Recon Campout - Scouting Approach for Hat Mtn Ascent - S. Warner Mtns

Warner Mtns of far NE CA, Lassen Co., see Feature Photos. Camping and Staging at the old 1923 Ranger Station (left photo) we have rented to explore approaches for a later ascent of Lassen Co. high point, Hat Mtn (right photo). The region we will be exploring is big, wild, lightly visited, with great scenery. As some say, more reminiscent of the Rocky Mountains than typical California mountains, in several aspects.

Take a look at our posted Labor Day Weekend Campout at Blue Lake and its optional Hat Mtn Challenge for perspective on this exploratory Hat Mtn Recon Campout, seeking approaches, the weekend prior.

A typical event includes driving to a trailhead, finding a parking spot, lining up, and hiking up an established trail to a destination and back. This event is sort of the polar opposite of a typical event.

None of us in our local Lassen group has ever stood atop Lassen County's high point, Hat Mtn. Nor has anyone we know or have checked with, including USFS and BLM folks. Without an established trail to the summit, the last part of any ascent will be on foot and off-trail. But this is big, wild country and it challenging to even access a good starting point for an off-trail ascent on foot. Exploring on the ground and finding the best such starting points we can are the primary purposes of this posted event.

For meeting and staging purposes for this event, we have rented an old 1923 Ranger Station, the Patterson Guard Station, unused since the 1980's, but recently renovated with federal funds to rent out on Recreation.gov.
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/10229798

There is a lightly used first come campground, Patterson Campground, adjacent to the station, and another half a mile away, as well as lots of undeveloped dispersed camping sites nearby.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/modoc/recreation/patterson-campground
https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/modoc/recreation/east-creek-campground

Straight line distance from our staging at Patterson Station SW to summit of Hat Mtn is about 5 mi. But on the ground around there, nothing is ever close to straight or straight forward.

Various maps, including outdated USGS topos and the topo map image in this event Photo section, show various potential approaches, including old roads or jeep trails, or other trails. But on the ground, a number of roads or trails shown on maps have now disappeared with time. Yet there are some remaining that aren't depicted on maps.

We will use the Patterson Station to meet, have coffee, compare notes, and stage from. The Station is situated on a beautiful meadow in a grove of Pines and Aspen. A couple of us will be camping in the Station parking lot, camping there is limited to a total of 8. Others can camp in the adjacent Patterson Campground, or the East Creek Campground half a mile away, or a nearby dispersed free site. Campground campsites are $15 per night, cash or check, half that with pass. Anyone joining me in the Station parking lot for camping, please contribute $30 cash or check per vehicle toward facility rental. The Patterson area is accessed by about 10 mi of well graded gravel road, which extends off the paved road near Blue Lake. I've rented the Patterson Station from Friday thru Monday am.

Online peak bagging sites, such as SummitPost and PeakBaggers, include records of out-of-area climbers who have successfully summited Hat Mtn. Their records include at least four quite different approaches with varying detail, some perhaps not the best.

Capable vehicles are useful to explore any of the potential approaches, and can include high clearance and 4X4 street legal rigs, or off road OHV's, side-by-sides, ATVs, dirt bikes, perhaps even MTBs or eMTBs. Possibly even horses, with public corrals available at the East Creek Campground! Good navigation aids, plenty of water, and all the usual hiking pack and backcountry items are essential. Satellite texting and Satellite emergency comm are good to have included in any team. I'll plan to have my Mini-Starlink internet connection set up at Patterson Station as needed. There is little cell coverage in the greater region. Those attending should be experienced and resourceful in remote backcountry matters, or team up and stick with someone who is. Off-trail hiking can involve exposure to ticks and potential illness, so tick precautions are advised, including repellant treatment for legs, pants, socks, footwear.

To get to Patterson, you take Highway 395 to the tiny community of Likely, turn East on the paved Jess Valley Road at the Likely General Store, follow signs on the paved road for Blue Lake. A few miles short of Blue Lake the paved road turns sharply to the right toward the Lake, but you should continue straight, up, where the road turns to gravel, with signs for Patterson. Follow the signs on the gravel road for about ten miles to reach Patterson. See map images in Photos section of this posting. You may wish to download map images to your phone for offline use.

LEGAL: Each person who RSVP's "Yes, and or attends or participates in this posted meetup event, agrees unconditionally to the following by virtue of such RSVP, attendance or participation, without further assent:
1. No organizer or host shall owe any legal duty, or have any financial liability or obligation, or any duty to warn to any member, participant, guest or attendee regarding anything relating to any posting, person, risk, or event.
2. Each member, participant, guest or attendee, and not any host or organizer, shall be solely responsible to determine all aspects of the safety of any event, the safety of any area where any event take place, and the suitability of the event and area for the participant in question in all respects including experience level, expertise, physical condition, and medical condition.
3. The organizers and hosts profess no expertise in first aid, in medical care, in emergency rescue or procedures, and shall have no obligation to render any aid of any kind to any participant, although they may without further obligation or liability render any such aid.