Summiting Picacho Peak, CA

Today I set out the the meetup group for the other big peak near Yuma. After not making it to the top of Castle Dome, I felt I needed to make it to the top of this one. Six of us set out, but only two made it, the group leader and me.

We got an early start and made the drive down Picacho road and turned off the Wash along the BLM trail.

At the point where you can no longer drive, we started the hike by continued by walking up the same wash. After you pass by Picacho, a trail heads up to the left. The trail continues to a scree slope up to a saddle.

The Guardian

View from the Saddle

At the saddle we took a slight turn to the right and began the scramble along the first ledges. We arrived at the first ladder, about 6 feet tall.

At the top of the ladder is the infamous crack which divided our group. It is only about 2 feet wide but it is very exposed and there is no good location to step off from. The spot where you jump from is slightly higher than the landing. When you lower yourself to get a better angle to jump from, you give up all footing except for one little pocket about an inch deep that you can place one heel in. This means all your upward and most of your forward momentum needs to be generated from that one poorly placed foot.  It took me a minute to build up the confidence to take the leap. The first time I made my way to the edge I needed to back away and collect myself. The video below shows me making the leap.

 The Leap and Landing

Not ready to leap

 After the leap it is easy scrambling to the second ladder. You snake back and forth long a series of ledges and the turns are marked by red arrows. The second ladder was taller. Once at the top, we borrowed it to help go from the false summit to the true summit.

 A boulder divides the summits, and using the ladder to get on top of it was the most exposed part of the hike. I did not get a picture of the previous ladder placement on the other side of the boulder, which was the truly exposed part. The ladder was on a slope that had a small divot that held one leg. The ladder was also only about 3 feet in from the ledge. The only redeeming part was there were some good hand holds, so you could commit a lot of your weight to the rock as your feet moved up the ladder. The ladder placement in the below photos looks a little precarious, but it was solid.

 Exposure? You should see the other side.

After we reached the true summit we signed the log and got some photos. The log was in a pipe that was cemented into the rock. There was some additional stuff cashed in the rocks that are directly behind me in the below photo.

Colorado River as seen from the peak

-James

Lele Kawa

The Lele Kawa DVD is out!

Follow the movie on face book at http://www.facebook.com/LeleKawasLiterallyLivingTheDream  Screening should be announced soon.

The DVDs are shipping now. You can get your copy with any donation of $12 or more at http://www.lelekawa.net/dudes/literally-living-the-dream-dvd

-James

Lele Kawa

Castle Dome, failed attempt

There aren't too many things around Yuma on my to do list that I haven't been able to do yet. Castle Dome is one of them. Castle Dome is the highest point in Yuma County. From Yuma it looks like it would be hard to summit due to its sheer sides facing Yuma.

The "back side" is less sheer, and can be hiked.

We decided to drive in the night before and camp at the base of the wash. Unfortunately shortly after we passed Castle Dome mine one of our four vehicles experienced not one, but two flats. Luckily one of the other vehicles was able to loan a spare, and we got two tires changed out in the dark.

Early the next morning we made breakfast and broke camp. By the time we broke camp, one older hiker had already started up the trail and another hiking group arrived.

We started off right behind that group. We were moving faster than they were and passed them up. This was our first mistake. The only one of our group who had done the hike stayed back at camp, leaving us with only vague directions.

We missed our turn up the wash, marked on the below map as missed turn. We headed up the next wash when the trail seemed to go cold. It was hard hiking up loose and steep rocks that lead to a ridge line that did not connect with Castle Dome.

Top of the ridge looking away from Castle Dome

-James

Lele Kawa

Joshua Tree, Thanksgiving weekend

Joshua Tree has been on my hit list for a while. I bought a climbing book for J Tree even before I got back to the US. It is also a convenient "midway" point to camp between Yuma and San Diego.

Thanksgiving seemed like as good of a time as any to head out there. Cool fall weather in the desert. One of the reason for going was getting some last footage for Lele Kawa's Literally Living the Dream movie.

Unfortunately since I was the only rock climber in the group I didn't get to put the climbing book or gear to use. My hopes to use this trip to draw my friends into the world of rock climbing did not pan out. The best I was able to get was a little bit of scrambling and some easy bouldering, in addition to some hiking.

In addition to scrambling we did get to do some long boarding. There was even some long boarding at night that resulted in some good looking photos.

Our only attempt of the weekend at slack lining did not go so well. No makes.

We also stopped at Keys View to take in the valley.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the weekend were the nights spent around the camp fire.

-James

Lele Kawa

Pilot's Knob, CA

A new hike in Yuma, for me. Nexgen Yuma and Meetup put together a hike up Pilot's Knob, a hill in California right at the point where California, Arizona and Mexico all meet. This hike is similar to the "goat trail" up Telegraph Pass minus the approach hike. It is a little under a mile in distance and a little over 600 feet in elevation gained.

Summit

Once at the summit you are rewarded with a panoramic view that includes Yuma, Algodones, Picacho, Felicity and the Imperial Sand Dunes

Panoramic 

 "Center of the World" Felicity, CA

Algodones, Mexico

-James

Lele Kawa

On Las Vegas and Snowboarding

I feel that with the exception of the hardcore fans of Vegas, everyone else shares a love hate relationship with the city. In this small area of the world you can do just about anything. The hate comes from the cost of this convenience, both financial and facing the crowds. I feel that overall I like Vegas, despite my hate of crowds and the pain I feel in my wallet when its time to leave. Its good seem to outweigh the bad. Where else could you gorge yourself at a buffet, before skiing, rock climb on your way back to the city, where you enjoy dinner from a Michelin Star chef, shoot machine guns spanning the last 100 years and then watch the most talented fighters in the world beat each other for sport? Nowhere that I know of.

I'm sure there are very few people who consider Vegas to be a ski town, but less than an hour from downtown they have a small resort that is pretty decent. Situated above 8,500 feet on mount Charleston, it actually receives a fair amount of real snow. At the time I went on Christmas Eve it had received more snow than any of the Souther California or Arizona resorts that are within a weekends trip away from me.

As long as you avoided the bunny hill, there were no lift lines and nicely groomed slopes. The bunny hill was crowded, barely steep enough to slide on, and full of tourist form all over the world. They didn't have nearly as many terrain features as Big Bear had, but there were a few jumps and sliders scattered along one of the runs.

With a new GoPro arrangement and a little editing I put together the video below.

-James

Lele Kawa

Lele Kawa at Squaw Lake, CA

I was surprised to learn form some guys at work that there was some cliff jumping near Yuma. Could this be real? An opportunity to do some lele kawa here in the desert.

It turned out to be true, and the cliffs are no joke. They loom about 35 feet over Senator wash. The only catch was unless you have a boat, you need to hike about a mile to get there. Now a mile doesn't sound that far but remember in the desert summer when the water is warm enough that you want to jump the air temp is often over 110. The mile there isn't too bad, its the mile back that is killer.

 Center of the photo has a 30 foot cliff

This photo lacks scale, but that point on the right is about 40 feet

The trailer for "Lele Kawa's literally living the dream" shows some clips from our time at the cliffs, and the full movie should contain even more.

-James

Lele Kawa