Backcountry Explorer: Mojave Desert

Showing posts with label Mojave Desert. Show all posts

North Potosi Peak

Where: Spring Mountains, Nevada
When: May 2010
Who: DB

Paintbrush!
I'd meant to climb this peak over the winter as a snow climb but it got buried amidst the countless other objectives on my ever-growing to-do list. DB and I finally ticked it off in the spring. It was a fun peak, and the wildflowers were great!

Wildflowers below North Potosi Peak

A newborn pine!

The register. Five years since the last sign-in

Fleur de Lis Peak

Where: Elbow Range, Nevada
When: February 2010
Who: HW Stockman

I'd been up what some consider the highpoint of the Elbow Range a few years earlier, but never forgot the nice looking peak lurking right next door. I enlisted Harlan for a run up the thing. This is rugged country. Enjoy his photos!

Harlan getting funky on the summit

Atop a small peak on the hike out -- Fleur de Lis is left, Elbow Range HP is right

Summit pano

Another summit pano

Sloan Canyon!

Where: Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada
When: January 2010
Who: DB & HW Stockman

DB scrambling a dryfall in Sloan Canyon
I hadn't been to Sloan Canyon in several years; DB had never been; this was Harlan's second visit in a week. It was time to bag the aesthetic crags back by Sutor Benchmark. The road in hasn't improved any.

Belaying DB up the west ridge of Canine Crag

On the summit of Canine Crag

I found this on the side of a mountain a few miles away earlier that morning

Canine Crag, on the way to Feline Fang

Atop Feline Fang with Ecru Peak behind it

DB and I on Feline Fang

Descending Feline Fang on loose terrain

Crossing a quasi-knife-edge ridge on the way to Ecru Peak

Downclimbing a short band on the way to Ecru Peak

On the summit of Ecru Peak
On the way down from Ecru Peak, we spotted several fantastically aesthetic towers. I scrambled over to get a closer look. After surmounting a class 4 wall, I was able to stand at the base of the most awesome one. It was overhung on all sides, terribly loose, and absolutely impossible to climb. The next tower, which was right next door, was loose and tilted at a horrifying angle. There was a neat arch in the base of it. The backside, I learned as I scrambled away, was at a lesser angle (and therefore climbable) but still very loose and sketchy. I'll give these two a pass.

CP standing next to the inclimbable (for the sane) Ecru Towers
We looped back through Sloan Canyon on the way out, taking three seconds to enjoy some of the rock art there.

Rock art in Sloan Canyon

All photos courtesy of HW Stockman

Der Tooth & Nine Others Around Gold Valley

Where: Mojave National Preserve, California
When: January 2010
Who: Matthew Holliman

Matthew had forwarded me a 1970 Andy Smatko trip report that spoke glowingly of Der Tooth and a plethora of other high-quality peaks around Gold Valley. Among these were North and South Tower, which we put first and second on our to-do list for the weekend. Here we go:

North Tower - A very ho hum peak, if you wanna call it that. Really just a subsidiary bump on a small peak next to Barber Benchmark. A touch of class 3 scrambling put us on top.

North Tower from South Tower
South Tower - Although the map shows otherwise, our observations (as well as the information in Smatko's trip report) determined that South Tower is a touch higher than North Tower. It's also a touch less interesting. A couple class 2-3 moves put you on the top, a mere 5-10 minutes from the summit of North Tower.

Columbia Mountain - This lame named peak stood between North/South Tower and Der Tooth, our next objective, so we decided to bag it. We were 30 minutes car-to-car via the southeast face.

Der Tooth - Based on Smatko's info, this was to be the highlight peak of the weekend. As it turned out, the single pitch of class 4-5 scrambling was fun but the peak was just too minor to really be considered a "peak." Der Tooth, frankly, is a crag; albeit a fine one at that!

Der Tooth from the trailhead

Matthew heading up Der Tooth

On the summit of Der Tooth

Der Tooth - the route essentially follows the right skyline

Woods Mountains Highpoint - With a quick four peaks already under our belt that morning, we headed over to the Woods Mountains to bag the unnamed highpoint. It was a quick affair. We noted the name of Bob Burd's friend, Evan Rasmussen, in the register. Evan is the only person to date to have bagged the highpoint of every mountain range in California!

Table Top - After the Woods Mountains highpoint, Matthew and I headed off to bag Table Top, the flat topped mesa that is so visible from the Mid Hills/Hole in the Wall region. Rather sloggy, it was over quickly and the views from the top were nice.

Twin Buttes - North (aka Tawoo Peak) - This peak looked really nice from Black Canyon Road, so we decided to bag it after Table Top. Little did we know, but this was to be the best peak of the weekend! Excellent class 3-4 scrambling put us on the top via the north face. On the summit, we found a Smatko register from May 1969, in which he claimed a first ascent. He dubbed the peak 'Tawoo Peak' and not a soul had signed in since! Ours was the first in 41 years!

Just below the summit, along the summit ridge

Matthew on the summit of Tawoo Peak

The Tawoo Peak summit register in Jan '10

Twin Buttes - South (aka Woota Peak) - After a spicy downclimb of the southeast face of Tawoo Peak, I traversed alone over to the south summit of Twin Buttes. With yet more interesting scrambling, I found another May 1969 Smatko register claiming a 'first recorded ascent'. It had been signed only one other time, by a park ranger in 1994, and Smatko dubbed the peak 'Woota Peak'.

The Woota Peak summit register

Returning to the car 1.5 hours before dark, I asked Matthew if he wanted to go off and bag Barber Benchmark (which I'd already done). He decided to call it a day and tick off Barber the following afternoon. After some dinner, we headed over to a fine desert car camping spot not far from Hole in the Wall.

Tortoise Shell Mountain - Rising casually Sunday morning, we decided to bag Tortoise Shell Mountain, which lies on the southeast corner of the Woods Mountains. With a few ups and downs as we crossed a couple canyons on the approach, the summit was soon bagged. It was not particularly memorable.

Views from Tortoise Shell Mountain

Wild Horse Mesa - Driving back up Wild Horse Canyon, we parked where we had for North/South Tower the morning before and started up the east ridge of the mesa. With surprisingly fun scrambling, we accidentlly passed right by the highpoint in pursuit of another point a bit away that appeared higher. Soon realizing our error, we backtracked to the true highpoint, where we found a cairn and register. We descended via the somewhat interesting east face.

The view toward Edgar and Mitchell from Wild Horse Mesa

Hole in the Wall - Since DB and I had already climbed Barber Benchmark via Hole in the Wall (the only decent way to climb it!) a couple/few years earlier, we agreed to hang out and explore Hole in the Wall and Banshee Canyon while Matthew bagged the peak. It was a fun time to scramble around and snag a few photos.

Banshee Canyon

Matthew climbing Barber Benchmark, from across Banshee Canyon

Where's Waldo?

By the time Matthew finished up with Barber, I'd polished off the last of my water, kicked off my shoes, and was in the mood to recline. So with a bit of sadness, we bid Matthew farewell and bee-lined it to Mad Greek in Primm (the one without the roaches on the counters).