Five exploratory hikers set out from Dome Mountain Trailhead to visit the fabulous Goldfield Mountains: Brian Cross, Michael Humphrey, Doug East, Liz Elliot, and hike leader Ted Tenny. The weather is gorgeous.

We start north on a smooth dirt road, FR 10. Ahead are fine views of hill 2685, peak 3269, and Dome Mountain. After a half mile the main road bends northwest and a side road branches off downhill on the right. A signpost identifies the side road as FR 1356. We turn to follow the side road.

FR 1356 starts by going downhill to cross Bulldog Wash. It is a primitive road, with tire tracks indicating occasional motor traffic. There are false trails on both sides. We keep Bulldog Wash on the left until reaching the pass. Over the pass are dramatic views of peaks 3134 and 3089 on the right, Panorama Peak, Dome Mountain, and peak 3239 (in front of peak 3269) on the left.

At Bulldog Canyon we turn right to follow FR 1356 eastward. After 3/4 mile we arrive at the Rock House. All that’s left of the Rock House is part of the walls. The Rock House is near the top of a scenic canyon that flows southwest into Bulldog Canyon.

Beyond the Rock House is a pass with panoramic views of the southern Goldfields. We continue down from the pass around a hill on the left, then leave the road to bushwhack our way up to the arches. Our route is over a smooth ridge that gets progressively higher as we walk northwest toward peak 3089.

Soon the heraldic Trumpet Arch and the shy Echo Arch come into view. The Trumpet Arch is on a ridge that is much too steep for climbing, so we turn east and contour around it, down to a lovely green hanging valley, with the Echo Arch above us on the left. Ted is convinced we can get to the Echo Arch from the other side.

The ridge leading to the Echo Arch has golden slickrock on the west side, rocks and vegetation on the east. We climb up to the arch. Everyone gets to look through it, like a big picture window. It’s a good place to stop for lunch.

Ted climbs above the Echo Arch to get a picture of the Trumpet Arch from the other side. But there isn’t a way to climb up to the Trumpet Arch from this side, either.

We continue eastward toward the beautiful golden hill 2726. From this direction it looks remarkably like Hat Top Hill. Evidently many features of the Goldfield Mountains occur in pairs. The route from the Echo Arch to hill 2726 isn’t obvious. But it turns out to be an easy route, crossing several washes along the way.

We arrive at a pass, with hill 2726 to the east and a bright golden butte to the southeast. From here it looks like we could contour around the hat on the hilltop, and possibly climb it.

Evidently not. We climb up to the base of the hat, over golden slickrock most of the way, then we start to contour around the base of the hat on the south side. Before long it gets steep and gravely. We are cliffed out on the right. Ted slips on the gravel, but doesn’t fall off the cliff. That’s quite enough: we start back down. Hill 2726 might be negotiable from the other side, but we’ll try it another day.

Our route down is between the hill and the golden butte we passed on our way up. A short butt slide gets us to an easy descent around the base of the butte and south over a smooth ridge. We rejoin FR 1356, 200 yards east of where we left it, and walk back to Dome Mountain Trailhead.