Stepladder Mountains High Point

Hiked: 12/14/2024
Distance: 9.8 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 2940'
Elevation Gain: 1600'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.2
Round trip time: 7 hours
Recommended water: 80 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Forest Road NS254
Difficulty: Moderate (route finding, scramble)

Sean Green and I made the long drive to the trailhead for Stepladder Mountains (DPS #94) on Friday and camped. Well, Sean set up a tent and I slept in the truck. From highway 95, there were 17 miles of good, then bad dirt roads. The powerline road was smooth, the pipeline road not as good, and NS254 was poor. The sharp 270 degree turn onto NS254 was confusing since it looked like it turned into a wash, but made a quick right turn south. The last 5 miles on the bad road left us in the middle of the a desert landscape where everything in a 25 square mile area around the trailhead looked identical. It was a factor at the end of the day. On the drive in, Sean spotted a witness post and a benchmark just off the road (west) marked "11 FMK". On the drive out, we found another one on the other side of the road (east) marked "10 FMK". Strange places for marks. It was cold overnight, 41F, but we stayed warm enough. Shockingly, we both had 2 bars of cell service in the middle of nowhere. We started the long flat march toward Stepladder after breakfast.

10 FMK mark on the way out

Chemihuevi Mountains

We followed a long wash between some lower peaks, then reached an ascent gully. Even up close, Stepladder looked improbable. We could make out the natural ledge system, but it wasn't clear how to reach it. We climbed up the gully a little, then continued up the ridge with some class 2 scrambling. Higher up, we could see a notch that was the start of the first ledge. There was short class 3 section to reach the notch. The rock was conglomerate, hardened mud that glued a mix of volcanic and other rock together. Holds had to be tested. Once we hit the first ledge, cairns marked the way, including bend points. The ledges were fun and we scrambled under a giant horn before we reached the top. There were no marks on the summit, but as a DPS peak, it had an ammo register box. The summit block was a 10' fin, easy class 3 with good holds. We took turns climbing it. The register was placed in 1999 and had fewer entries that expected. We took a long break to enjoy the geological wonders.

Sean scrambling up to the ledges

Sean on the summit block

Getting off the ledges was uneventful. I tried a different route descending from the notch, and it was notably worse. Loose rock and side-hilling got me back on route. We decided to stay in the main wash a little longer on the way back to avoid some of the deeper washes that braided the plain. After a bit, I veered to follow my GPS track, while Sean continued down the wash looking for a smoother path. As the distance between us grew, I occasionally looked back to make sure I could see him moving along 500' or so south of me. I guessed he had his own track back to the truck. When I was a mile from the truck, it struck me that I could not see it and that everything looked the same in all directions. We were too far from any landmarks to do any dead reckoning or triangulation. I realized that it might have been impossible to find the truck without GPS, even with a map and compass. I finally spotted the truck from 0.2 miles away, but had lost sight of Sean. I noted the time and started packing up my gear. 15 minutes later, I climbed up on the bed to look for Sean with no luck. I honked the horn a dozen times and shouted his name into the empty desert. Nothing. I decided that if he didn't show up after 30 minutes, I would head out slightly south to look for him. With less than 2 hours of daylight left, I wondered if his phone had died. I texted him and also left a voice mail. No response. Just as I had started reloading water into my pack, Sean texted and said he could not find me. He was not using a GPS app, but he did send his location via Google maps. I sent my location to him both via maps and with raw coordinates. He had ended up a little more than a mile north of the truck, having crossed behind me at some point. Had we not had cell service, it would have ended in a bit of a predicament. I would have been searching for him and would have directed any rescue team in the wrong direction. An hour later, he rolled up from the north. We had a chuckle and discussed various strategies one could use if lost in a desert Bermuda Triangle. It didn't detract from the experience and we had a safe drive back.

