The first good view of Coyote BM (center) appears at the spot where Phinney Canyon Rd drops into Phinney Canyon wash:
The night before the hike, I slept at the Phinney Canyon informal campground. This was the second year in a row that I stayed overnight here during the month of June. At 5:20am, I woke up to this beautiful sunrise:
Near the trailhead, there was a stunning display of Giant Four O'Clock wildflowers on display:
The hike begins at this Wilderness Restoration sign, which is nearly 1,000 feet in elevation lower than the campground location:
As the hike begins, it follows an old closed mining road up a small rise overlooking Phinney Canyon wash:
Bright red-colored Desert Paintbrush is a reliable wildflower to find on most higher elevation hikes:
This unique-looking wildflower is called Wild Heliotrope (also known as Blue Phacelia):
There was quite a bit of Sulphur Buckwheat growing along the route. Last year, I had found Sulphur Buckwheat growing near the summit of nearby Grapevine Peak:
As the hike gets underway, there is a small hill with a good viewpoint which is just slightly out of the way. From this viewpoint, four major summits are visible. The first is Wahguyhe Peak, seen here (background bare peak):
Grapevine Peak also becomes visible. It is actually worth it just to do this short walk to see this unique view of Grapevine Peak (which is zoomed in here):
And today's summit becomes visible, as Coyote BM with its eastern ridgeline can fully be seen:
Not to be forgotten is the impressive little peak known as Vine BM which is seen to the east:
A giant wash must now be crossed and I had to head toward the rocky hillside seen in the distance to get into the Coyote BM wash. This part was just slightly tricky to navigate:
Now I was hiking in the correct wash which would eventually lead to the Coyote BM ridgeline:
Looking ahead, the hiking was quite uncomfortable for a while due to all the bush dodging, which also caused my socks and pants to become covered by foxtails:
These tall reeds spotted in the wash looked a little bit out of place high in the Grapevine Mountains:
Pinyon Pine trees began appearing in the wash. While the hikes to Wahguyhe Peak and Grapevine Peak start out in the middle of the forest, the hike to Coyote BM gradually climbs into the forest:
There were numerous displays of Giant Four O'Clock flowers in full bloom along the way. These flowers are truly giant and also very colorful:
Because an old mostly washed-out mining road follows this route, there are mining relics to be found along the way:
This looks like it is possibly an old oven that was once used by miners to warm up their food:
The views of the Wahguyhe Peak northeastern ridge are quite expansive:
Zooming in on Wahguyhe Peak's famous cone-shaped summit. One year earlier, I had climbed the merciless scree slopes seen here:
I came across faint traces of the old road, but nothing consistent which made the hike any easier:
Looking back at a very long section of continuous bush dodging:
Some nice side canyon scenery which is passed by:
A nice display of Desert Sage in bloom:
This small hillside had a number of unique wildflowers all blooming together in mid-June:
Among these was Rosy Penstemon, which grows quite tall and has a vivid red color:
Also growing tall was the light blue-colored Desert Larkspur:
But one of my favorites was Spiny Hopsage. I had never seen this bush blooming before on a hike:
Hopsage flowers were the most frequently spotted blooms along the route:
Spiny Hopsage plants are related to Desert Holly plants:
Notice how the Hopsage flowers transition from green to yellow to pink:
One of the enjoyable aspects of this hike was being kept company by birds. This is a Black-throated sparrow:
The most playful of all the birds encountered were the Clay-colored sparrows. They were chirping and flying along from tree to tree while I hiked:
Two Clay-colored sparrows keeping a watchful eye out:
More Giant Four O'Clock wildflowers, but these ones are more purple than pink in color:
Giant Four O'Clocks really stand out when in bloom because the flowers are so large and are really eye-catching:
This is the major junction reached about 2 miles into the hike. The wash of the main canyon heading toward Coyote BM continues to the left:
A canyon begins to take shape with banks on both sides of the wash while Coyote BM draws nearer:
Finding a Mojave Fishhook Cactus in full bloom:
This is the spot where I decided to climb the ridge and begin the steep ascent portion of the hike:
Finding a Mojave Pricklypear cactus in partial bloom:
Getting a picture with Coyote BM's still faraway summit seen behind me:
The ridge ascent started out with some fairly gentle climbs early on:
I found several large displays of Fleabane Daisy wildflowers:
Arriving at the spot marked on the topo map as 6717, which provides for the first great views all the way around:
The summit was still some 1,850 feet higher in elevation than this spot:
Panoramic looking back down the ridgeline already climbed from topo point 6717:
Panoramic looking at the ridgeline climb ahead from topo point 6717:
The view ahead after climbing up to the next small bump:
This was the best view I had of the canyon beneath Coyote BM. Later in the day, I would hike back down the entire length of the forested canyon seen here:
Looking back at a large outcropping that is kind of a marker when hiking up the ridge from below:
The Mojave Fishhook Cactus looks similar to the Pineapple Cactus, but the spines have curved ends as seen here:
Up ahead, there looked to be some rock outcroppings to navigate through or around:
There continued to be very heavy plant growth along the ridge, which added to the challenge:
More Wild Heliotrope growing on the mountain slopes, most of the time under the shade of trees:
And more Sulphur Buckwheat continued to be on display:
A Rock wren (likely a juvenile) kept watch on me while perched on a rock:
Rock wrens can use their long bills to seek out insects to feed on in rock cracks:
The views looking back down were starting to get quite impressive as elevation gain increased:
Much more of the steep northern slopes of Wahguyhe Peak could now be seen:
Grapevine Peak looked quite dramatic as viewed from this spot while climbing the Coyote BM ridge:
Looking ahead on the ridge, there appeared to just be a couple of major bumps left before reaching the summit:
