Stovepipe Wells. Cottonwood Canyon
is a beautiful canyon and 4WD was not necessary. It has a good place for groups
to camp. From the end of the road in Cottonwood Canyon we followed the ridge
route in the Guide up to Canyon Point. Everyone in the group liked the peak
because it has a good view of Death Valley; in addition, it has a great scree
run coming back down. Also the drive through Cottonwood Canyon is very
picturesque. All these factors make Canyon Point worthy of being on the Desert
Peaks list.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this weekend
adventure. The participants were Kathy Price, Jim Adler, Bill Stevens, Patty
Kline, Ron Young, Eileen Ricks, Bob Greer, Steve Gatlen, (Saturday only), Paula
& Bruce Peterson (Saturday only).
MYSTERIOUS SPECTRE
26
February, 1994
REFLECTIONS
by Dave Hammond |
It was several years after joining the DPS that I
started marking peaks on my AAA county maps. Spectre was the only peak I could
not find, so I eventually marked it in the Coxcombs on the east side of Joshua
Tree National Monument from descriptions in the SAGE.
Then the day
arrived (26 Feb 1994) that I joined a DPS group to climb the peak. For a start
the road appears to be straightforward but it is sandy, requiring 4 WD or a 3
mile walk. The hike is up a comparatively wide canyon, but this has to be left
at a canyon going off to the right at right angles, a rather unusual approach.
This canyon is a long boulder scramble and emerges on a small plateau, then to
find the summit. The maps indicate Agua as the high point but it isn't! It's
1/2km away to the south. "Topo is incorrect, having accidentally omitted a
number of contour lines from the top portion of Spectre Point" to quote the
guide. The route up we took was high class 2 and the summit area is one of the
smallest I have been on, certainly in the desert. We took a slightly easier
route down and returned a more direct route along the hypotenuse of the
triangle so to speak. However, we strayed and came down the wrong canyon
joining our route in about halfway up the wide canyon, which fortunately went
well! And I did not mention our straying from the main canyon on our way in! So
for me Spectre more than lived up to its mysterious location. I was glad to
have left it to one of the count down peaks (#89) and appreciate its unique
features. |
The next day I went for the summit
of Pinto on my own. I could not go wrong, could I, across the desert and up the
peak, but I stared at the summit cairn from the wrong high point! However, it
was an easy hike to the cairn, so at the time of writing it is seven to go!
Oh Spectre is "a ghost, fear of an expected calamity" according to my
Little Oxford Dictionary. Nothing like that on this trip, but there was a
calamity reported in the SAGE last year.
SOUTH SUMMIT OF PALEN
March
12, 1994
Maris Valkass/John McCully
by Maris Valkass |
This was a DPS exploratory trip conducted on 12
March 1994. I have been planning to do this trip several times before, but each
time something came up to change my plans. I was glad that John McCully agreed
to lead it with me this time. As with most exploratories, the participation is
slim, for a while we thought that only four of us will be going. Then in last
few days we picked up seven more, for a total of thirteen. The participants
were: Anna Valkass, John McCully, Carol Smetana, Igor Mamedalin, Suzanne
Mamedalin, Terry Turner, Bruce Turner, Jim Hinkley, John Rhodehamel, Grahm
Breakwell, Rena Tishman, Rich Henke, and Maris Valkass.
We met at the
intersection of Palen Pass road and Hwy 177. From there we headed towards Palen
Pass for about 1.8 miles to an intersection with a north/south road. There we
turned south, and drove about 8 miles to quadrangle 23 or 26 shown on 15 minute
Palen Mrs. topo. The intersection, where a sign points to Ironwood, is about
half way. Except for the beginning, where the road is sandy, it was in pretty
good condition. Two VW vans had no problem going through. We followed the large
southernmost canyon (south of pk. 2019) to its head wall and climbed up one of
the ridges. We left at 8:30, and summited at 1:00. We were half hour on top,
and returned to the cars by 5:30. The gain was about 3000 ft. It is a ver nice
peak and everyone enjoyed it. The register was placed in Feb 1977 by Wes
Shellberg. Barbara Lilley and Gordon McLeod climbed it in Dec. 1984, followed
by Mike Kellog Apr. 1989, and J. Vitz and Donna on Feb. 1993. One of my great
enjoyments is reading these registers where only few people over many years
have signed in. I have a feeling of having some bond with them, even if I don't
know them. |