In Bendire Canyon was an interesting plant. Getting up to 6' high and covered with thorns, it was reminiscent of some of our Sonoran desert plants. Checking with a botanist, I learned it was a large brush sized species of Gooseberry (Ribes) which is normally smaller and more vine shaped. Also, we got a good view of the road which starts out across the east face of Parkinson Peak from Pinyon Peak and then ends. It must have been started sometime in the 1970's but ends right in the middle of the eastern face now. The entire length of Bendire Canyon from the saddle and all the way down went great. Again there were some old foundations and other scattered debris for us to wonder about and even another couple of old wood burning stoves. The early miners must have really cherished those old heavy stoves since it had to be rough getting them thousands of feet up into the Argus Range.
The toughest part of the entire 31 mile backpack came right at the end. Interestingly enough there are. the remains of an old wagon road on the upper side of a 1,000' high ridgeline that blocks the base of Bendire Canyon. Getting up the ridgeline on the old route is easy, but there is nothing but steep scree for 1,000' dropping down the back side and to roads end where our shuttle car was parked. Other than that long scree drop, the entire crestline and canyon made for perfect backpacking and a way to see the entire northern range.
Heading back up to Darwin Canyon, we again stopped at the Panamint Springs Resort to enjoy a regular meal after 4 days traversing a most scenic desert range. Many of the northern California desert ranges are well suited to traverses and can really give backpackers a chance to enjoy a lot of desert grandeur.
14 people met at 6:30 AM Sat, at the "Superior Gypsum" sign at intersection of Midland and Inca Rds. 18.5 miles north of Blythe. I scouted the trip the week before and decided to do Big Maria first and then do Palen from the west. We drove 2.8 miles so, to good dirt rd. that runs NE into Powerline Rd after 1 mile. The 2 WD vehicles were left here, The 5 4WDs proceeded on up another 4 miles and parked at power pole 46.3 located SW of pt. 1404 on the Big Maria SW 7.5 topo, Left vehicles at 7:55 AM and were back at 1:20 PM. The wind was strong on the summit, but not as bad as the previous week. The route: hike easterly up the main wash past pt. 2018 then NE up the wide wash to the right of "1600" on the topo. The wash ends SE of pt. 2546. We climbed the ridge and headed for the summit. Returned by same route, (4 mi, rt, 2000' gain.) The group drove no. up Blythe-Rice Rd.