Marble Peak Northwest

There is some confusion about the Marble Peak that is mentioned in the “Desert Summits” book by Andy Zdon. My 2006 edition of the book does not give a description of how to get to the top, in fact a Marble Peak is only mentioned on one of the small maps. Some list this peak rather than the other Marble peak (which we climbed years ago) to the southeast on a nearby ridge. The later seems to be in better agreement with the little map in the book. To cover our bets we decided to climb this one also.

Jack, John, and I met at 7:30 at Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs. 7:30 must be a typical time to meet there even on a weekday because within minutes almost all parking spots were taken by groups of hikers meeting up. Despite all the traffic in the area I encountered a couple of bighorn sheep on Montezuma grade. One was just leisurely strolling across the road in front of me while the other was patiently waiting by the side of the road.

We drove east on S22 to Thimble Wash and parked on the north side of the highway. From the parking spot we headed straight for Palo Verde Canyon, then walked up the canyon before climbing to the top of the ridge to the west. There was a use trail that we had been on several times in the past for hikes up to Mile High peak and Rosa Point. Even though these hikes are 6-8 years back we quickly recognized our surroundings. We made good progress on this well-worn trail and overshot our desired turnoff down back into the canyon by a little. Once back in the canyon we had an 800 ft scramble up a steep slope with some loose rock. On the peak we found a register that did not have too many entries which is not surprising since this peak is an odd one with views in most directions blocked by the surrounding mountains.

We hung out on the peak for over an hour having lunch, resting, enjoying the views. On the way down we followed the ridge all the way to where the canyon becomes a wash rather than climbing down back the way we had come up.

Great day with reasonable temperatures (80’s). The hike (10.8 miles, ~4,000 ft gain) was a bit more of an effort than we had expected, I guess our memories from previous outings in these hills had been a bit faint.

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