Seeing these giant rock crags was a bit concerning, realizing I would have to work my way around them:
Looking back down, notice that the lower part of the ridgeline was no longer visible:
Upon arriving at the base of the giant rock crags, I began working my way around them to the right:
There were some very large and impressive rocks with different surface textures:
Staying to the right while passing through boulders which have broken off the rock crags. The next objective was the high point seen ahead:
Looking back, the rock crags tower up high above the top of the ridge:
After finding Fremont Phacelia on my previous Death Valley hike which was to Quail BM, it was neat to find it also during this hike to Coyote BM:
Looking back at the very distinct route up along the Coyote BM eastern ridgeline:
Up ahead is the last major bump before doing the final climb to the summit:
This shows the bottom portion of the final climb, although it is longer and more challenging than it looks:
Perhaps the hardest part of the entire summit route is dealing with the loose scree section. This true perspective angle provides a glimpse of the challenge:
There were sections of scree which could not be avoided but had to be climbed straight through:
This is also the steepest section of the entire route and the climb goes on for quite some time. About 450 feet in elevation is gained on this last section alone:
There was a wide variety of trees growing on the summit slope:
A Bristlecone Pine tree looking quite vibrant and healthy:
Arizona Lupine added a lot of color to the landscape just below the summit:
A close-up of some Arizona Lupine blooming tall:
The steepness slowly subsided as the summit was now just ahead:
Arriving on the summit and getting a picture in between Wahguyhe Peak and Grapevine Peak:
Our summit views start with the view looking out to the northeast:
Zooming in on the dry lake beds of Alkali Flat, located about 17 air miles away:
Looking due east from the summit past the foothills of the Grapevine Mountains:
The most spectacular view from the summit is looking south toward three of the most major peaks found in the Grapevine Mountains:
The first of the three major peaks is Wahguyhe Peak at 8,628 feet in elevation:
Wahguyhe Peak is very well known because its cone-shaped summit can be spotted from many different locations within Death Valley:
Wahguyhe Peak is also known for having an extremely challenging 1,000 foot scree climb to reach the summit which has caused nightmares for hikers:
Final zoomed view of the cone-shaped summit of Wahguyhe Peak:
The second of the three major nearby peaks visible is Mount Palmer at 7,958 feet in elevation:
The route to the summit of Mount Palmer is considered by many to be the 2nd most challenging major peak hike in the park:
Zooming in on the summit block of Mount Palmer and the very challenging final climb section seen on the right side:
Grapevine Peak at 8,738 feet in elevation is the third of the three nearby major summits visible:
Grapevine Peak is the highest point in the entire range and the northern side has rarely been seen:
The silhouette of another major summit was faintly visible above and to the left of Mount Palmer:
Zooming in, I could clearly see that it was Telescope Peak (visible from some 57 air miles away). And from this unique angle, Wildrose Peak is also visible on the left side:
The next views seen are looking to the west from the summit:
The peak on the left is P8460 and the peak on the right is 8370T. The snow-covered Sierras can be seen in the background:
This shows the view looking to the northwest from the summit:
Zooming in, the White Mountains could be seen, also covered with snow just like the Sierras:
White Mountain Peak at 14,246 feet in elevation is the third highest peak in California. This incredible zoomed view is taken from some 76 air miles away:
Summit panoramic view looking to the south at Wahguyhe Peak, Mount Palmer, and Grapevine Peak:
Summit panoramic view looking to the north from Coyote BM:
Upon finishing up at the summit, I hiked further along the ridge toward 8572T, which is about 1/2 mile away:
This is the stunning view looking back toward Coyote BM from 8572T:
From 8572T, the northern face of Grapevine Peak can be seen better than from anywhere else. This is another rare and unique view:
Panoramic view from 8572T looking to the west toward Backthrust Canyon:
View down into Backthrust Canyon from 8572T. While Backthrust Canyon is not named on official park maps, it is named on geology maps:
Two of the most challenging unnamed summits in the Grapevine Mountains to reach can be seen very well from 8572T:
The left peak is labeled as Peak 8460 (or P8460):
And the right peak is labeled as 8370T, being 90 feet lower in elevation:
Mount Whitney, which cannot be seen from Coyote BM, can be seen from 8572T. Mount Whitney is some 70 air miles away:
It was now time to begin the descent portion of the hike. I decided to drop down the Coyote-Grapevine ridgeline to try to find a gradual way to drop into the canyon below:
This was the low saddle where I chose to turn left and follow a gully down toward the canyon. It was very slow going due to the abundance of trees:
Eventually, I made it down into the wide canyon. Near the top of the canyon, I began finding mining relics such as this miner's cooking pot:
This Mojave Pricklypear cactus had a yellow flower fully opened:
It had gotten very hot outside in the afternoon so I was grateful that the canyon was filled with shady trees. Looking back up toward Coyote BM here:
The mining relics were actually spread out throughout the entire length of the upper canyon at various spots:
An opened section of canyon where tall green grasses were growing in mid-June:
This old bucket has no doubt been sitting here in the canyon wash rusting away for many decades:
A large metal sheet that was found in a small mining camp area that I stumbled across:
Could miners have possibly used this to boil or drink hot tea or coffee?:
Quite a few wood pieces were scattered around the small mining camp. It made me wonder if there were some temporary living quarters built here at one time:
Later on during the hike back, I came across some Desert Globemallow wildflowers:
The hike back was long, hot, and tiring but well worth it after a wonderful experience reaching the summit of Coyote BM:
