Pershing County High Point Trip Report
Star Peak (9,836 ft)
Date: June 24, 2002
Author: Scott Surgent
The biggest variable here was how far I could safely get my truck up the STEEP mine roads shown on the map.
Worst case scenario was to start at 5,700 feet and have 4,000 feet of gain ahead of us in hot and dusty weather.
I was able to get a mile in and 1,000 feet up before I came to a hairpin turn that was just too sharp
for my truck to handle. I parked at a pullout and Adam and myself started up at 12:30 pm, elevation 6,800 feet.
The route to the top follows the mine roads. No time-wasting here: the road just goes up and up and up.
It is very steep and I am happy I parked where I did. We reached the saddle near spot elevation 9097 and
walked cross-country south to the summit. We both made great time - under 3 hours for what we figured
was 3.5 miles one way and 3,000 feet of gain. Many familiar names in the log. Huge locusts (3 inches long
and fat) were in the area. Interesting wildlife.
We both made great time down - about 1 hour 30 minutes, but this was partly due to the steep roads.
Once we got started down, it took more effort to stop to rest than to let gravity do its thing.
As for the road: the log had plenty of entries from people who took ATVs and dirt-bikes to the saddle at
9097 feet. It definitely is 4WD and a challenging one, too. Toward the top, the roads are so steep and crumbly,
not to mention with hairpin turns, that anything larger than 10 feet long will have real problems.