to test each hand and
foot hold carefully before trusting our weight on it.
We began the ascent of
this route at 10:45. and at 1:10 we were looking down on the world from the
highest of the three pinnacles which crown the ridge of the old crater.
There was a small cairn at the summit, but no record of previous ascents. The
elevation was 3675.
Mopah is one of twin peaks. The other, approximately the
same height, is a pyramid type of mountain lacking the challenge to climbers
offered by Mopah.
From the summit we were looking down on Mopah Spring, a
waterhole well known to all prospectors in that region, located in an arroyo
northwest of the Peak. When I photographed this spring in 1940 there were two
Washington palm trees there. Today the two palms are there, with four younger
members of the same species growing nearby.
At the top of Mopah, one has a
grandstand seat overlooking a vast panorama of Mojave desert terrain. To the
east are the Whipple Mountains, with Lake Havasu occupying a canyon which was
once the course of the Colorado River. To the South are the Riverside and Maria
Mountains which mark the boundary between the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. To
the west are the Old Woman Mountains and to the north the Sacramento Mountains,
with Needles just beyond.
Perhaps the first person to climb Mopah was a
Chemehuevi Indian in the 1870s. This was told to me by Charles Battye of San
Bernardino, California. Battye is a veteran railroad man, now retired, who for
many years was stationed at Needles, California. He spent his off hours
exploring that desert area and became intimately acquainted with many of the
Indians Living in Chemehuevi Valley -the valley now occupied by Lake Havasu,
the reservoir behind Parker Dam in the Colorado River.
In September, 1940,
Desert Magazine published a map of the Turtle Mountains in connection with a
field trip story about the chalcedony gem field. At that time we marked the
volcanic crater as "Moabi" Peak, because that was the only name I could find
for it on the old maps available.
Following the publication of this map,
Charles Battye wrote, advising that the name properly should be Mopah, as he
had distinctly heard the Chemehuevi Indians pronounce it that way. Battye
stated that his Indian friend, Hi-ko-rum. related the following history: In the
1870s a member of the Chemehuevi tribe was being sought by U.S. soldiers from
Fort |
Yuma on a charge of homicide. A
lieutenant and a half a dozen troopers came up the Colorado to Chemehuevi
Valley on a steamboat. The culprit, learning of their approach, fled to Mopah
Spring, and with his Winchester, some water and food, climbed the peak and
defied his pursuers.
The lieutenant, after surveying from a safe distance
the impregnable position of the fugitive, and not caring to sacrifice the lives
of his men, held a parley with the Chemehuevis. He promised them that if the
man would surrender, no harm would befall him, and as payment for their good
offices he gave the tribe a substantial quantity of provisions.
Everything
worked out according to plan and the steamboat with the soldiers and provision
left for Yuma. All arrived safely except the Indian. They reported he had
fallen overboard and drowned.
Later, Capt. Polhamus, skipper of the steamer
which transported the party, told Battye that the report was |
a mistake, for he had seen the
Indian many times after that.
According to Battye there were no palms at the
spring when he first saw it 50 years ago.
Those who reached the top on this
expedition were Bob Bear, Willard Dean, Ed Gammon, Tom Corrigan, Pauline A.
Saylor, Lillian I. Casler and the writer. We added a few rocks to the cairn and
left a small note book there as a register for future climbers.
By 5:10 we
were back at base camp again, having come down with the use of ropes by a route
inside the couloir by which I had twice tried and failed to reach the
top.
For those who like rugged climbing, Mopah will always be a challenge.
Probably a score of routes to the top will be found where the ascent could be
made without the use of pitons or the other paraphernalia of the rock climbing
fraternity. But it will always be advisable to use ropes for security, for much
of the climbing must be done on exposed walls. |
SOME
CHARACTERS OF DEATH VALLEY
by Dean and Pat Acheson |
Our favorite part of
Death Valley is the people that live there. An all time favorite (especially
Dean's) is Marta Becket - a very talented and beautiful lady who dances at the
Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction. Marta, an accomplished ballerina
from New York, came to Death Valley in 1967 with only a dream. She established
the now famous Amorgosa Opera House in an abandoned theater left by the Borax
Company and danced for anyone that would come (often to an empty hall!). Today
the world comes to see her.
Besides ballet, tap, modern dance and mime,
Marta is a wonderful artist and the walls and ceiling of the music hail are
lined with her paintings & murals. If you haven't seen Marta, stop by next
time you're in Death Valley.
Another favorite Death Valley character is
Sarah Eichorn, Sarah, now close to 80, is extremely sharp. She lives in Tecopa
Hot Springs in a house across from the visitor center; you can't miss it. When
Sarah is there working, her front lawn will be full of clay pots and
bowls.
Sarah is the official "Death Valley Potter". She has an old fashioned
potter's wheel where she sits making beautiful pots, and she will talk with you
about philosophy for hours. (Some of you may recognize the Eichorn name, as
Sarah's former husband was big in the Sierra Club years ago.)
Sarah has many
interesting stories. She came to Death Valley many years ago for her health and
peace of mind, and she stayed to practice her art. She is now a living part of
the wonderful history of Death Valley.
Next time you're in Tecopa, stop and
buy a bowl from Sarah - they're made from the very earth of Death Valley.
--Dean and Pat |
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