Mar 16, 2018
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With: | Iris Ma |
Karl Fieberling | |
Matt Yaussi |
We climbed the ridge on the east side of Cholla Wash, gaining 1,600ft in about a mile, dodging cholla for much of the way up the rocky ridgeline. Once above about 3,400ft, the gradient eased and the rest of the outing would be easier hiking along the various ridgelines connecting the peaks we visited. Our first stop was Peak 3,740ft, reached after the first hour and a half. It has less than 300ft of prominence, not very significant, and it didn't surprise us to find no register here. Peak 3,955ft is only about a mile and quarter NE of this first summit, but there is a deep canyon separating them. It would take us nearly twice that distance to traverse between the two, going around the perimeter of the drainage on the ridglines. The hiking was pleasant enough and it took us only a little over an hour to get from one to the other. Gordon & Barbara had left a register here during their visit in 1984 with a few other parties signing since. We took a longish break here to eat, relax and take in the views across the park to the north and others to the south. On the NE side of the summit is a very large boulder that broke off from the granite summit outcrop, and after our summit rest we paid it a visit. None of us were capable of climbing it, though Iris and I both made feeble attempts (we were able to get only about 3-4ft off the ground. It would certainly make for a fine bouldering challenge for top climbers if the approach was minutes, rather than hours.
We continued west, retracing part of our route before diverting to Peak 3,794ft which we had bypassed earlier. This summit has more than 300ft of prominence but no register, so we left one for the rare, future visitor. Our last summit, Peak 3,688ft, was another mile and half to the southwest, further along the perimeter of the Cholla Wash drainage we'd been following. Gordon & Barbara had been to this peak in 1980, featuring a nice view of the DPS's Eagle Mountain to the west. Nearer to the west and southwest was a fine collection of granite boulders, a massive field of climbing and bouldering potential, possibly as good or better than the more popular Joshua Tree climbing spots. But for that darn approach...
Having our fill of summits in this area, we descended back down into Cholla Wash to reach our car only a mile and a half way, but a full hour and a half's effort. The upper part of the wash had some class 3 scrambling that was both fun and time-consuming. We took three different gully variations, eventually reconnecting lower in the wash. Given the name, we expected to be dodging more cholla once down in the main wash, but were pleasantly surprised to find none of the spiney nasties growing in the gravel and rock wash we followed down the middle of the canyon. When we got back to the car shortly after 2p, it was no great surprise to find we'd been visited by an MWD patrol during our absence. They'd left a warning note on the windshield, threatening more serious consequences should the car be spotted on their property in the future. Guess we'll have to use someone else's car next time...
At Peak 2,776ft we found a John Vitz register in a glass jar from 2017. Also inside the jar was a small film cannister and a Smatko register from 2001, naming it Red Canyon Peak. Smatko was 84yrs old at this time, and his pals (Schuler, Yates & Nelson) probably weren't too far behind. We were impressed that an 84yr-old could tackle this not-so-easy summit and hope we find ourselves as capable when we reach his age. We signed onto the same page as Smatko and pals, a special treat on a rarely-visited summit. After our usual stay (where Iris treated us with more deliciousness in the way of chocolate candy and cinamon bread), we paid a visit to the point just to the northeast with the survey pole. We were surprised to find a Gordon/Barbara register here at what they called, "Summit BM" from 1985. In it, they pointed out the higher spot to the southwest, but we were surprised they'd left their register at the obviously lower point. We signed their register too, just for good measure. Our return was along much the same lines as our ascent, getting us back to the car after 5:30p. We still had more than an hour of daylight but this would do for today. Time to get a shower and some dinner and maybe a beer or two...
Continued...
This page last updated: Wed Mar 25 18:29:48 2020
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