About 15 years ago I bought the book “Desert Summits” by Andy Zdon. It contains information about 334 desert peaks/mountains/benchmarks in California and southern Nevada. I have hiked some of them, but not as many as I liked. Time to check off more of them.
Day 1:
I arrived at my starting point for the Monument Mountain hike along Pinkham Canyon Road in Joshua Tree NP (approx. 4 miles from the visitor center) around 10:30 am. Got ready and headed across Smoke Tree wash and up the closest ridge. From there I followed ridges up to the peak. It was a gentle hike, but on the ridges an icy wind was present for almost the entire hike. As cold as my hands and face got I would say with wind chill it was below freezing. On the peak I enjoyed the views while having a snack in a wind sheltered spot.
Hike stats: 5.8 miles, 1658 ft elevation gain, 2h 45m away from truck.
I drove back to the pavement and headed north. With limited day light left by the time I made it to the northern exit of the park it was a bit to late for another longer hike. I needed a camp stop for the night. The park’s campgrounds were closed due to the pandemic, but I knew there are plenty of BLM land opportunities around the park. I had my eyes set on Gold Crown Rd, along which we did some JTNP overflow camping in the past. This put me close to the little Humbug mountain which is also described in Desert Summits. I drove down Gold Crown Rd (JT1927) for a bit under 4 miles before staying to the right. Up to here the road was passable by any vehicle, but where I was headed it became very sandy and rough with big gravel type rocks. 4×4 required. Once I got the the intersection with JT1926 I took it for about 2.5 miles before parking. From there it was a quick hike up and down Humbug mountain. After the hike I drove back closer to Hwy 62 and pavement to reduce my driving time the next morning. Dinner was just some instant noodle soup. The full moon was out all night.
Hike stats: 1.4 miles, 415 ft elevation gain, 40min away from truck.
Day 2:
I got up a little later than planned, had a quick coffee with some nutrition bar and drove east on Hwy 62 over to the starting point for the days hike. Apparently there used to be a 4×4 road to the bottom of the Coxcomb Mountains, but it’s been blocked off long enough to not even show a trace. I parked right at the JTNP border sign and started hiking up the sandy wash towards the mountains. at 7:30 am. Once I got to more rocky terrain I followed convenient washes further to the mountains. Even these little washes had some fun obstacles in the form of 20-30ft dry falls. Once in the main wash at the foot of the mountains I opted for the slightly longer, but supposedly much easier route to the peaks. “Easy” in this terrain is certainly relative.
Then after about 5 miles in sandy washes the real climb started. Looking up the boulder filled drainage it looked very daunting. No obvious route. Ah well, just get started. I must have done something right, because I soon notice cairns along the route I had chosen. I found more cairns on and off along the way, but it appeared to be one of those situations where different groups mark their routes, rather than having one good route marked. So I used the cairns as a rough guide when they looked convenient to me. Eventually I reached the Saddle between Spectre Mtn. and Agua BM. Approaches to either looked impossible. Just big boulders, no clear line. I tackled Spectre first and encountered some serious scrambling, almost climbing with some pretty airy moves, something like class 2++ to class 3. The views of the rough mountains around me where just amazing. It was also fairly clear and overall views were great. Including of Dyadic Point, another peak just across a saddle, only this one is class 5 stuff (rope). After a refueling break it was time to head over to Agua BM. Not far, but slow. On the way down I got off my ascent route a couple of times and found myself staring down a cliff.
Back at the saddle I looked up Agua and was not looking forward to those boulders on the steep slope. According to the map the west side was a little gentler. Well, in terrain like this contour lines don’t mean much and there was still plenty of steep stuff to get over on the “gentle side”. It took me almost an hour from Spectre to Agua. From the top I saw a nice route down to the saddle avoiding a lot of the boulders, so I choose that. Next followed the tedious down climb to the sandy washes and finally some regular walking without having to prepared with every step for something to slide, a rock to roll.
This hike/scramble sets the bar for best day hike of the year already pretty high. I just love these steep granite canyons and peaks. It also had the right amount of little challenges in terms of route finding and scrambling/climbing.
Hike stats: 15.1 miles, 3419 ft gain, 9h 40min away from truck.
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