Piedras Grandes

Piedras Grandes©

January 23, 2013, Joel Hawk

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

This is a fairly easy 3.5 mile round trip with "just a little" bushwhacking/open country traverse.  If one wanted to ease into this type of adventure, this peak would be a good one to start with.  The first mile is a gently upward slope along the desert floor.  Once you get to the ridge, then the climb really starts, but it's not too difficult.  There is no benchmark and at the time of this writing, the register had fallen between two boulders far enough away that it could not be reached, so no way to sign it.  There is my destination below.

Fairly non-eventful hike up to the summit although there was a beautiful barrel cactus I saw along the way.

  The following are three pictures of the summit.

On the way back down, I scurried up a jack rabbit.  He ran off for a little bit and then stopped to take the pose.

He decided he had enough of that, so off he went.

The sun was falling so my fun day was coming to an end.

Looks like there is a fire farther off into the East.  Glad I'm not too close.

Once back to the jeep, I gave my wife a quick call to let her know I was safe and headed home.  It was a good day.

Be safe, enjoy living and appreciate our lands.   ~ Joel

Directions and the numbers:

Travel East on I-8 and exit at Ocotillo Wells.    Travel through town noting that there is a "must stop" at the Lazy Lizard on the return trip.  Continue on this paved road until you reach the Border Patrol checkpoint.  Pass through the checkpoint for about 2 or 3 hundred yards and take the Dos Cabezas jeep road to the left.  You'll see a trail head marker with desert information.  Stay on this dirt road for several miles until you come to the train tracks and an old water tower.  Cross over the tracks (must have a solid 4x4) and drive straight through onto another dirt road skirting the foothills to the left.  There will be a little parking area that is fenced off with yet another road headed toward the mountain range with PG.  It is illegal to drive on this road.  Start walking to the lowest point in the mountain range using the wash as your trail.  Total round trip is appx 3.5 miles, 740 total ascent with a max elevation of 2564 ft.   Overall this took me about 1.5 hours.

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