Knob (SDC #6, 3431′) • map • directions

Collins (SDC #3, 4559′)

For some reason, I had it in my mind that I’d hike Mt. Collins from the west. I guess partly because of the few ascents I’ve heard of, they were all from the east. I was also interested in visiting Lost Valley, it just seemed so remote. And in theory hiking Mt. Collins from the west wasn’t much less efficient than combining it with Palms and Elder, two other SDC peaks I’d yet to hike. So I drove out to Lost Valley Road on a Monday night with intentions of hiking both Knob and Mt. Collins on Tuesday morning.

I passed Warner Springs and the Sunshine Summit and turned on to Chihuahua Valley Rd at 11pm, following it about 6 miles before catching the unpaved Lost Valley Road. I’d taken Lost Valley a short ways before on a hike to Mt. Combs and as I remembered, it was in decent shape, easily navigable with moderate clearance.  This time I hoped to drive eight miles in but was stopped short before mile seven by a signed and locked gate. $#&!#! The Boy Scouts own some property in Lost Valley but I’d come up short on a google search for more info, other than a guy who had driven this road in his minivan.

Certainly the Scouts wouldn’t mind me walking just a mile of their road to enjoy the good outdoors, eh?   So I crashed out in the passenger seat of my truck and set my alarm for 6am. Post-hike, I sent an email to ssrlv@ssrlv.org found here, and was granted permission to walk to the road, provided I tell them the date ahead of time. I told them I’d let them know 🙂 

The next morning I packed up my stuff, ate a small breakfast, and set off down the road towards Lost Valley.  I used my GPS to find a predetermined location where I would leave the road to go cross country. It was brushy but not terrible and I set course for the upper reaches of Sheep Canyon and hopefully the leftovers of an old trail shown on the map. A few short ups and downs brought me to a narrow corridor heading in the right direction. I thought I’d scored with a clear route but within a few minutes it became one obstruction after another, deadfall and thick brush, slowing my progress immensely. I knew going in to this that my approach from the west would prove to either be a great approach for Collins or it would beat me down like the senseless man I was. Unfortunately the latter would prove to be true.

Upon reaching Sheep Canyon I found no trail. I’d only half-expected it to be there but figured I’d only have a few miles to cover and how bad could it be?  The canyon itself was beautiful; huge trees, hidden pools of water and waterfalls, but those same features made it impossible to maintain any sort of pace. After spending forty minutes covering just half a mile I thought of turning back. I tried a higher route on the north banks of the canyon, dropping down over large boulders and brush when the canyon seemed to open up but I was again confronted by one obstacle after another. I finally decided that I’d have to leave the canyon entirely if I was to complete my day in a reasonable amount of time.

I hiked up the steep banks of upper Sheep Canyon, gaining four or five hundred feet to reach easier terrain.  There was lots of desert shrubbery up here but my pace was twofold vs the canyon. I crossed a small flat before hiking over a small saddle and into a dry and relatively clear wash that would empty at the western foot of Knob.  I’d been able to identify Knob during the approach, an interesting looking peak for sure. There were two single palms at its base and I passed beneath one of them before starting up for Knob’s summit, the first elevation gain of the day.

I ascended Knob up class 2 slopes on its northeast side, eventually climbing through a break in its rock capped summit from the northwest. With less than 300 feet of gain it took just fifteen minutes to get to Knob and its register from the wash below.  Knob is an outstanding vantage point over lower Sheep Canyon and I was glad to be taking in the views from above on this lonely day.  Collins looked tough from Knob though I would soon find that not to be true.

I didn’t spend more than a minute or two on top of Knob, hoping to get to the top of Mt. Collins before it got too hot. It was already after 10am when I started down towards Collins, later than I had hoped. Fortunately the way over to Collins went fairly quickly. I stayed on a direct route towards the saddle just west of Collins’ summit. The slopes were open and I was limited only by my legs and the creeping mid-day heat.   I was on Collins’ summit plateau before noon, admiring the views looking north into Fig Tree and the surrounding valleys even before I scrambled to the highest point.

I found a glass jar containing the summit register near the top of a pointed cluster of rock, the highpoint of Mt. Collins, most easily climbed from the west. The register was most recently signed by David Francis (same with Knob’s register),  who I’d happened to meet on Squaretop’s summit just a month previous. He’d been noticeably busy with the SDC peak list summit registers recently. 

I descended in a westerly direction from Mt. Collins, looking to follow a ridge out to the same flat I’d hiked through before descending towards Knob. Along this ridge I took an easy side trip to visit Peak 4695, looking interesting on the map. I was surprised to find a register with just five entries since 1979. The most exclusive register I’ve signed to date, entry number six, very cool.

I lost and then gained several times before climbing 600 feet up to a sort of plateau near the same elevation of both Peak 4695 and Mt. Collins. From there the brush got thicker and I expected a struggle, then stumbled on what I’d guess is a firebreak. This path was as wide as a road and hadn’t been cleared of the debris. 

I followed the path as it meandered back and forth, happy for its assistance.  I followed it to within a half mile of Lost Valley Road which I reached easily from there. Another 20 minutes got me back to the truck and a much-anticipated cooler full of cold drinks. A successful day on the edge of Anza Borrego State Park, though one I may not be repeating!