This was a rather full day, sunrise to sunset with some driving thrown in getting between the three hikes. It was quite a mix too - a standard class 2 desert climb to start, a difficult class 5 scramble in the middle, a rough bit of bushwhacking in the late afternoon and an easy walk-up at the end. I'd gotten beaten up pretty good by the end but it was a really enjoyable day, regardless.
Coyote Mountains Wilderness PP
I had done the Wilderness HP the evening prior, but run out of time and energy to get to the prominence point on the other side of the range. So I made it my first stop, getting up well
before sunrise to get an early start - it
was expected to be 85F here in the desert and I wanted to get the low elevation
hike done early before things warmed up. My route was pretty straightforward,
about 3mi each way, mostly up Fossil Canyon. A road used to run up this canyon
for several miles, but it is now gated at the 
Wilderness boundary though
motorcycles can (and have) gotten around the barrier. There are no dry
waterfalls along the route, mostly just 
a gravel wash, though the
canyon is not without its interesting sections where it 
narrows with
high conglomerate
rock walls on either side. There are various forks in the canyon as one hikes
northwest up the drainage but I kept to the main fork for a mile and a half,
eventually hiking up out of the drainage as I ran out of wash below. I found a
use trail, possibly just a sheep trail, winding its way up to a ridgeline where
one first gets 
a view of the prominence point still 2/3mi to the west. I
followed along this first ridge, skirting its local highpoint, Pt. 1,818ft,
only 12ft lower than the prominence point. I dropped to a saddle
between the two
before climbing up to the summit from the southeast, gaining
the highpoint
by 7:45a, about an hour and a third after starting out. Nothing tricky to this
one, all class 1-2. Mark Adrian had left a register 
in 2015 with a large
Monday Maniacs party visiting 
in 2017.
My return was a bit more direct, going
up and over Pt. 1,818ft to the south before dropping into Fossil Canyon from
the west. I 
finished up before 9a as it was already growing warm. Time
to get to higher elevations.
Jacumba Wilderness HP
This is a toughie. I had read John Strauch's TR on PB where he simply described it as class 3 like it was no big deal. I didn't bother looking at any of the other reports. Had I read Craig Barlow's TR, I might not have attempted this one alone since the summit block is hard class 5. Later I texted Mark McCormick who was in Craig's party and he sent me
a photo of their summit block
technique, ala Norman Clyde & party on The Hermit. I looked at John's
photos
later and matched them to the pic Mark sent me - John was clearly on the
slightly lower block to the south.
The hike from Interstate 8 is a little over 3mi each way, mostly along dirt
roads. The 
initial mile and half
goes steeply up to a junction where it forks.
The right fork goes to a telecom installation atop Nopal VABM and the road has
been recently improved, paving the bigger dips and adding waterbars. I might
have been able to drive this in the van but I parked only a quarter mile from
the regular pavement on Old Hwy 80 and walked from there. Past the junction,
the road is rough - 
really rough - and
requires a beefy 4WD vehicle with some
skills. I'm not sure a standard Jeep could negotiate it without great care.
There are many forks in the BLM road, a whole network of challenging roads in
fact, just outside the west boundary of the Wilderness. The cross-country from
the road 
to the base
of the peak is easy, no real bushwhacking required. Once
there, I made the mistake of going directly at what
I thought was the highpoint
without bothering to check my GPSr. I hadn't downloaded John's GPX
track, thinking I could find my way up any old class 3 summit. I quickly found
myself on stuff harder than class 3 as I scrambled up and down various boulders
and ridges, getting 
cliffed out
time and time again. The rock here is almost all
granite, but not of high quality. The surface is grainy and prone to erode off,
making it imperative to watch your steps. I spent most of an hour making my
way to this tricky point only to find the highpoint was just
to the south,
behind me. I wasn't much upset though, because scrambling was great fun, the
best I'd found in the last week and I was having a great time even if I couldn't
navigate worth beans. Even 
the bloodletting from an agave I was using
as a handhold didn't bother me.
Changing course, I reversed my intricate route off the wrong point to begin
exploring the actual highpoint. My first efforts, on the north side next to the
lower point I'd been attempting, had possibilities that all ended in hard class
5 which I backed off. As I was backing off to traverse around the base of
the peak to the right, I dropped into a neat groove where I found a series of
three 
bolted hangers
placed horizontally on one wall. They seemed to serve no
useful purpose that I could discern. At the other end of this groove, a thick,
knotted 
cotton rope
hung down from a tree as a handline to easier ground below.
I used the rope to descend, but again, couldn't really discern it's purpose -
I could have easily bypassed the groove had I wanted. I next explored the
northwest side of the peak which seemed to be the key. A series of very cool
tunnels and 
chimneys led upwards through the cliff bands.
