| SHIP MOUNTAINS | 2/8/92 |
Anna, Sue, J, and I decided to explore the Ship Mountains. They are located west of Old Woman, and just east of Cadiz. We took a dirt road out of Amboy, following the railroad towards Cadiz. Weather was sunny with lots of beautiful white clouds. Temperature was just right. The road looked pretty good for a two wheel drive. It was not long before most of it turned quite muddy, although just looking at it, you couldn't tell. We had to put the trucks in 4WD and had no problem. It was very clear that a day or two before it had come down in buckets. All across the desert the dirt was soaked to about 4 inches. Hope that this will translate into lots of flowers.
Out of Cadiz we took the road going southwest parallel the railroad tracks for about 4 miles. At that point we were able to cross the RR tracks (not an official legal crossing) and drive a little closer to the range. The Cadiz Valley topo (15') does not show the whole range, nor did it show our starting place, so we were not sure which was the high point. We decided to go for the saddle, visible behind the low frontal ridge. We crossed the ridge and entered a canyon on the other side going in a northeasterly direction directly to the saddle we were aiming for. Not being able to tell which way to the high point, we elected to go in a northerly direction because it looked more interesting and could be a nice false summit. AS it turned out, after reaching the false summit, we could see the real one not much further. We reached the summit after 2-1/2 hours of walking. Elevation is 3239', a gain of 2200'. We estimated the distance to be about 4 miles one way. View from the top was wonderful, 360 degrees of great scenery. This peak would make another fine addition to our peak list. Dave Jurasevich and En Lee Lin had placed the register in December 1991, the only people signed in.
Next day we visited the Cadiz Dunes, a nice area to camp, then continued along the same road (southwest) to Chubbuck, Milligan, and then out to Iron Mountain Pumping Station and back to highway 62.
| LITTLE PICACHO/PALO VERDE PEAK February 22/23, 1992 |
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DAVE JURASEVICH |
On Saturday, February 22nd twelve of us met at the junction of the White Wash Jeep Trail and Picacho Road to caravan to the starting point for Little Picacho's Route B as shown in the 3rd edition DPS Peaks Guide. Climbers included Richard Carey, Kathleen Mazur, Fred Bright, Pat Rigney, Russell Glavis, Suzanne Booker, Ken Olson, Mark Adrian, Les Hill, Doug Hatfield, John Strauch and myself. We followed Route B on the climb, choosing the line up and over the false summit block instead of opting for the pitch through the "window" beneath the block. A few of us (leader included) took time to "pose" upon the porcelain toilet bowl fixture found on the false summit. I wonder who lugged that thing all the way up there and why? Anyway, all twelve made the summit in good form and enjoyed a long rest on the top before heading back down. Congratulations to John Strauch, who met the requirements for his DPS emblem on the peak. Good job John! For Pat Rigney it was her second DPS peak. You could say she's starting at the top and working her way down. The return over the false summit was facilitated by two etriers clipped end-to-end and a top roped belay. The remainder of the moves went well and we got back to the cars in the late afternoon. A special thanks to Les Hill and Fred Bright for providing their rock climbing expertise in setting up portions of the climb and keeping the whole thing moving. Establishing camp in the desert a bit N of Little Picacho that evening, we feasted on a Mexican potluck meal of homemade tamales, quesadillas, soup, Mexican pasta salad, margaritas and Corona beer. The evening was capped off with a campfire complete with tall tales and after-dinner drinks. Smoking of Panamanian cigars was also noted among a few participants.