Hells Mesa Report And Pictures

There are three things you should know about Hells Mesa.

1) There are no trails.

2) There are no trees.

3) There is no water.

Those three things appear to describe the entire area, not just Hells Mesa. I got the idea of going to the Bear Mountains because the Forest Service had mentioned that no one goes there. Well, there's a reason no one goes there. They suck. At least, in the summer they do. I suspect they might be very pleasant in the spring or fall.

We headed out looking for a FS road that took us to a spring on the South side of Hells Mesa. We missed the road because it wasn't marked, but found it on our second trip back through the area. There is an old house towards the end of the road that someone put a lot of work into. It must have been a nice place back when it was inhabited.

Since there are no trails, we just headed up the side that looked easiest from the topo maps. It worked out well enough. Hells Mesa isn't really much of a mesa. It's more like a ridge, but without peaks on either side of it. On top we discovered a lot of tarantula hawks, but no sign of any tarantulas. There was one dead tree, which I hammocked in. But one tree doesn't hammock well. Brad tied his hammock off to the tree and a bush, and elevated the bush end with a rock. It kept him barely off the ground. Not to be outdone, I did the same, but elevated my bush-end with my trekking poles.

We went down to the West, and looped around back to the truck. All told, it was a short trip. But the rough terrain and the steepness of the ascent made it a hard trip. The sun was brutal.

I regretted not having replaced my climbing helmet yet. If one had been with me, I'd have been wearing it. This was also the first hike with actual pain and injuries. I took a stick to the stomach and bled. Loose rocks elicited painful screams from both of us during the treacherous descent.