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| | Kavanaugh Ridge Viewpoint, CA | | | |
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Kavanaugh Ridge Viewpoint, CA
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| Hiking | 3.88 Miles |
949 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.88 Miles | 3 Hrs 46 Mns | | 1.14 mph |
| 949 ft AEG | 21 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | I planned to spend part of a day on June 25 doing some 4WD exploring along the Dunderberg Meadow Road between Green Creek and Virginia Creek on my way to car camp along Virginia Creek for a couple days. It was a beautiful drive and the road turned out to be a well maintained gravel road with 4WD and high clearance not required. However there was a 4WD track called the Kavanaugh Ridge Road that looked worthy of exploring and was recommended by several locals I encountered in the area. It lead to a viewpoint on top of the ridge at 11000 ft with a view of the Hoover Wilderness including East and Green Lakes which I had hiked to a couple days previously. The Kavanaugh Ridge road turned out to be a steep 4WD worthy road requiring high clearance but I got stopped 2 miles short of the viewpoint by a huge snowdrift. It was 11:00am and thunderheads had started to form but I decided to hike the "short" 2 miles to the viewpoint thinking I could beat the storm. After only going about 300yds I saw dark clouds forming above. I decided to get out of there before the afternoon thunderstorms started and come back early the next morning. There's a reason this area is called Dunderberg (thunder mountain) Meadows and I don't like being on a mountain side when the lightening starts striking all around me.
The next morning I returned and hiked the 2 miles to the Kavanaugh Ridge Viewpoint. It was a short beautiful hike although starting at 10100ft elev and going to 11000ft slowed me down considerably. Hiking along the 4WD track I noticed fresh tire tracks - obviously some 4WDers had found a way to bypass the snowdrift ignoring the sign at the beginning of the track warning to not go off-road. I would discover 2 groups of these nefarious scoundrels camped on the shore of a beautiful little lake about halfway to the viewpoint. Oh well, although a little jealous, at least I could take smug satisfaction in knowing I had obeyed the rules and was getting some needed exercise while they lounged around their camps on their lazy butts.
The viewpoint was a spectacular showcase for the Hoover Wilderness and I highly recommend it if you're in the area. |
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