[Gimpilator]

Peak 2345’ Tracy drove us down Gregg’s Hideout road and then the Spring Canyon spur road. He had a nice route for us on Peak 2345. It was as easy as 123. We hiked up the main south facing canyon which was thick with cats claw bushes (senegalia).

There was one major dryfall. Rubbly steep class 3 work-arounds on both sides. The canyon curved left and then right and opened up into an upper basin. From here we ascended a southwest ridge to the summit. No evidence of ascents since the original survey marker.

N-130 Benchmark - 2608’ We drove further down to Burro Spring and parked at a makeshift gate. The plan from here was to portage the kayak a mile down to the water. After bushwhacking with the kayak for a quarter mile, the going got tougher. Big boulders, running water from the spring, thick grasses over our heads. I suggested we scout ahead to make sure there weren’t dryfalls. This access to the lake would have worked if the water level was 50 feet higher, but currently the level is low. Sure enough, 0.8 miles from the jeep, there was a class 5 dryfall with no good work around, well below the bathtub ring. Poop.

Tracy suggested that we try launching from Hualapai Wash instead. This would make our paddling distance 5 or 6 miles, much more than the optimal 1 mile he had hoped for. There was 6 hours of daylight remaining. We did the math, an hour driving, 6 miles hiking, 2 hours paddling. It might work. Or we would be kayaking back in the dark. We agreed to try it. We launched into the still waters of Hualapai Bay. My first time in a small craft since 2004 when Andy and I floated from Snoqualmie Falls to Everett over a 3 day span. Today we were going to paddle across the easternmost portion of Lake Mead, which was Gregg Basin prior to flooding. The crossing went without delay and I could tell that Tracy takes very good care of all his equipment.

We hiked over a sandy bar called Virgin Reef and into the mouth of a big canyon east of the peak. The whole east face is rotten cliffs, but Tracy had picked another good route for us on the north ridge. To get to that ridge we had to go up-canyon for a couple miles.

At the very start, we were stopped by a huge dryfall. There was a scramble around possibility on the right side but it was really steep and rotten and primed with big rocks ready to go. We used good tactics and caution there. After the initial dryfall, the rest of the canyon was great. There’s some beautiful marble with swirly folded patterns.

We ascended the curving north ridge to another benchmark (1948) and survey equipment. I would bet money that nobody has visited this obscure peak since then. It’s extremely difficult to access and has no real appeal peakbaggers. Of course it’s impossible to know for sure and who cares anyway. The main thing was that it was fun for us to try to figure out how to get to the peak, and the view was worth the effort.

Tracy on N-130 summit

Bonelli

Gregg Basin

Pai and Tipton

Squaw

We pulled back into Hualapai Bay just a half hour before dark. I’m very grateful for Tracy doing the driving, loaning me the necessary gear, and lending me his expertise in such.

[iron]

sure are doing some interesting trips down there.

[Jake Robinson]

Impressive as always Adam!

[John Morrow]

Love the paddle to peak idea...has me considering attaining a packraft.

[puzzlr]

Looks like a fun combo trip. I wonder what the Cascades would look like if all the vegetation was stripped off.

[John Morrow]