The Seaman Range is located in southeast central Nevada, within the Basin and Range National Monument. In the southern half of the range, there is a cluster of eight peaks surrounding Oreana Spring. Tom Lopez and John Platt jokingly named this area the ‘Cirque of the Bovines’, as tribute to the cattle grazing history of the area. In Tom’s write up, he stated that an ambition person may be able to summit all eight peaks in a single day. That would be my goal for the day.
I arrived in the area around midnight, and got a good night of sleep in the back of the rental car. Better than it sounds thanks to a nice thick foam mattress. The next morning, I awoke to sunny and cool conditions as I made my way a bit further down the road to a parking spot located southeast of the first peak. It was now go time!
The first peak was within view, and had lots of personality. After crossing through sagebrush, and up the lower slopes, I arrived at the conglomerate summit block for some scrambling to the highpoint. This ended up being the most interesting peak of the day. So if you’re in the area with only enough time for one peak, choose this one.
From the first peak, I headed northeast along the ridge, got barked at by a coyote who was 100 yards below me, then made my way up the second peak. This one’s highpoint was near the center of its summit ridge. No time to linger as I continued along the ridge, then dropped into a sagebrush valley, and up a prominent draw to reach the south ridge of the third peak.
After a quick jaunt to the north, it was some easy scrambling up the third peak. From there, I headed south. Down lower I saw my only bovine of the trip, before crossing the access road and wandering up peak number four. Nothing too noteworthy about the peak, other than a nice place for a snack break.
The fifth peak was also pretty unmemorable (you can probably tell I wrote this report a couple weeks later), other than it being the tallest of the eight peaks. But I did see several lizards on the way down. The sixth peak was visible from a long way off, and I aimed for the saddle to the east of the highpoint.
The sixth peak was interesting, with a long summit ridge offering excellent views of the rest of the peaks surrounding Oreana Spring. I enjoyed my PBJ from a rocky outcropping west of the summit, before making my way toward the seventh peak. Fatigue was setting in at this point, but I pressed on to keep a steady pace to the summit.
I didn’t stay long on the summit of the seventh peak, before heading north along the ridge toward the eighth peak. This was my favorite section of the day. It was a nice easy ridge traverse with paintbrush blooming along the way. Very scenic.
The final climb to the summit of eight peak was the steepest section of the day, so little extra work after a lot of tiring up and down through the day. It felt good to be standing on the eighth and final peak, and see the other seven peaks circled around me. I enjoyed the views for a bit, before descending to the car to complete the loop.
What a great day in the mountains. Uniquely beautiful high desert terrain, perfect weather, and eight peaks are hard to beat. Round trip was 13 miles, 5100’ of elevation gain, in 8 hours of hiking. Next up, a 9 hour drive back to Boise!
Map of the route, 13 miles and 5000' gain round trip.
Heading to Peak 1.
Beautiful blooming cactus.
Funky rock composition on the summit block of Peak 1.
Peak 1 summit view of Peaks 2 & 3.
Peak 2 summit view of Peak 3.
View toward Oreana Spring from Peak 2.
Nearing the summit of Peak 3.
Peak 3 summit view of Peaks 1 & 2.
Heading toward Peak 4.
Peak 4 summit view of Peaks 1, 2, & 3.
Ancient tree along the way to Peak 5.
View of Peak 6 from Peak 5.
Lizard on the slopes of Peak 5.
Peak 6 summit view. Peaks 8 & 1 to the left.
Peaks 7 & 8 from my lunch spot on the north ridge of Peak 6.
Flowers on the ridge between Peaks 7 & 8.
Nearing the base of Peak 8.
Peak 8 summit celebration.
Heading down the north ridge of Peak 8.
IdahoAlpineZone is unofficially sponsored by Skippy Peanut Butter.
