We met in the dark at 6:15, Mitchell Caverns parking lot, signed in & piled into 4WD's & drove 17 ml back down the paved road, then left 2.9 mi on poor dirt road to Winding Stair Cave Roadhead, parked & started hiking at 7:10 A.M. We climbed Mitchell by 10 A.M. (Ridge west to the bump just south of Mitchell, then M.) 14 signed in, then 12 of us ran the ridge S to Edgar, skirting the last bump before Edgar. We slithered up & then down Edgar in 6" of snow sans axes - half of us in lightweight shoes! Down Gilroy Canyon & back to the cars by 4:10, 9 hrs r.t., no problems, no Igor-like or Jim Erb-like plunges into cactus! We had a VERY windy campfire out in the desert. Eight defected to go home or join another trip, rather than do Providence Point.
Sunday we drove to Providence Mine, just east of Providence Point (See writeup for PROVIDENCE POINT, elsewhere, for road directions) & climbed it, about 5 hrs r.t. for the 2700', 4.5 ml. round trip. The register & container indicated that it had been led at least 6 times previously by the DPS - as unlisted Foshay Peak!
The following bagged at least one peak on this trip; the first six did Providence Point: Dale Van D., Fred Camphausen, Don Sparks, Tom Moumblow, Barbee Hoffman, Larry Tidball, Bob Sumner, Les Hill, Paul Freiman, John Strauch, Devra Wasserman, Dan Richter, Bob Greenawalt, Dick Agnos.
Palen Mtn. & Big Maria Mtn.
Jan 25-26, 1992 George Toby & Ron Young
Last minute cancellations, mostly work oriented, reduced our group from 12 to only 5. Participants were George Toby, Ron Young, George Pfeiffer, Hoda Shalaby, and Terry Flood. Sat morning dawned bright and clear but only the leaders showed up at the meeting place at the junction of BLM Road P172 and the road to Palen Pk. We did not fancy only the two of us doing the trip so we went looking. Sure enough, we found the other two vehicles on a side road at an abandoned mine. Despite the good directions and a neat road map in the new Desert Peaks Guide, they took a wrong turn in the dark Friday night. We caravaned to the original meeting place, left one car, and continued on in two four wheelers to the indicated 2WD parking area and the start of the hike. The last 2 miles are really 4WD. A 2 wheeler with high clearance and a good low gear probably could make it. (Remember the old pick-up trucks with the "Creeper Gear". Would be great for this road). We climbed Palen by Route "B" in the Guide. We reached the saddle of 920 meters with no problem. Then the Guide says "Turn right (NE) and follow the ridge to the rocky highpoint". Well, that ridge is a series of rather steep pinnacles, class 3 or more. So we continued around the backside of the ridge (N side) and cut thru a steep loose chute to the S side and up to the summit. I did not like that chute much and was thinking there must be a better way when suddenly a big rock that seemed to come down all by itself just missed us. It pays to be alert and quick at rock dodging. We were very lucky. It gave us a scare.
We returned by a different route, going directly down a big open canyon just SW of the peak. We dropped down to about 800 meters where it joined the main canyon we ascended. This route is not very evident on the topo map. It was a nice quick way down and probably the quickest route either up or down. However Route "C" in the Guide also looked good. We caravaned back to pick up the other car and drove out to the Midland Road. Then South on Midland 3.6 miles to hang a sharp left turn (N) on Power Line Road P3020 and camped for the night. Of course we all got stuffed at happy hour. DPS tradition.