Fish Benchmark, Eagle Benchmark
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 11:12 am
The desert is calling and I must go. On January 2, I did a loop in the Fish Creek Mountains near Salton Sea. Neither of these benchmarks see many visitors. Eagle is the high point of the small range and gets some traffic, but Fish is rarely visited. I drove to the end of Split Mountain Road, then east for 5 miles on a dirt road that parallels the Plaster City Narrow Gauge Railroad. Along the road were multiple camped RVs with ATVs and dune buggies. The area is very popular with the OHV crowd. The second mile of the road had some deeper sand. I flipped on 4x4 but I'm not sure it was needed.
I walked the railroad tracks less than a mile before veering toward the steep ascent gully. I expected a solid 1500' scramble and was not disappointed. The gully was full of large boulders and dry falls. The ascent was a mix of class 2/3, but with careful route finding, most was class 2. From the top of the main gully, it was another 800' to the top of Fish. I found a benchmark, reference mark, and register placed in 1979 by Wes Shelberg. The prior entry in the register was from a year ago and was the only entry in 2020. The register was only half full since 1979.
Start of the gully
Scramble city
Looking over at Eagle from Fish
I dropped back onto the plateau and started down a long class 2 gully with toward Eagle. I was dumped out about 700' below Eagle in a confluence of canyons. I aimed for the slope left of Eagle and slowly picked my way up. At the bottom of the slope, I heard voices and saw a couple of hikers on the ridge on their way to Eagle. After fighting up to the saddle below Eagle, I was startled by an explosion above the summit. Some kind of loud fireworks had gone off and the sound echoed through the canyons. A second explosion quickly followed. In 15 minutes, I was on the summit with a party of six hikers and a dog. They were the vanguard of a larger group and set off the fireworks to let the others know they had reached the summit. I chatted with a guy named Alexis and discovered they were all local. I found no marks on Eagle, but register also went back to 1979. Based on the register, it was much more popular than Fish. I dropped down a steep, loose gully on the north side and regretted leaving the ridge. Even large, stable looking boulders were loose and could not be trusted. I ended up butt scooting down most of it, causing minor rock slides every other step. Once on the lower plateau, I eventually found the remnants of an old miner's trail and was able to follow it on and off for the rest of the descent. I got back about an hour before sunset.
Looking at Fish from Eagle
Crappy descent gully
Looking back at Eagle
I walked the railroad tracks less than a mile before veering toward the steep ascent gully. I expected a solid 1500' scramble and was not disappointed. The gully was full of large boulders and dry falls. The ascent was a mix of class 2/3, but with careful route finding, most was class 2. From the top of the main gully, it was another 800' to the top of Fish. I found a benchmark, reference mark, and register placed in 1979 by Wes Shelberg. The prior entry in the register was from a year ago and was the only entry in 2020. The register was only half full since 1979.
Start of the gully
Scramble city
Looking over at Eagle from Fish
I dropped back onto the plateau and started down a long class 2 gully with toward Eagle. I was dumped out about 700' below Eagle in a confluence of canyons. I aimed for the slope left of Eagle and slowly picked my way up. At the bottom of the slope, I heard voices and saw a couple of hikers on the ridge on their way to Eagle. After fighting up to the saddle below Eagle, I was startled by an explosion above the summit. Some kind of loud fireworks had gone off and the sound echoed through the canyons. A second explosion quickly followed. In 15 minutes, I was on the summit with a party of six hikers and a dog. They were the vanguard of a larger group and set off the fireworks to let the others know they had reached the summit. I chatted with a guy named Alexis and discovered they were all local. I found no marks on Eagle, but register also went back to 1979. Based on the register, it was much more popular than Fish. I dropped down a steep, loose gully on the north side and regretted leaving the ridge. Even large, stable looking boulders were loose and could not be trusted. I ended up butt scooting down most of it, causing minor rock slides every other step. Once on the lower plateau, I eventually found the remnants of an old miner's trail and was able to follow it on and off for the rest of the descent. I got back about an hour before sunset.
Looking at Fish from Eagle
Crappy descent gully
Looking back at Eagle