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tekewin Posts: 371
4/15/2018
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I drove up Pinyon Wash to get as close as I could to the west side of Sunset mountain. From my parking spot, I walked a half mile across the flat desert toward the western slopes. The thorny population consisted mostly of cholla, agave, ocotillo, and barrel cactus, in that order of frequency. After ascending the main wash a short distance, I started up a slope on the left. The angles were steep and the non-boulder sections were decomposed granite. The chossy crust on the dirt often gave way. Class 2 boulder sections came up now and then and were a welcome oasis of stability. Route finding was mentally taxing. In addition to avoiding the cactus and agave, almost every step required careful attention. It was slow, steady progress kept manageable by the short distance.
I hit the edge of the northwest ridge and was greeted with awesome views into Lower Borrego Valley. A short time later, I was on the summit. The benchmark and register were about 25' from the highest boulder. The benchmark was stamped "Yak". On top, wind blew steadily with gusts in the 25mph range. There were several books in the register cans and I signed the latest one before packing up and heading down out of the wind. When the wind was still, nothing moved and nothing made a sound. I'm used to being alone on remote desert peaks and the silence was notable, almost unnatural. I was glad to get down without a fall. 4 miles round trip, 2000' gain, 4 hours.
Lower Borrego Valley and the Borrego Mountains below
Looking south over the Vallecito Mountains
Descending back to Pinyon Wash
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Britain Posts: 604
4/15/2018
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Nice, Been wanting to get that one. Thanks for the share.
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Cant drive 55
Britain
http://icorva.com
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+1
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
4/16/2018
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Great views from up there, Tekewin. Only made it up to the two nearby guzzlers before crapping out a while back. Thanks for posting. Tom
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+1
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ziphius Posts: 911
4/17/2018
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Nice trip report. Can confirm the footing is sketchy on that slope.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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+1
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2622
4/17/2018
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I'm with Tom, only been to the guzzlers....still on my list, looks like some great views up there....
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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tekewin Posts: 371
4/18/2018
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Views exceeded expectations, but so did difficulty of the west slope. Beautiful mountain, and thankfully the route was not any longer.
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rockhopper Posts: 668
4/19/2018
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Nice day hike with fantastic views. Thanks for sharing. I hope you were using hiking poles going down!
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tekewin Posts: 371
4/19/2018
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rockhopper wrote:
Nice day hike with fantastic views. Thanks for sharing. I hope you were using hiking poles going down!
Yes, I almost always use one pole. An exception would be a hike that's all trail, but that doesn't happen very often. Knees were still sore for a while after the descent.
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Britain Posts: 604
4/19/2018
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tekewin wrote:
rockhopper wrote:
Nice day hike with fantastic views. Thanks for sharing. I hope you were using hiking poles going down!
Yes, I almost always use one pole. An exception would be a hike that's all trail, but that doesn't happen very often. Knees were still sore for a while after the descent.
When I was coming down from my failed attempt of Gasp, I was in a steep downward hill. I had a 2 foot drop so I dropped my pole down to steady myself so I could leap down. The hill under my pole gave way and I flipped over and skidded down on my pack for about 10 ft. Ended up in a comfortable position and did a prayer that it didn't break anything. Wonder if theres any other opps on trek poles out there.
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Cant drive 55
Britain
http://icorva.com
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tekewin Posts: 371
4/20/2018
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Britain wrote:
When I was coming down from my failed attempt of Gasp, I was in a steep downward hill. I had a 2 foot drop so I dropped my pole down to steady myself so I could leap down. The hill under my pole gave way and I flipped over and skidded down on my pack for about 10 ft. Ended up in a comfortable position and did a prayer that it didn't break anything. Wonder if theres any other opps on trek poles out there.
Ouch. Glad that ended OK.
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