| SCHEDULED TRIPS |
Leader: |
| SENTINEL PEAK & NELSON
MT. April 28-29, 1973 |
Roy & Barbara
Magnuson |
|
Nine climbers
met in Ballarat at 7:00 a.m. Saturday and caravaned to Chris Wick's Camp where
we consolidated into four cars: Three VW bugs and an International Scout.
American type passenger cars are definitely not advisable beyond this point.
The leaders had previously scouted the road up Surprise Canyon to the half-way
point in order to determine if the trip would be feasible. The "surprise" came
beyond this half-way point, in the form of a steep section covered with loose
rock. Note: If you're in a VW and are not going top speed (in low gear) at the
bottom of this section you won't make it past the upper end. (Also, if you are
in a Scout, stop in the middle, and then try to proceed in what you think is
four-wheel drive, but isn't, you won't make it.) After some confusion and
further consolidation, we drove up to Panamint City about one-half mile past
the Smelter. We walked up Magazine Canyon and then scrambled up to the east
ridge, which we followed to the peak. On descending we followed the ridge all
the way to the road and found it to be the most satisfactory route. The weather
was excellent and fine; summit views were enjoyed by all.
Five people
departed after the Sentinel climb leaving a group of four to make the assault
to Nelson the next day. We camped in a wash to the southwest of the peak and
drove to the upper mine in the morning. Then, having conquered the peak we
decided to try Pleasant Mountain. The three VW's drove up the east side of the
Inyos toward Cerro Gordo Mine and encountered snow patches across the road.
After repeated runs, plus some shovel and ice ax work, we got through the first
snow patch. Then Dick Akawie proved that, in this situation, by using tire
chains you get into even more trouble than you could without them. With some
effort and determination he managed to bring his car to rest in a snow patch
with both rear wheels off the ground. After digging the car out we decided we
had had enough exercise for the day, so we headed for home. |
|
| MCCULLOUGH MOUNTAIN MT.
TIPTON |
Roy & Barbara
Magnuson |
|
February
10-11
Twenty-four DPS'ers assembled at the junction of 1-15 and Nipton Road
from which we caravaned to the road head at Pine Spring. The road into Pine
Spring is rough for the last three miles but passable to American type
passenger cars. After carefully studying Gordon MacCleod's write-up of his
McCullough trip we proceeded to ignore his advice and made the same mistakes he
did. This is easy to do since the terrain to the peak consists of a number of
low ridges and the tendency is to follow the washes to avoid unnecessary
elevation gain. As a result we ended up on the ridge well to the south of the
peak with several intervening bumps and notches. Probably the best approach to
the peak is to follow a direct compass bearing from the springs to the peak,
traversing the east side of Peak 6425. This was the route we followed on our
return to the cars and proved very satisfactory. Saturday evening we
reassembled at the intersection of Arizona U.S. 93 and the road to Dolan
Springs, drove in about a mile, and proceeded right, along 5th Street, until we
found a suitable place to camp on the outskirts of the town.
On Sunday
morning, under threatening skies, we caravaned to the end of 5th Street, turned
left and then right through a gate, and up to Lower Indian Springs where all
altimeters were reading several hundred feet high (another message we promptly
ignored). Even then we would probably have hesitated if Paul Nelson hadn't said
with great confidence that the weather wasn't going to do anything. Our weather
prophet had hardly finished his forecast when the rains came. We decided to
press on regardless. Roy Ward ferried the group another 400 feet up the road in
his 4WD truck. From that point we walked up to the notch at the base of the
northwest ridge of Mt. Tipton |