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Gimpilator infinity/21M
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 1684 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
North Castle Peak - 4584’
Frances and I returned to the Highland Range. It’s such a pleasant area, we wish there were more peaks to explore. East side access roads allow you to get fairly close to the peaks. We ascended the main drainage between Castle Tower and North Castle.
North Castle with the false summit at left Castle Tower
Working up some gullies through the cliffs layers, we came to a southern false summit. On the map, it appeared as though descending to the saddle would be a trivial matter, but there was another cliff. Scrambling down directly above the saddle didn’t look good at all, but Frances found a better line for us slightly to the east.
summit viewed from false summit
Under the true summit we enjoyed the steep scrambling with lot’s of positive holds. I was surprised that there was no register and regreted not bringing a second one for Possible Mesa.
good quality summit Castle Tower (climbed with Eric Eames in 2018). Photo by Frances
Possible Mesa - 4045’
Possible
Like most of the peaks in this range, Possible doesn’t get many ascents. Kevin Humes told me that Courtney Purcell was originally going to name it Impossible Mesa. That definitely makes sense when you view the different faces of this mountain.
north saddle
We had no beta other than a super vague mention in the guidebook about starting near the north saddle, and something about piling up rocks under a dryfall. Was the route on the east side or the west side? The east couloir presented no difficulty. From the saddle we traversed under cliffs on the east side.
rotten crux area
Very soon we noticed a break in the cliff with two large stones piled underneath a vertical step. This step has several decent options, but also a lot of loose holds. I pulled out 3 or 4 handfuls of rock while testing the different ways grab at the wall. Frances was ready to go up immediately and didn’t understand my hesitancy. I told her I wanted it to be just as easy on the way down. I spent 5 minutes building up the stepping stool cairn, adding about 6 inches overall. After that I could easily grab the best solid hold in the middle of the step. Near the top, it was even more rotten. My fingers sunk into it. In my head Gordon Ramsay was yelling “It’s rotten!”.
video link
Above the step a steep ramp connected with the north ridge above the first cliff band. We scrambled up to a last impasse, the final cliff, which spans both sides of the mountain. We scouted the narrow ledge on the west side for some distance. Seeing that the cliff above us was getting taller as we went along, we returned to north ridge.
final impasse
The ledge on the east side angled down too far, so we returned to the long west side ledge. Traversing even further on this ledge, underneath and then beyond the summit, we saw the break in the cliff which we had hoped for. What an amazing route!
North Castle Castle Tower photo by Frances Frances above rotten crux step
Mount Alex - 3485’
This little peak lacks the allure of the rest of the range, but there was a little time left before dusk. Some boulder hopping uphill on the black patina basalt. A relatively new register which is good because I didn’t bring one. As the sun set, and I was signing in, howls echoed on both sides of the mountain, down in the valley, calls from several different coyote packs.
Castle Tower and North Castle
Fire Mountain - 2531’
There are some peaks in the desert which are particularly difficult to access. Figuring that a boat is cheaper than a Jeep, I decided to get a canoe. Something lightweight but able to carry a lot of gear. There are several origami boat makers to choose from, but I settled on one which weighs only 50 lbs. and can handle a load of up to 400 lbs. It folds into the size of a suitcase and fits nicely inside the car.
Photo by Frances Photo by Frances Photo by Frances
We launched the boat from Fire Cove road in Nevada and landed in a small cove, a half mile to the south, in Arizona. This part of the Colorado River is a northern extension of Mohave Lake. When I had been in the planning stages of this trip, our friend Paula must have had the exact same idea, because she beat us to it earlier this year. Fortunately for us, we had her track log, and more or less we followed her route up the peak.
Fire
The east face of the mountain features a big layer of yellow tuff capped with basalt. In late evening, when the sun is setting, this tuff shines brightly and is the only thing inside the canyon which emits a bright light. Beholding the spectacle, the name of the mountain becomes obvious. But ascending through the tuff presented us with the first difficulties. After a bit of loose scrambling and then traversing with careful footing, we came to the basalt. Gordon Ramsay says, “It’s rotten!”
Gold Bug
Working along the final southeast ridge, everything was loose garbage. This might be the most rotten peak I’ve done in the Lake Mead area. The summit is narrow and exposed. The register was on it’s last legs, completely open to weather and filled with crumbling paper. I put it all in a new jar, and tried to be gentle, but a lot of it was already confetti.
Summit ahead. It's rotten! Rotten traversing
Gold Bug Peak - 2137’
We descended Fire making a rotten traverse towards the lowest pass between these two peaks. We didn’t have a lot of daylight left and preferred to paddle the lake prior to dark, so we hurried.
Gold Bug
From the pass we made another rotten traverse towards the southeast ridge. There was an obvious break in the cliffs if we were willing to traverse a great distance, but alternatively a steep gully might be more direct, if it worked. Frances got out her binoculars and said she thought it would work. She always carries these and sometimes it helps a great deal. She was right and the gully was good.
pass steep gully
More rotten basalt and then summit. I left another register and then we hurried back to the boat. We made it with plenty of time to spare and then wind was much milder than it had been in the morning.
Fire Spirit and Lake Mohave Gold Bug summit Beacon of light
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Brushbuffalo Member
Joined: 17 Sep 2015 Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between |
Slick portable canoe.
Gimpilator wrote: | ascending through the tuff presented us with the first difficulties. |
Tuff is tough, unless of course it's welded tuff* like at Smith Rocks.
* for climbing welded tuff is much more solid than "regular" tuff. The former is firmer due to heat during the eruption that fuses the ash particles, while the latter is compact but the particles remain individual so easily come apart.We can see the difference when we compare the steepness of the walls and spires at Smith Rocks compared to the much more gentle slopes of the easily eroded " regular" tuff you encountered. Interesting that the tuff underlays basalt where you were there, but at Smith Rocks basalt is stratigraphically below the welded tuff.
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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