Saturday, April 22, 2023

Anschutz Benchmark via Difficult Canyon

Hiked: 4/21/2023
Distance: 7 miles round trip on dirt road and cross country
Summit Elevation: 3289'
Elevation Gain: 2443'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.9
Round trip time: 6 hours 50 minutes
Recommended water: 120 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Hayfield Road
Difficulty: Strenuous (exposed scramble, route finding)

I was looking for challenge. Anschutz Benchmark fit the bill, tucked into the southeast corner of Joshua Tree, far from any public access road. To reach my starting point, I drove I-10 East to Eagle Mountain Road. I took a side dirt road to a T-intersection, then turned left on Hayfield Road. These were the smoothest dirt roads I've ever driven. I was doing 30-35 mph without a problem, so any car could make the drive. I planned to ascend the aptly named "Difficult Canyon", no really, that's the name on the topo. I planned to exit down Dragon Wash, so I parked in between the two canyons. I hiked about half a mile down the road to get to the entrance to Difficult Canyon. Pretty quickly, I ran into the crux section where giant boulders blocked progress. The boulders were solid. There were multiple class 3 obstacles and catclaw eager to rip my clothes and flesh. There was quite a bit of backtracking as I hit dead ends. I made a couple of scary moves, not always on the cleanest route. As I got deeper into the canyon, I was motivated to get through, knowing I didn't want to come back this way. After scrambling and crawling through several tunnels, the canyon opened up for a quarter mile, then came the second scramble section, with new problems and more course corrections. Past that, the canyon got easier. I walked up on a beautiful king snake basking in the sun. He had no interest in me and let me get quite close. I wound around the canyon to the ascent gully on the south face of Anschutz.



Entering Difficult Canyon


Cali king snake



The gully was class 2 with crummy, loose rock, gaining 1500' in the final mile. I slid around and slowly picked my way up. By the time I reached the middle of the south face, it had warmed up and I had to take short, frequent breaks. I could not see the saddle at the top, but GPS gave me some encouragement. For a fleeting second, I considered abandoning the summit and just completing the canyon loop, but I was too close, and vowed to continue the fight. From the saddle, it was a short walk over two small bumps to the summit. I found a reference mark but not the station mark, and a register placed in 1981. The last visitors to sign in before me were Bob Burd, Patrick O'Neill and Karl Fieberling seven years ago. Definitely a seldom visited summit. I took a longer than usual break on top to rest, finish my Flame Broiler bowl, and enjoy the view. The return trip down the loose gully was a slow and painful knee buster. I tried to stay on what little solid rock was available. With great relief, I reached the bottom of the gully and started down the mellow Dragon Wash. I had a second snake encounter there, a huge red racer, 5-6' long and larger than the king snake. Unlike the king snake, she was skittish and disappeared in the rocks before I could snap a photo. Shortly after, I was back at the truck. Anschutz was exactly what I needed, a strong test and serious fun. For an easier day, go up and down Dragon Wash and avoid Difficult Canyon.

Gully to Anschutz







Exiting via Dragon Wash

Joshua Tree boundry sign

Super smooth Hayfield Road

Souvenir. I remember bumping into a boulder, but the leg was working. Ain't got time to bleed.


2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Madison,

      It was just what the doctor ordered. I think it even cleared up my acne.

      Delete