| ARGUS RANGE TRAVERSE | NOVEMBER 26-29 1987 | SMITH-VALKASS |
The northern Argus Range is a scenic and isolated range which gets little use. Viewed from Panamint Valley, it presents an impressive 7,000 fault scarp and numerous high points. Those high points include four officially named summits and "French Madam Peak", a colorful reddish high point about 3 miles north of Maturango Peak.
The objective of this four day DPS Thanksgiving trip was to hike the entire northern crestline from north to south. And along the way, we hoped to climb each of the high points in addition to DPS listed Maturango Peak. A car shuttle was arranged by leaving one vehicle at roads end in Bendire Canyon and having everyone else drive to our starting point in Darwin Canyon. Stopping at the Panamint Springs resort along the way for our Thanksgiving breakfast, we enjoyed the atmosphere and discussions with others about the area.
Starting out by mid-morning from Darwin Canyon, Maris and I were joined by 3 others: Anna Valkass, Gail Hanna, and Francoise Walthert. A group size of 5 worked out great and we had no trouble keeping everyone in sight and together for the entire trip. There was not much snow along the crest so everyone had at least 21/2 gallons of water plus other drinks. The only way to do this trip is in cold weather - otherwise you could not carry enough water. Fortunately the weather stayed cold enough the whole time so that we had enough water since there never was sufficient snow to melt. Night got real cold, going as low as 6° while the daytime temperatures were nice for hiking and generally up into the 40°'s.
Our first goal from the cars was straight up 1,800' to the summit of Zinc Hill, first named summit at the north end of the crest. Reaching the summit by mid-day, we began what was to be 4 days of spectacular scenery. A tremendous incentive for backpacking desert ridgelines are the continuous vast vistas you can enjoy and the many colorful formations, canyons, and features you continually get to view.