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Gimpilator infinity/21M
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 1684 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
Steven Song came down for a visit and peakbagging. I can assure you that at no point during this trip did Steven need a rope. He is confident in his climbing ability and if you see rope in the photos, it was only because I needed it.
12-24-21
Snaggletooth – 2180’
During the drive we stopped so Steven could climb Snag, a peak I climbed with Matt in 2019. I took a photo of him on the summit.
Steven
Pyramid Butte – 1848'
Further down the road, we could see the weather we were avoiding begin to materialize, but we stopped again to hike up Pyramid Butte. Nice view of Mopah and Umpah from there.
Umpah and Mopah
12-25
Thumb Peak – 1375'
The first real objective for us was a little peak west of Palo Verde. There are some direct lines up the thing, but we traversed around the north and east sides to ascend the south ridge, which is class 3.
shadow
McCoy Peak – 2037'
Steven picked nearby McCoy for us to spend the rest of the day on. I had visited the range highpoint previously, but not this southern peak, which is highly visible from Interstate 40. We ascended the southwest ridge and descended the upper south ridge and southern canyon.
12-26
Needles Eye – 2539'
Twice I have tried to access this mysterious peak, once by way of the north canyon and then again trying to drive into the east side with Fletcher, Jake, and Dave. This time we would attempt it from the southwest.
Of the two main western access canyons, we tried the northernmost first and it went nicely. We crossed an upper plateau and then traversed along the south ridge. Near the summit the namesake feature arch appeared. Good solid rock, right below the summit.
unnamed spire summit at left summit Mohave Bobbin
Picacho Peak - 1920’
I told Steven he ought to climb my all-time favorite peak. There were 3 hours of daylight and he made it back to the car with time to spare. He said it’s the best peak he’s done in the desert. I took photos and video of him high on the mountain, but he just appears as a tiny dot, barely visible.
Picacho zoom in, Steven at top left Little Picacho
12-27
Little Picacho – 1538'
This peak is a bit loose around the base, but when the going get’s exposed, it’s solid. There are 3 exposed corners in the ledges. We used a rope for the final one to belay both directions.
first corner Picacho, my personal fave
Pilot Knob – 874'
This peak is so close to the trump wall. South of the peak, we actually saw several folks hiking north, away from Mexico. I guess the wall isn’t working. Also there was a sketchy guy loitering in an odd spot on the mountain. I waved at him and then he left.
Pasadena Mountain – 1560'
This peak has a trail almost all the way to the summit. Steven spotted the trail during the drive. I had planned on the north canyon, which would not have been as good.
Ogilby Hills High Point – 788'
Very nice jaunt up the west ridge.
12-28
Red Bluff Mountain – 1899'
Saw this peak from Klothos Temple in 2019. Matthias also wanted it, so he came to join us for the day. It was not as challenging as it appeared from the west and Steven picked a nice line for us with minimal class 3. We had time for another peak.
Matthias
Thumb Peak – 3407'
The other Thumb Peak in the Castle Dome mountains is very scenic with all sorts of spires and complex topography. Unfortunately the slopes and rock is loose enough to be very unpleasant. We went up one route and down another, but we all agreed this is not one of the great ones. Also, the road into the area is rough and slow going. Thanks for bringing your 4-Runner Matthias.
12-29
Clifty Benchmark – 3273'
Clifty can be approached from the east or west. The west is shorter but more complicated, so we did the longer east route. The last thousand feet to the summit was fun, including an exposed ledge. Longest hike of the trip, about 13 miles.
Clifty Castle Dome
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Gimpilator infinity/21M
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 1684 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, WA |
12-30
Ten Ewe Mountain – 4720'
I did Signal in 2015 with Heather, but that day we were going for Castle Dome as well, so I skipped Ten Ewe. Since Steven was interested in Signal, it seemed like the right time come back for unfinished business. Ten Ewe looks imposing, but in actuality the scrambling is minimal.
Ten Ewe
Signal Peak – 4877'
We visited both summits of Signal and the rain looked like it was fast approaching. There was even a rainbow. We sort of rushed because of weather. 2 hours and 48 minutes, for both peaks, car to car and Steven told me his app recorded over 30 minutes of summit breaks. Burritos at La Paloma in Blythe never tasted so good.
Squaw and Old Smoky
12-31
Peak 2732 – 2732'
This little peak turned out to be pretty loose. There is good dryfall scrambling to be had in the east canyon, but the upper mountain is rotten. Exercise extreme care on the summit block. Whiteout summit, a rarity in the desert.
Big Maria – 3381’
I had planned to do North Maria, but rain deterred me. Steven was still determined to bag Big Maria and False Maria. He was rewarded with clearing skies.
1-1
Dos Picachos – 2695'
Dodging more weather, we opted for small objectives. Dos Picachos was the perfect fit for a freezing windy day. The upper ridge is limestone, mostly solid. East peak is probably higher.
Dos Picachos
Elephant Back Mountain – 2699'
Steep and loose, not really very pleasant.
Elephant Back
1-2
Courthouse Mountain – 2413'
My buddy Greg came to join us for a remote mystery peak. One of the 3 Courthouse peaks in AZ. No beta anywhere online this one and 90 miles of very rough road. He brought his truck. About 7 miles from our starting point, he got a flat. The remaining 50+ miles back to pavement would have to be driven gingerly, for he didn’t have a 2nd spare.
in the moment
We gained the south ridge with ease. The peak rose vertically above us with the first light of morning making it shine. The air was brisk. Here I fail to fully capture that feeling in words, when you’re with good friends and going together after the unknown, with an element of danger.
