Distance: 9.7 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 3309'
Elevation Gain: 2706'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.1
Round trip time: 7 hours
Recommended water: 112 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on West Iron Portal Road
Difficulty: Strenuous
To kick off 2025, I headed to the small Iron Mountains range northeast of Joshua Tree. One of my ongoing side projects was to climb all the "Iron" Mountains in California. This range was unique in that a 7+ mile tunnel runs under it as part of the Colorado Aqueduct system. It delivers water from the Colorado river to Lake Mathews in the Inland Empire. A pumping station on the east side pushes water up and through the Iron Mountains. The tunnel runs just north of the high point and exits at the West Portal. I started at the end of the dirt road alongside the aqueduct on the west side. The road was signed as private, but open to use. It was very smooth and I was able to cruise at 30-40 mph to the end.
The first couple of miles were flat, open desert, as I passed the outstretched arms of jagged ridges. Then, it got rockier with bowling ball sized rocks and many deep washes (10-30') to cross. I thought I'd give the main gully a try, and return down the ridge. It was slow going in the gully with large boulders and thorny brush. As I entered a steeper section, I decided I'd make better time on the ridge. I began scaling the north wall of the gully and was surprised it went class 2. Most of the rocks were solid, but they were not anchored well to the mountain. Everything felt ready to break loose. Back on the ridge, there was more scrambling to a false summit. The final bit had me drop off the ridge to side hill on loose dirt around some obstacles. There was an ancient register from 1984, brittle, and only half full. I was careful with it since some of the pages had come loose. I searched for a benchmark, but didn't find one. The summit area was narrow and short, but had great 360 views. These Iron Mountains were very gray without much color variation. The wind picked up, so I only stayed on top a few minutes. I stopped to eat on the way down once I was out of the wind. The ridge descent was easier than the gully: four steep class 2 slopes. When I got back to the gully, I built a small cairn at the foot of the ridge. It was fine desert day and another Iron Mountain in the books.
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