Sunday, after loosing a few people to other pursuits, we caravaned through the Organ Pipe National Monument to the Mt. Ajo road end. Following the trail to Bull Pasture and side-hilling around the pasture with a few unnecessary detours we made the peak. The route back was more direct. After getting to Bull Pasture, go directly across (despite the ups and downs) to the obvious black "fins" at the southeast corner of the pasture. From the "fins" you can follow a use trail up and then northeast along the ridge to the peak.
After descending from Ajo, the leaders rushed off across the border to find the road end for Cerro Pinacate only to discover that they had no followers, everyone else has chosen to return home earlier and at a more leisurely pace. Failing to find the road end in the dark we completed the task in the morning. Palo Verde camp is a picturesque setting for anybody to enjoy camping in the desert. From Palo Verde we churned a lot of volcanic ash as we climbed Cerro Pinacate. Along the way Ron showed us some large lava tubes, dormant fumaroles and taught us a bit about the desert plant life that thrives even around such ashen landscapes.
From Cerro Pinacate we made it for Puerto Penasco and a fine shrimp dinner followed by an evening of trivial pursuits at a beach camp. In the morning Ron and Leora continued south on their extended vacation as we drove north taking a 40 mile 4WD "short cut" to Mexicali along the coast. The 40 mile "short cut" turned into a 110 mile 4WD adventure to be recounted around campfires for years to come. And after eight days, four peaks and over 2,000 miles our winter vacation came to an end -- when can we embark on the next one?
We wish to thank everyone throughout the trip for helping make this vacation a memorable one for us. We also wish to thank Ron Jones for assisting with the climbs.
