until it begins climbing up the Deer Creek drainage, along the east slope of Tanner Peak. You could turn west at any time, and take Tanner Peak head on, but it will be even steeper, rockier and more tangled than the route I took. About 5.5 miles up FR-95, it reaches a saddle between Tanner Peak and Armer Mountain. If you were to double summit, this would be where you start ascending Armer. Just before the saddle, turn right, and head up the spine of Tanner Peak. It’s only a quarter mile to the summit, but it is a steep, tangled, rocky, 300 ft. climb. It’s not nearly as bad as coming at it from the side: I’d know, since that is the way I started down, until thinking the wiser of it. Check out the Official Route and Triplogs. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community.
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WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.
Most recent Triplog Review
Tanner Peak 6917
Armer Mountain Loop with Tanner Mountain
Joe's turn to pick.... He gave me 3 choices to pick from. I picked this one, which I find out later was an after thought. This one is an addition to the Armer Mountain hike that famed HAZ'er, Preston the Yetti wrote up.
The climb up was not as bad as I'd expected, based on the previous trip reports. (Although I would recommend at least long pants.) It does follow an old logging road, that has long since grown over, but not all that bad to follow. This compared to what was to come later in the hike. Follow the grade, go around the growth where required to get back into the old road, and you'll be to the top in no time.
Your first spectacular views start at the 2.25 mile mark prior to reaching the Armer Peak. Wow
Once on top of Armer Mountain, we spent 20 or so minutes looking for any sign of the C-47 that crashed up there in 1951. I had conflicting information on its location. We checked areas west of Armer peak.
Next it was time to start our off trail adventures. Off to Tanner Peak. The climb up was not as daunting as it looked. When you get to the actual Peak, continue to the North for 20 or so yards. Probably some of the best views in the entire Sierra Ancha's. You have more that a 270 degree view from up there! Here we had lunch in one of the top lunch spots ever!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?edit=vd&v=PlqZVGK00nI
We dropped down Tanner and made our way up to the ridge line that connects 7231, 7142 and a lesser peak. The views once again were wundabah. Parts of this ridge line have burned in the past. The farther north we got on the ridge line, the thicker it got. There was remnants of an old trail that covered this ridge line. In spots there was a worn track and we found a couple 2' tall cairns buried under the Manzanita.
Now it was time to make our descent off the ridge line. We blasted through a couple hundred yards of Manzanita and dropped 800' in a half mile over a scree field grown up with Thistle and Foxtails, until we hit an old overgrown road. In the process I slipped gently coming down and used my hand to catch my slip. I was confused for a bit when I was not able to pick my hand up, finding that I'd impaled myself on a small burned branch.
From here we just decided to walk the old road to 188, and then back to the car.
On this hike I got used as a human shield twice...aka, let's play hide behind the old guy.
Once when Joe saw the Bear/Cow, and once when he heard a gun shot off in the distance.
Good to know who your friends are.
Most of this hike should go in the book.
The climb up was not as bad as I'd expected, based on the previous trip reports. (Although I would recommend at least long pants.) It does follow an old logging road, that has long since grown over, but not all that bad to follow. This compared to what was to come later in the hike. Follow the grade, go around the growth where required to get back into the old road, and you'll be to the top in no time.
Your first spectacular views start at the 2.25 mile mark prior to reaching the Armer Peak. Wow
Once on top of Armer Mountain, we spent 20 or so minutes looking for any sign of the C-47 that crashed up there in 1951. I had conflicting information on its location. We checked areas west of Armer peak.
Next it was time to start our off trail adventures. Off to Tanner Peak. The climb up was not as daunting as it looked. When you get to the actual Peak, continue to the North for 20 or so yards. Probably some of the best views in the entire Sierra Ancha's. You have more that a 270 degree view from up there! Here we had lunch in one of the top lunch spots ever!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?edit=vd&v=PlqZVGK00nI
We dropped down Tanner and made our way up to the ridge line that connects 7231, 7142 and a lesser peak. The views once again were wundabah. Parts of this ridge line have burned in the past. The farther north we got on the ridge line, the thicker it got. There was remnants of an old trail that covered this ridge line. In spots there was a worn track and we found a couple 2' tall cairns buried under the Manzanita.
Now it was time to make our descent off the ridge line. We blasted through a couple hundred yards of Manzanita and dropped 800' in a half mile over a scree field grown up with Thistle and Foxtails, until we hit an old overgrown road. In the process I slipped gently coming down and used my hand to catch my slip. I was confused for a bit when I was not able to pick my hand up, finding that I'd impaled myself on a small burned branch.
From here we just decided to walk the old road to 188, and then back to the car.
On this hike I got used as a human shield twice...aka, let's play hide behind the old guy.
Once when Joe saw the Bear/Cow, and once when he heard a gun shot off in the distance.
Good to know who your friends are.
Most of this hike should go in the book.
2013-07-13 The_Eagle
