Canyon Point

3-Jun-90

By: Maris Valkass

We felt like driving out to the desert Saturday night, June 2, to get Canyon Point, so we did, reaching the trailhead about 12:30 am June 3 by following Van Dalsem's careful directions. We woke up at 5 am and started hiking at 5:30, mindful of the heat of the day ahead. Following Jon Inskeep's suggestion to climb up the steep bank to the top of the first ridge south of the gully, we plunged straight up the ridge instead of starting up the gully and then traversing up to the south ridge, a serious mistake which put us in loose rock and sand conditions for the first, steep 1000 feet and gained us an unnecessary 100 feet too! Once on the ridge we picked up a nice burro trail, and, as recommended by Inskeep and others, headed up the darker rock ridge south of Canyon and crossed over to it, a good route. We got the peak in just over 2 hours, enjoyed the view for awhile, and went down the gully, reaching our vehicle just before 9:30 am. By the time the temperature was over 100 degrees, we were well on the way out and were home by mid-afternoon Sunday. We drove into Cottonwood Canyon in the dark and expected dramatic scenery on the way out, but unfortunately the walls aren't very colorful , just another desert dirt road drive on the DPS list--but a pleasant, short hike for the peak.