At the end of the week, I drove towards home but then detoured 50 miles south from Quartzsite, through the US Army Proving Ground to tackle Castle Dome Peak. The guide I read stated that it was a landmark view from I-10 and I-8 but I confess to never having noticed this big hunk of rock. In my defense, it does look much different from the west side than the others.... I drove for a few miles on a dirt road and spent the night on BLM area near the Castle Dome Mine museum and in the morning drove a half-mile to the access road. There I was informed that the road would be closed until around noon due to some construction, but when I explained that I would be hiking the peak - well past the work area - I was allowed to go ahead. It's an interesting drive from there, nearly five more miles on rough dirt road to an unmarked trailhead - once again the helpful guide noted it as an obvious parking area. Fortunately I was in the right place and took off on the trail, which follows a wash for a little more than a mile. It was hard walking, slightly uphill through very loose sand and gravel but there were a few helpful cairns placed throughout. Actually hard to get lost in this section since the wash is a good 10-20 feet lower than the surrounding area. From there the trail heads steeply uphill along a ridge, again with cairns placed liberally along the route. The guide mentioned a 20-foot rock climb from a saddle, when I reached that section I tried going up but bailed about halfway because I didn't see a way around a large rock in the notch without really exposing myself. There was a pretty easy way up nearby, and I followed more cairns while contouring around the east and south side of the summit to reach the top. From there the view of the vast desert is really good, a whole lot of dry rocky hills surrounding this high point. I stayed up here for a long time, enjoying the near-total silence and also drying off my sweaty shirts. On the way down I slipped and fell with my hand landing on a small cactus - this necessitated a stop later to perform a bit of surgery on my little finger so that I could extract the last spine. After that I managed to follow a cairn that led me to the wrong ridgeline, however I had noted my entrance point from the wash and was able to maneuver back to the correct spot. There is a semblance of a use trail for the lower ridge portion, but the steepness made it necessary to go slow until reaching the sand and gravel once again. Just as I was finishing the water in my Camelbak I saw my truck in the parking area so life was good once again. Afterward I stopped at the McDonald's in Quartzsite to take advantage of a free sundae coupon before embarking on the final 220 miles home.
Castle Dome Peak from my camping area.
Helpful cairn showing where to leave the wash and start climbing. I'm guessing this gets wiped out regularly but the little piece of rebar stays in place. All I had in the guide was a gps coordinate.
There were two markers, each pointing to actual high point which contained a register. No visitors there since October 15.
Looking north from the summit.
