Thumb Peak.  Not a huge mountain - only about 700 or 800 feet high, but it sits out there like a big, beckoning finger, (no, not the center finger) saying, come on, give it a try.  To me it’s irresistible.  This is looking from the Milpitas Wash/Wiley’s Well road from west to east a few months ago.  Palo Verde Peak, that I climbed on Jan 2 is in the far lower left, smallest of them all, the twin spikes just to the right of the bush………………..

Thumb Peak doesn’t look climb-able from this angle, and for me it’s simpler to come from the east anyway.  You enter a wilderness area that protects Clapp Springs, so hafta park and walk in about a mile.  Good warm-up.  Clapp Springs is still dry, even after the heavy rains last weekend, so not much chance of seeing any of the numerous wild Burros in the area, or the less common endangered Desert Bighorn Sheep.  Here’s Thumb Peak again, looking west across Clapp Springs.  Looks like a climbing route may be possible from this side……………..

See the center group of palms, above, with fronds to the ground ??  Straight above the bigger one is a kind of stepped peak with a small spike to the right of it.  That gray slope below it is the route I chose, and it was much rougher and steeper than it looks.  I came out to the left of the stepped peak - see the big notch to the right in this picture ??………………….

Climb to that notch, look over………..whoops………..and hang on to your socks………………

Yah, it’s straight down……..as in straight down………about 200 feet, and you wouldn’t touch a thing till you hit bottom………………

So, turn to go up to the right, and another wee problem rears its’ ugly head.  Perty steep there, too, and we’re a long way up now.  This is turning into a real razor back ridge, similar to what I hit at Organ Pipe Arch 2 weeks ago.  Mule Mountains are in the distance………………..

Below the ridge is a steep traverse that goes above a bowl.  I came around the side to the right of it in the picture below.  Great caution is called for here - that rock is very bad………………

The great danger here, that I saw also at Palo Verde Peak on Jan 2, is the rotten lava rock.  See, a nice, solid handhold……………..

…………..and grab onto it.  Whoooops.  You’d better not have put any weight against that.  This whole mountain is like that……………….

With that in mind, look at the rock to the right of the bowl, 3 pics above.  Then, holding that thought, turn and look up at the next problem……………..

This is only about 100 feet from the summit, but I just don’t see a route I’m comfortable with.  Remember the climb on Cabezon Peak, the “Mystery Mountain” last July at the beginning of vacation ??  ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=63 )  I learned a great lesson there, and don’t ever want to put myself in a position like that again.  Sooooo………..that’s where I turned around and started back down.

A couple of weeks ago, my faithful old Garmin eTrex Legend - that I used to bitch about endlessly, then slowly grew to appreciate - fell off the dash of Der Bug, landed on a seat mounting bolt and broke the screen.  This, after surviving being thrown 20 or 30 feet in the quad rollover last month.  (  http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=69 ) It still sorta works, (about like me after that crash) and when I came to a vertical cliff on the way down, a quick look at the GPS showed me where I should have gone.  So, I did.  Time for a new GPS………sighhhhh………………

I haven’t had time to work it all out with GPS co-ordinates, etc., but I believe this is where I got to before turning around………………..

On the way home, a look to the east shows the Kofa Mountains, about 30 miles away……….and the site of a near future climb up Palm Canyon in the big notch to the right, looking for the many Desert Bighorn Sheep reputed to live there………………….

This was a nice day.  A little frustrating, but it was a good workout in great scenery on a perfect day.  Can’t ask for much more, eh ??               Lar.

–

Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: May 29th, 2009 under 08 Blythe 09, 09-2-14 Thumb Peak.
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