Most of this was
class 3, though I thought some of the moves more like class 4. Above the last
chimney, the route seemed to open up and I thought it would easily lead to the
summit. It did not. I had to completely circumnavigate the large summit block,
no easy feat in itself, before convincing myself that this was definitely NOT
class 3. The shortest route to the top is on the southeast side where an 8-foot
wall without holds bars access (this was the side Craig's party boosted each
other up). You can almost touch the top from here. The
northwest side has some steep finger/hand cracks, about 10-15ft in length that
were terribly exposed and I didn't even try them. Around on the north side is
an awkward 
class 3-4 chimney/crack with an overhanging finish. There
are holes at the top of the chimney leading to the summit area,
but nothing larger than a cat
could fit through them. I thought if I could climb to the top of this 10-foot
chimney I might be able to reach my left arm up and over the bulge and pull
myself up, and this is close to what I did. I had to leave my pack, hat and
gloves below for this one. My arm strength alone wasn't enough,
but with my feet pressing against the opposing wall, I managed to squirm my way
up and 
over the bulge, class 5.6, my guess.
I found a makeshift register at the summit from Craig's group of seven from
2016. They had used two plastic water bottles to hold a small notebook. Knowing
the plastic would not last in the elements, I replaced it with a sturdier one
of my own and included the page from their register in the small tin box. I was
so anxious about the return moves to get down that I forgot to take a photo of
the register. I did take a few pics looking 
west and 
east,
but I don't think I was on top more than a few minutes. The
reverse moves went well enough and I
got down without getting sketched. The chimney offers some security from the
exposure though my left arm did get a little battered from holding my weight
against the sharp granite on the lowering move. I reversed the rest of the route
to return to the 
road network in short order. There appear to be many
interesting pinnacles in the area with tons of class 3 (and higher) scrambling
to be found. As I was hiking back out along the road I noted one after the
other, thinking each would be a fine scramble on its own. I'll have to pay this
area another visit to check them out.
It was 2p by the time I returned to the van. Though nearly 4,000ft in elevation, once again it was getting a little too warm out. For the last hike I decided to drive up into the Laguna Mountains at over 6,000ft - this, combined with a cool breeze, would make the last hike quite comfortable, weather-wise.
Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness HP - Pinyon Point
The Sawtooth Mountains (and the encompassing Wilderness) are a small desert range on BLM lands sandwiched between the USFS's Laguna Mtns to the west, the Anza-Borrego State Park to the east and the Cuyapaipe Indian Reservation to the south. The Wilderness HP is a liner high on the crest of the Laguna Mtns outside the Sawtooth Mtns, proper. Getting to it is no easy feat, requiring some tough travel through the Indian Reservation and chaparral country, almost 3mi each way. There are several possible starting points along the PCT which runs along the crest of the Laguna Mtns. I
started
from the Desert View
Picnic Area (recreation pass required) around 3p, hiking the first easy half
mile on 
the PCT
to 
a water station. The easiest route goes over the fence at
this point (onto the indian reservation) and along the old firebreak where the
walking is easy. Not knowing this, I went a bit further until I found
a breach
in the barbed-wire fence, thinking this was the correct route. It led to some
awful bushwhacking before I finally reached the
same firebreak. Live and
learn. Forking off from the firebreak before reaching Pt. 6,122ft is a heavily
overgrown, 
unmaintained trail
that runs roughly along the crest of ridge heading
east. This trail is key to making progress for the next mile and half through
thick brush. It is easy to lose if you're not paying attention and even when
you ARE, it's still easy to lose in places. The first half of trail is the
easiest to follow while the second half has numerous 
ducks
to help point the
way. If you fail to find the trail or continue without it, thinking "how tough
could it be?", you will find yourself up against one of the greatest regrets
of your life. The trail, such as it is, goes up and over
several rises on its
way eastward. A little sadly, the trail does NOT go to the Wilderness HP, but
instead curves to the south to Peak 6,210ft. The last half mile to the
Wilderness HP requires some moderate to heavy bushwhacking, depending on your
route choice, most of it 
heading downhill. I followed the GPSr
coordinate I'd gotten from
LoJ, slightly different from that of PB. I went over the PB coordinate without
finding a register, eventually leaving one myself atop a rock outcrop within
15ft of the LoJ coordinate. It is not the highest rock in the immediate area
and you have to circle around the larger outcrop just to the south to see the
small cairn
perched on a larger boulder. Have fun with this one. Later I
studied the GPX tracks left by others to the old, wet register. The register
isn't at the PB coordinate, but it's close.
I thought I might be returning in the dark, but having traveled the hard-to-find
trail in one direction made it easier going back. I managed to take quite
a spill as I tripped over the brush at one point,
but was happy to find nothing injured
outside of my pride. I got back to the firebreak in about an hour and half
and was on the PCT at 
the fountain soon afterwards. I had a bit of
daylight
yet so decided to visit Pinyon Point, a minor summit about a quarter mile
across the road from where I'd parked. It was a shameless bit of stat padding
with no redeeming qualities to be found at 
the summit.
It was after 7p by the
time I returned to the van to call it a day - phew. I had the picnic area to
myself so I simply showered there before it got too cold outside, then drove
back down the Sunrise Hwy to the large Cottonwood Falls turnout where I spent
the night. I had only enough time for dinner before I was ready for some much
needed rest...
Continued...