Pre-Surgery Hikes: 4.5 more DPS Lumps

Big Maria (N&S), Spectre Point, Sheep Hole, and East Ord

Harlan W S
Jan 15-18 2014

I always thought I'd just finish the "hard" DPS summits (those with class 4 or more)*, and do the others as opportunity arose. Then "hard" began to get vague; when days are short and brain injury imposes limits, it can be "hard" to do a hike in a short time before driving someplace else for the next peak. After all, it's hard to drive into MX and navigate a garbage dump on the way to Cerro Pescadores.  Sentinel and Porter from Johnson Canyon are hard; Telescope from Shorty's Well is hard. I had a chance to do Rabbit with a great group, and felt the warm glow of social interactions for days.  So maybe the brown DPS lumps deserved another look.

Once more, I'm set for surgery that will put me out of the game for a while. So I planned a trip that would saturate my wanderlust for a while, and maybe help my cardiovascular system, so I would have a shallower pit to crawl from, after a month of recovery.

I actually enjoyed this trip -- especially the Spectre Mountains.

*Weaver's Needle, Baboquivari, Picacho, South and North Guardian Angel were considered the hard peaks, but there is now a class 3 way to do South Guardian, and possibly an exposed class 3 route for North Guardian.

0map
An overview map of the 4 peaks, from
Big Maria (lower R) to East Ord (upper L). 
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On the 1st day, I drove down from Vegas,
in time to get an 11:42AM alpine start
for Big Maria (this synthetic google
earth view is from the SW, looking NE).
BigM-topo
Big Maria actually has 3 highpoints,
elevation measured only by photogrammetry
and maybe a spot check, listed as 3379',
3380', and 3381'; the DPS register is on the
last, but given the errors in the measurement,
any of the 3 might be the highest.  Many folks
climb both the 3381 and 3380' peaks as a
hedge against resurvey.
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On the way up, I stayed on the S side of
the 1st wash; coming down, I stayed high
on the N side, and that seemed easietr.
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view back down the 2nd wash (to SW).
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The mountain is made of metamorphic
rocks intruded with granites.
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At top, view to the 3379' peak.
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I wasn't rushing, but reached the summit
in 1h 38m.
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Arrogance!
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View S to 3380' peak, where I'll be
shortly.
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Now I'm on the 3380' peak, looking N to
DPS summit (3381' peak).
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S from 3380' peak.
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The register is falling apart.
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View NW from 3380'.
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More samples of granitic intrusions.
Shortly I was back at the car, drove to the
Spectre Point TH, and set up camp under
a full moon.
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Next morn I awoke early and set
out for Spectre by the DPS "A"
route (sort of).  I had told my wife
I would take the easiest route. The first
4.5 miles are on an old road or pretty
stable desert surfaces, so it was easy to
click those off in the low light. My
GPS gave 15 miles for the RT. The
USGS topo is quite screwed up in the
vicinity of Spectre Point.
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Twilight had started.
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I was surprised to find the moon was
still giving some useful light.
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View N, about 3 miles into the easy terrain.
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At about 4.5 miles, the easy walking
suddenly gives way to huge boulders;
the boulders let up soon and are intermixed
with sand till you enter the wash on the
other side of Aqua BM.
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Yep, some of these look like serious peaks.

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 Now I'm in the far wash (S of Aqua);
the wash is full of huge boulders and
tricky footing.
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View up; Spectre Point is at L.
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View NNW over some nameless
jagged peaks.
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View ~W  down a canyon.  There is
probably a class 2 way up the summit
block, but I didn't find it.
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Another SW view.
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At the summit; view ~NE over
Aqua (L) and Dyadic (R).
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Attempt at a bigger pano shot.
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View S from small summit block.
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OK, I'm trying to look mean.  A fierce
wind and the small summit led me to
choose a selfie, vs. the normal scale.
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This stuffed animal, along with a mini-bottle
of whiskey, was in the ammo box.
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View S.
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I think this is Dyadic, now seen from the side.
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Back down the bouldery wash.
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All right, go misletoe!
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Where I sepnt the previous night.
I then drove to the start of the Sheep
Hole TH, and set up camp about 4PM.
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Next morn, I waited for civil twilight
(anbout 6:20AM) and headed up Sheep
Hole.This Google Earth synthetic gives a
view looking NE.
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Of course, the topo map can't begin to
show the roughness of the terrain.
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[Oops, this slightly out-of-order pic
shows the Sheep Hole range near sunset
the previous day.  I had a pleasant
tent site in a gravelly wash.]
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After a short walk on a slope, the routes
dump into a bouldery wash.  I'm
sure if one looked hard enough, there
might always be a class 2 way around
the obstacles, but expendience often
causes one to pick harder routes.
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View NW as the shadow of Sheep Hole
recedes with the rising of the sun.
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Is this the Sheep Hole?
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How about this?
The peak in back (to the NE) is about 4288'.
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Finally I'm in a gully over 4000'... but
that is not the summit!  I'll cross to the E
(L) side, then back to the W (R) side of
that ridge, the cut directly E to the summit.
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View S from summit; it looks like there
actually is a class 2 way on that side.
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Pano view ~NW.
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A better view of the possible Class 2 way.
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More arrogance!
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Another stuffed animal and whiskey
bottle!  I think Tim and Rachel may
be leaving these.
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View SW over ?? on way to
Twentynine Palms.
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Now I'm on the way back. This little
pinnacle looks challenging.
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I've entered the wash down, and this
time will travel on the N side.  Again, I'm
sure you might find a class 2 way with
lots of looking, but I chose faster and
maybe sketchier ways.
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In several places, I went down in tunnels
among huge boulders.
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View W
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Here's a danger at Sheep Hole; either
the rock is smooth and slippery, or it is
covered with bumps from feldspar crystals.
The latter type is so frictional, it will hold
the lugs of your sticky ruber shoes and set
you up for a face plant.
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That afternoon I left Sheep Hole,
drove through the Lucerne Valley, and up
to about 4000' on the SE side of East Ord,
at the Grandview Mine site. This is not
the normal TH.  After some sketchy car
issues ("fixed" flat) I turned in.
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This Google Earth synthetic looks
~NNW.
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Here's a topo map showing the route up
(L) and down (R).  It took me less time to
go up the relatively stable L route,, than
to come down the DPS-recommended gully.
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View of East Ord from the ridge to the S.
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View W; the moon offers ambiance,
if not much light!
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The ridge had a few neat rocky prominences.
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View back on the single class 3
that I encountered, and it may have
been avoidable.
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View E to class 1 summit block.  There
actually is a route up  two ramps, that is
nearly a walk-up.
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View N, getting closer to top.
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View NW to Ord.
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View SW.
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Arrogance!
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View ~S from top; my car is parked
behind that small peak in center.
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Heading down off summit block.
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View back up (to NE) of summit block,
showing ramps that wind up and to L.
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Now I'm heading down DPS gully route.
The black igneous rock made it feel hot,
even though the air T was probably <60F.
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Joshua Trees masquerading as palms!
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In NM, we called a similar plant
"coyote melon."
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I found an old road (not on the USGS map)
and followed it to some relatively
simple side-hilling, then dropped back down
to my car.