The rock looked rotten. And so it was. But nothing over class 4.
photo by Greg K
Steven Belayed me and Greg climbed without rope. We went up the southern weakness trying to avoid touching the detached rocks. There are 3 summits which form a triangle. The two westernmost are of nearly equal height and the southeast summit is lower.
southwest summit both main summits Courthouse summit photo by Greg K
Tank Mountains High Point – 2506'
The approach for Tank is a little brushy, but the summit block is a fun puzzle. From a false summit, we were separated from the higher block by a vertical wall drop. After going down and around, we scrambled up to a notch and then traversed ledges around to the back side. Greg climbed up some class 4 slabs on the far left, while Steven and I climbed some mid-fifth slab.
go through the notch Steven Greg Courthouse Steven saves a sling
That night we met Rob Woodall in Quartzsite, who I hadn’t seen since the Mexico expedition. He also had a flat tire and was stuck in town until morning.
1-3
Haystack Peak – 2783'
I timed-out on this peak with Frances in 2019. Matthias came to join us again for the day. After they did Ibex, I showed the guys the diagonal ramp, which is the easiest access for the upper west ridge.
diagonal ramp west ridge
There are some very exposed sections on the ridge. At some point I realized I was in new terrain which I had not seen before. Taking on the summit head-on was not feasible, but we traversed around the right side and Steven found the best way through class 3 with cholla. Everyone got a dose of cholla.
Matthias
North Haystack – 2320'
Since the guys already got 2 peaks, I wanted another, so I went to solo North Haystack. Perhaps the most cholla I’ve had to deal with on a single peak, and loose footing to make it balancy and more interesting. I followed narrow zigzag ledges right below the summit.
North Haystack Haystack
1-4
Shangri La Butte – 1520'
Sean Casserly came to join us for my final day. We started with a little scramble peak. This peak is mostly sustained class 3, and the exposure is unusually intense. I don’t think I could hack it solo. Grateful to have good friends who are patient.
Gold Dome – 1740'
Sean got us all the way to the wilderness boundary in his Jeep. Thanks Sean! We hiked past Jackpot Spring, which had water. Three burros were lingering nearby, snorting at us. Sean tried to convince me to do the tougher west direct scramble approach, but I was determined to do the easier south gully. We only knew about these details thanks to my friend Stav and his awesome site Stavislost.com, because almost nobody climbs these peaks.
Gold Dome South Dome
I was first to the base of the scramble route and I got to tease Sean a little when he was stuck at the top of a big wall. The scramble on the upper south ridge might be one of the finest hands-on routes in the desert. There’s an initial class 4 move with heady exposure and then a long narrow knife-edge with optional bypass. This peak is iconic and it’s rather perplexing as to why it doesn’t get more attention.
class 4 Tumarion South Dome knife with total exposure on the right
South Dome – 1611'
From Gold Dome, South dome appears as a black foreboding apparition. I had some anxiety, but I also trust my friends. It’s 5th class and the route-finding can be described as difficult. Of course we promptly got off-route. I followed Steven and Sean up slabs, ranging from mid 5, to 3 with death exposure.
big wall on Havasuper South Dome dryfall pitch
Next thing I knew, Sean was off to the right soloing and Steven was trailing the rope 20 feet above me, pulling off rocks and throwing them into the abyss behind us. Half way up a long pitch, he got his first sling placed and near an open-book formation he got another one.
Steven goes into the unknown belaying Sean
We knew we were off-route, but we also didn’t have a lot of daylight, so Steven was making it happen. With 6 meters of the 30 to spare, he found a mostly-trustworthy horn on a belay ledge. The pitch was 5.6ish with a 5.7 move near the bottom. I climbed it in approach shoes and Sean climbed it in boots. Above that, the vertical part was done, but there was more route-finding and slab scrambling.
Near the summit the guys went around a very exposed corner on the right, while I explored a cave system directly under the summit on the left. The cave had windows at the far end of the tunnel, but not big enough to pass through. I didn’t want to go the way they went, or even look at it for that matter, so I pulled myself up an overhanging rock cornice, free-hanging by my hands only.
Gold Dome Tumarion
Really, we should have studied Stav’s beta closer before the trip, because he describes these things, and then we could have found the correct route. The end result being, Steven put up a new line on this peak. We were able to get service on the summit. Sean and I read Stav’s report more carefully and we were able to descend the better route with two short rappels.
Havasuper Peak – 1460'
To round out the day, we went up and over Havasuper, south ridge to north ridge. It’s a nice slabby peak with less intense exposure.
This is why we do it Gold Dome, South Dome, and Steven on Havasuper summit Sean and Steven South Dome
Walking back to the Jeep, Sean told me it’s the best day he’s had in desert peakbagging.
Sean
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raising3hikers Member
Joined: 21 Sep 2007 Posts: 2343 | TRs | Pics Location: Edmonds, Wa |
Nice pkbagging guys, more and more good beta for the desert pks. Looks like lots of fun climbing and scrambling.
Thanks for sharing all those trips in a short amount of time.
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RichP Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics Location: here |
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RichP
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Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:25 pm
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Getting me psyched for another SW trip.
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Fletcher Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Posts: 1870 | TRs | Pics Location: kirkland |
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Fletcher
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Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:28 pm
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Wow! What a nice looking set of peaks in the desert.
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neek Member
Joined: 12 Sep 2011 Posts: 2329 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle, WA |
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neek
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Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:37 pm
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Those look great. Some I've even heard of. Seriously considering doing the snowbird thing in a few years.
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puzzlr Mid Fork Rocks
Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics Location: Stuck in the middle |
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
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Fri Jan 07, 2022 9:43 pm
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Needles Peak -- An excellent, if not obvious, name for this peak. But really, someone wrote it as "Neddle Eye Peak" in the register???
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Sky Hiker Member
Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 1469 | TRs | Pics Location: outside |
Lots of peaks captured there
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