Bald Mountain (NV) Lyon County

 

Overview

The name Bald Mountain may be the most common name for a mountain in the United States. There are almost 30 of them listed for Summitpost and what is interesting is that some states have many of them.

This Bald Mountain is located in western Nevada (Lyon county) and is one of so many mountains named "Bald". Not an inspiring name but it could well be called "Sweet Mountain" since that is what the benchmark on top says, Sweet. This is one of Nevada's prominence peaks that has over 2000 feet of prominence and thus attracts a few visitors. Nevada has 172 peaks that have over 2000 feet of prominence which makes it the state in the lower 48 with the most peaks that fall into this arena. California is a close second with 167 peaks that have 2000 feet of prominence. A person could spend a decade or so, just doing these type of peaks if they wanted to. It comes in at #82 on the list and is can be also found on this top 100 list.
 

Getting There

Highway 338 Go south from Yerington and head for Sweetwater Summit, but turning east into Nye Canyon (38.5696 119.2097 ) prior to reaching Sweetwater Summit. I include the GPS coordinates to make finding this turnoff easier. I can't give any exact mileage from either Yerington or Bridgeport but a Benchmark Map atlas will help aid you in this endeavor. See the link for highway 338 at the beginning of this paragraph.

From Bridgeport California, go north on california highway 182 which becomes Nevada 338 when you cross the border. Cross the Sweetwater Summit and not many miles afterwards, be watchful for the dirt road of Nye Canyon (use the GPS coordinates).

Upon finding the dirt road (well graded initially) during our 2008 visit, we proceeded eastward until the road began to swing south at 38.5844 119.1026.
We drove south a short distance until we encountered a rough jeep track at
38.5714 119.1061. We found this jeep track to be very rough and very rocky and used common sense and parked not far from where we left the main dirt road at an elevation of 8050. Most vehicles would do best to just park at the spot where the jeep track starts off and hike it from there. We then followed the jeep track a couple miles to the base of Bald Mountain, where we proceeded to go cross country from this spot on the jeep track 38.5480 119.1093 at 8650'
 

Red Tape

None that I am aware of since it is located within the boundaries of the Toiyabe National Forest.

Bridgeport ranger station
HCR 1 Box 1000
Bridgeport, CA 93517
760-932-7070

Camping

Primitive camping or car camping can be employed using "leave no trace" tactics. There are no developed campgrounds near Bald Mountain

Weather links

Route information

SP member Dennis and I were on a trip to visit several peaks in California and Nevada and this peak was sandwiched in between Californias Mount Patterson and Nevadas Grant Mountain. We visited Mount Patterson in the morning and hiked up this one in the afternoon, after which we drove and camped out near Mount Grant. This is not a difficult mountain to get to, the access is good and the hike isn't long. It is about 5.5 miles roundtrip from the junction where the jeep track leaves the main dirt road. Elevation gain from there to the summit is 1600'. Inluding the stay on the summit, we went up and back from where we parked in well under three hours.

It is a hike with only one or two places where it might be considered class two. Part of our route was cross country but it was easy cross country since the vegetation (scrub type of brush) was easy to work our way through. The summit has some great views in all directions but the views to the east and to the west were the most enjoyable. As a thunderstorm seemed to be heading our way, we kept our visit on the summit short.

Summit register & Benchmarks

We found a couple benchmarks, one being the main benchmark with the name Sweet stamped on it and a witness benchmark that had the date of 1952 on it. The register dated back to 1992 and had an average of one signee per year and the pages were starting to come out as you can see from one of the pictures I have posted.

Links

Peakbagger.com
List of ascents from Peakbagger

Lists of John

Disclaimer

As road conditions can change and hiking or traveling in this type of country can be inherently dangerous, the above information is provided only as a courtesy. You accept all risk and responsibility for your activities in this area and I recommend that you let others know of your plans and where you will be hiking/climbing prior to heading to this area. Be self sufficient and carry plenty of food, water and shelter in the event of a breakdown. Good quality tires are a necessity on the rough and rocky roads you will encounter as is a vehicle in good condition. Having said all that, have a good trip and please let the author of this page know of changes that you encounter.

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Images

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