Orocopia Mountains

31-Mar-90

By: Larry Tidball

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After meeting Saturday morning at the Cottonwood Road exit form I-10 we attempted to find the Northern approach as described in the October 1988 version of the Peak Guide. However after trying to make the directions match the roads without any luck, we tried every dirt road heading in the general direction of the peak but never got near it. After about 4 hours of this we gave-up and some folks went home, and the rest of us visited the General Patton Museum, a couple of miles east on 1-10. This museum houses objects relating to the WWII desert training done in the Mojave, as well aS a huge relief map of the desert built for planning the Colorado River Aqueduct.

After visiting the museum we caravaned to the southern route and found it a described in the guide. We found a good level campsite on top of a pile of mine tailings shortly after the road up the canyon began to deteriorate to less than desirable for Minor White's Mercedes. We had a good campfire with our abbreviated group, and Sunday morning carpooled in 4WD on up the canyon to just short of a visible mine tunnel. From here we climbed a steep ridge to the top of hill 1893. From here it was an easy hike up ridge to the summit, passing bump 3297 along the way.

The planned climb of Black Butte was canceled because it took us two days to climb Orocopia.


Detailed information for visiting one or more peaks mentioned in this article can be found in the
Desert Peak Section Road and Peak Guides

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