Sorrow's Bastion and Eaglet Peak Loop

Hiked: 12/06/2024
Distance: 11.7 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: Sorrow's Bastion (4331'), Eaglet Peak (4619')
Elevation Gain: 3307'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.7
Round trip time: 7 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 96 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Bird One Street turnaround
Difficulty: Strenuous (route finding)

I'd been wanting to explore more of Joshua Tree south of Eagle Mountain. I climbed Eagle in 2020 and Oasis Peak in 2022. The plan was to get two more peaks deeper in the maze of canyons. I identified two peaks without names, labeled 4331 and 4619 on the USGS topo and christened them "Sorrow's Bastion" and "Eaglet Peak". Neither peak had enough prominence to count as official peaks. I planned to take the big wash just east of Oasis, then leave it to gain the ridge, going over Bastion first, then down to a saddle and up to Eaglet. I planned to return down a gully south of Eaglet that fed my ascent wash. Things don't always go as planned.

I parked at the turnaround at the end of Bird One Street started up the trail. I left the trail about a half mile in to angle toward the opening of the wash. I had forgotten about the giant cholla garden and carelessly picked up a passenger I had to dig out of my calf. I carefully navigated the rest of the garden to reach the wash. The first couple of miles of the wash were easy with a smattering of class 2. I was surprised to find occasional cairns marking the wash. A couple were useful. When I got past Oasis, the wash narrowed and more boulders blocked the path. Nothing exceeded class 2 to this point and it looked like the route was going to work out. You never know until you go. I climbed the loose ridge and there was some scrambling to get over a midpoint. Thirty minutes later, I was on Sorrow's Bastion. I meant to bring a register, but didn't. There were no marks. The views were awesome, especially into the chaotic cluster of rocks just below. Wind blasted me on the peak, so I only stayed long enough for photos.

Remains of a large bird

Scramble on the ridge to Sorrow's Bastion

Final walk up to Sorrow's Bastion

I found shelter from the wind after I dropped to the saddle below Eaglet, then started up a drainage. It harassed me again on the summit of Eaglet, where someone had erected a small cairn. No marks, no register. The views were nice, but better from the lower peak. Eagle Mountain didn't look that far away, and I might have visited it with more daylight. Instead, I descended into the side gully I planned to take back to the main wash. The top of the gully was easy and I was cruising -- until I hit a 75' dry fall. The north wall looked like a go, so I scrambled up and down into a parallel gully. I wasn't sure if I would hit another bad dry fall, but I made it back to the main wash after a fair bit of class 3 downclimbing. The rest of the descent was pleasant and I tip toed back though the cholla garden. As expected, I saw no other humans all day. I'd like to make one more trip to the rock towers in the future. I was grateful and satisfied with a full day of exploration and untroubled by the traffic snarl on the drive home.

Eaglet Peak

Eagle Peak

Big dry fall

Scramble down the side gully

Back by Oasis Peak

Dante's View Peak

Hiked: 11/24/2024
Distance: 0.9 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 5694'
Elevation Gain: 250'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.3
Round trip time: 30 minutes
Recommended water: 0 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee or National Parks Pass on Daylight Pass Road
Difficulty: Easy

On the way out of Death Valley, it started raining. We stopped at Dante's View and got above the weather. My daughters boyfriend, Nick, joined me for the short hike to Dante's View Peak. I was surprised to find reference marks and the benchmark intact given how close it was to a busy tourist stop. It was chilly, but the wind was calm. The use trail continued over the peak and down a ridge to unknown destinations.

False summit from Dante's View overlook

Mosaic Canyon

Hiked: 11/23/2024
Distance: 3.4 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 1894' (dry fall)
Elevation Gain: 1050'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.8
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee or National Parks Pass on Daylight Pass Road
Difficulty: Easy

Mosaic Canyon is near Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley. It was very popular and we had to park in overflow parking along the road. At the start, the canyon was wide and there were multiple trails. After a mile or so, it narrows and there were a number of small dry falls (3'-10') that we clambered up. A couple of them created bottlenecks as inexperienced hikers or those without proper footwear struggled going up or down. At 1.3 miles, there was a boulder pile that turned more than half around. The boulder pile required slightly greater skill but had good holds. We continued up over another half dozen small dry falls as the number of hikers dwindled. The trail ended at a 25' dry fall. Looking at satellite views later, it looked like there was a use trail that bypassed the first fall and allowed you continue a little further, but we were not aware of it at the time.

Boulder pile where many turned around

Bottleneck

End of the line