BACKPACKING TO MOUNT CURY

Bellow is my video documenting the trek out to this ridge overlooking the NNSS. As far as I’m aware no one had done this hike in at least 20 years. Glenn Campbell’s original climbs were in 1995 and he documented his trip on Summit Post which thankfully is still available to read:

https://www.summitpost.org/mount-cury/150980

His directions remain accurate, however I did not see obvious “No Trespassing” signs marking the perimeter so I gave it some extra room just in case. The locked gate is still there with a little tag indicating it was put there by the DOE. They don’t have the authority to lock a gate on BLM land, so this can be safely crossed. It would be REALLY cool to get lucky and catch a night test flight from Lockheed’s Area 6 airstrip, though it would probably be hard to discern the shape of the airframe. As usual, this spot did not have a view of the airstrip itself, but does provide a closer view of the airspace than Mt. Stirling does making it theoretically better for spotting.

It also provides a closer view of the airspace above Papoose, though the lakebed itself again is not visible, for those who want to try their hand at saucer spotting ;)

Of course, we have great views of the NNSS, particularly Frenchman Flat which was the site of the 1951 Operation Ranger nuclear test.

Here is a panoramic picture of Mercury, taken from just below the main ridge line where Mt. Cury is:

Mercury Panorama

Coolest finds on this trip: Two WW2 era .50cal casings dated 1943 and what I’m 99% sure was the remains of a pretty old radiosonde balloon (all that was left was a circuit board, barometric pressure sensor, and some chunks of the styrofoam housing.)