Old Woman Statue, Painted Rock, Turtle Mountains

18-Feb-61

By: Harry Melts

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Saturday 9 persons reached the interesting hem line of 0ld Woman Statue, a great granite monolith climbable only by means of direct aid hardware. Painted Rock was reached from a point on the road only a few hundred yards away. It has Indian hieroglyphs and a stagnant spring beside it. Sunday the same number of persons climbed Turtle Peak (4231'), an impressive looking mountain with superb views from the top, especially towards Carson Peak at the north end of the range. It turned out that Turtle Peak is not the high point of the range. The highest point is unnamed and a non-impressive ridge about five miles southeast of Turtle Peak. It will be scheduled in conjunction with Mopah Peak next winter.

This raises an interesting question. Should the highest peak of a range always be the qualifying peak, or should it be the most impressive one offering the best views and best climbing? Mopah Peak, a qualifying peak in the neighboring Mopah Range, is not the highest summit in that range, but it is by far the most impressive. You will have an opportunity to vote on this issue at a future DPS meeting after the high point of the Turtles has been scheduled.


Detailed information for visiting one or more peaks mentioned in this article can be found in the
Desert Peak Section Road and Peak Guides

DPS Archives Index | Desert Peaks Section