alen : Since my mileage's were off, I overshot Palen's E approach turnoff. The turnoff/fork is marked by a big black tractor tire painted with a yellow arrow. The spur road is peppered with micro-wash-outs and sand traps until the fork at 4.7 miles where it's washed out by at least 150 feet. There's plenty of flat spots here for parking, but add about 2.5 miles RT to routes B & C. I ascended route B and descended route C. While on Palen's summit I heard several loud croaking noises. I knew it couldn't be frogs - could it? Then, I heard them/it again. What's the joke here? I looked over my shoulder to the N from where the noises were coming from and saw a large white tubular form rising over the small summit area about 10' from me. It grew larger and larger! I was shocked to come face-to-face with a Big Horn sheep! We stared at each other for a split-second, and then he bolted off. I jumped up to look over the edge and he was 200+ feet down the NE slope of Palen. While descending route C, I startled a rattler that lunged (but missed) at me. Route C is particularly scenic due the numerous rosy/pink boulders, although it is a bit steeper than B. Back to the truck and onto Blythe for gas and supplies. Register in good condition, a new canister is needed. On the guide's 3.4 mile section of road just W of Inca, there's a significant wash out that has a 300 foot long, deep sand detour. This could trap 2WDs as my 4WD was beating hard to get through. It was relieving to get back onto "good' pavement!
Big Maria : From the pavement, the drive in quickly degrades to poor dirt - I'd leave 2WDs parked near the pavement and consolidate into 4WDs, or at best, leave 2WDs near pole #48-7. Continuing down the road, 4WDs should have no problems other than slowing for occasional ruts. However, around pole #48-4 4WDs with HIGH clearance are a must. I proceeded to pole #46-5 and stopped (just short of the recommended pole #46-3) due to excessive and numerous rocks which I didn't want to slice my sidewalls. Camping is fair here, except for the strange noises emitted by the power lines. The route goes well, but I'd rate it a class two instead of one. I didn't do the S summit. The round trip took me 4.5 hours. Register and canister in good condition. Back out at Midland Road, I took the excellent Blythe-Rice road N to SH 62, then the Ironage Road shortcut at Dale Dry Lake to Amboy road and Sheephole Pass.
Sheephole : The drive in is trivial, but parking spots are limited at the Route B trailhead. The route goes well, except for the maze of HUGH boulders near the summit. Again, a couple of snakes rattled at me. Round trip was 5 hours. Register and canister in good condition. Into 29 Psalms for supplies, then onto White Tank campground in J.T. for the night.
Pinto : The drive in is trivial. Except for numerous "gotcha" gopher holes along the "flats" to the ridge line, this route/ridge goes fine to the (flat, not pointy) summit. And or course, the hike wouldn't be complete without the now-expected rattler(s), whirr, were encountered on schedule as I descended the ridge, 5.25 hours round trip. Eight foot cairn, register and canister in good condition.
