should have, continued
driving along this road another 1.25 miles (or so). The current Guide
directions have you parking near Point 1775T, (just to the U of the 'U' in
mountains).. This adds another three-plus miles, which is an easy and scenic
ridge walk, (recommended rather than the road for- 2WDers - head from Point
1775T towards Point 2023T, then connect with the 4WD route). The correct trail
head has a round water trough and indications of being a (DPS) car camp sight.
From our car camp just below Point 1775T, we ascended to the ridgeline where
our map and compass guru (Rob) realized we were significantly further S on the
ridgeline than the 4WD route indicated. Nevertheless, the views were great,
although the cloud cover ceiling was only a thousand or so feet overhead. We
proceeded along the ridge enjoying the cool weather and healthy wind gusts.
Soon, however, we were in damp fog, and the views withered. Eventually, through
the eerie cloud cover, we arrived at the peak. The register is OK, but a new
canister is needed. After contacting Ken Olson (whose list finisher would be
the next day on Tipton) and Dave Jurasevich, on my HAM radio, we departed the
peak and headed back down the ridgeline. Just after dropping below the clouds,
we could see approaching rain from the 8, SW, & U. Soon, the rain was upon
us as well. We decided to drop down to the 4WD road per the Guide and walk the
road. Somewhat wet, we arrived back at the truck around 3:30 and quickly exited
before the 4WD road collected any more water. It continued to rain most of the
way back to LV, where we had dinner, got gas and supplies. From here, we
proceeded over Hoover Dam and down to meet the Olson-Carey-Hill list finisher
group just N of Dolan Springs Road. We spent the night there before doing
Tipton with them the next day.
Tipton: Olson-Carey-Hill triple list
finisher. See write-up documented elsewhere. After the list finisher
festivities, we headed S on I-40 towards Needles and then on to the drive in
for Whipple. Whipple: From the N, (Routes B & C), the drive in goes well
except that 2WDs may have problems on the last 0.5 miles due to a stretch of
deep sand and, (a. few yards further), a DEEP rut. Also, it's easy to miss the
fair dirt road heading 95W after the 6.8 mile 'pitch' - especially in the dark.
We erected a duck here to make the turnoff more obvious. We ascended via Route
B and encountered six wild burros/donkeys shortly after leaving the parking
area. We tailed them for about 0.25 miles as they were very photogenic and
struck numerous poses. Continuing up the wash, we eventually reached the saddle
and then tackled the steep gully which tops out at the summit ridge. The
register was completely soaked and barely readable. The canister seems in good
condition, especially since we had to pry the lid off. Yet, it should be
replaced because it apparently leaks. Since the weather was perfectly clear, we
spent about an hour on top. We decided to descend via Route C, which is fairly
steep for the first mile or so after you depart the summit's ridge until you
reach the wash. The wash, from this point on, is unexpectedly scenic -- lots of
BIG vertical faces along the canyon walls, and interesting rock scrambling as
you descend. We left the parking area about 2:30 and stopped at Gramma's
Kitchen in Banning for dinner. We returned to San Diego at 10:00
P.M. |