| Hayford Pk - Mt. Stirling | Oct. 17-18, 1981 | S. Smith & Campy | ||
With great weather and excellent visibility, climbing these two desert peaks was delightful. However, some attendant occurrences did make the trip more interesting than usual. Caravaning through the Desert National Wildlife Range on Saturday, we reached the road barricade in Deadman Canyon to start the climb. It was five miles up the road to Hidden Forest Cabin and then another 2,000' up to the summit where we discovered a recently installed solar powered radio system. More and more peaks are picking up radio repeaters including Glass Mtn. and Keynot Peak. Apparently with the greater use of helicopters, mountain top desert radio repeaters area now easy to install and maintain. Back to the oars at dusk, we had one car that would not start and in true DPS fashion everyone admitted they knew nothing about auto mechanics. I can still vividly remember Cuno lifting up the car hood in darkness, say several times "I'm no mechanic, don't look at Me", quickly wire one rod to another, and we were all off for Stirling. Except for the co-leader who decided to stay in order to retrace his route to retrieve an altimeter - which he recovered the next day. Going in about one mile towards Mt. Stirling from highway 95, we had a good campsite. The traditional access road had gotten too rough for our group vehicles, so we used a different route and climbed the peak from the southeast. It added some distance but the ridgeline news were great plus we discovered a second panel of petroglyphs in addition to the panel just off the summit. With great air quality, the views were impressive, including good detail clear to the Sierra Nevada range. While the dirt road driving requires some effort on these two peaks, their distinctive features and great views make for interesting climbing. All 14. starters on Saturday and. all 12 on Sunday made it to the summit. One interesting observation on Sunday was recent evidence of cattle grazing high on Mt. Stirling. Not only did there seem to be limited forage but there appears to be no water in the area for cattle to use. |
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| Steve |
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Nine participants, including Jerry Keating and five other list finishers, met at Wenden, Arizona, on Hwy. 60 and, aided by the fine write-up by Bob Michael of his 1979 New Year's Day climb (which appeared in an earlier "Sage") ,successfully climbed Harquahala Peak (5681'), highest point in Yuma County. The route is on the north side and follows an old abandoned mining trail. A 1921 Smithsonian Institute building, listed in the National Historical Register, is located near the summit. Unfortunately, a modern jeep road coming from the south (many of the entries in Bob's register were made by drivers), together with the general massacre of the summit area by mining activities, preclude possible list consideration. Nevertheless, the climb from the north is quite interesting and well worth the effort. Returning just at dark, we drove from Wendon north on the Cunningham Pass road to a camp off about 2 miles on a side road. The specific site had been previously selected earlier in the day by Dick Agnos and his wife through the simple expediency of getting mired in the sand. During the night the predicted rain began. The group largely dispersed Friday morning, although the storm cleared long enough for four diehards to climb the high point of the Bear Hills (2188')and to enjoy a pleasant evening campfire before the rain returned in earnest. Heavy squalls were encountered Saturday en route back to L.A Keating strikes again! |
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