TRIP  DESCRIPTION

PIUTES/LITTLE PIUTES CARCAMP

Wilderness Monitoring

February 14-16, 2004

 

RATING:  moderate

 

TO CONFIRM:

Call Steve Tabor

(510) 769-1706

 

                This three-day carcamp is another in a continuing series of investigations of bighorn sheep habitat in the southern Mojave Desert.  In this series, we are visiting Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Areas, observing and examining them, mapping them, and photographing them.  The leader will write a monitoring report afterward.

 

                The Piute Mountains Wilderness is a 36,840-acre patch of land south of I-40 east of Amboy.  The original Wilderness Study Area was cut in half by a jeep trail that allows off-roaders easy access to the interior, yet the Wilderness is known bighorn  and desert tortoise habitat.  Our main objective will be to check out springs shown on topo maps and record their condition.  The BLM management plan also shows constructed water catchments (“game guzzlers”).  We’ll look for these as well.  We’ll spend one day in the Little Piute Mtns. to the south, checking out two “guzzlers”, plus a natural source, “Granite Tank”.

 

                On Saturday, we’ll meet at the village of Essex on Route 66, then drive southeast on Sunflower Springs Road to a pipeline road running east.  We’ll find a campsite, then hike south to the Little Piutes, really more hills than mountains.  Our route will take us up a small canyon underpinned by ancient rocks, metamorphic equivalents of the sedimentaries in the rim of the Grand Canyon.  These have been thrust-faulted far to the west and “attenuated”, stretched out by extreme pressure at depth, as if they were taffy.  Five-hundred-foot layers have been squeezed to metamorphic pods twenty feet thick!  We’ll hike through these and into the low country to the south to see if “Granite Tank” has water.  We’ll then retrace our steps to the cars.

 

                On Sunday, we’ll turn around and hike from the same camp directly north across the valley into the Piute Wilderness.  We’ll cross a low pass, then hike down a wash on the unfortunate jeep trail that bisects the Wilderness, recording vehicular trespass as we go.  Our main goal will be Fenner Spring, 5.5 miles from the camp. This is supposed to have water.  Two tanks show on the map.  This was once a cattle-watering station and may now be a “guzzler”.  We’ll record its condition, then return to the cars across gulches and over ridges, topping out on the main ridge above 4000', close to Piute Peak (4165'), the highest named peak in the range.  The ridge we’ll cross is actually higher.  From there it’s an easy hike across the valley to the camp.

 

                On Monday, we’ll break camp and drive west for a shorter hike at the west end of the Wilderness.  A cabin, well and windmill show on the map at one place and “Barrel Spring” is at another place.  This hiking will be mostly on flat ground and in washes.  We’ll look for water and bighorn at both places.  We’ll return to the cars by 2:00 pm for the ride home.

 

                Hiking will be moderate in both pace and terrain.  Overall, elevation gains aren’t steep, though ridges on the last half of our Sunday hike will be difficult in places.  It’s a long hike and we may get back close to dark or after.  On all hikes, we’ll stop every hour to rest.  On all monitoring trips, I take the lead so the group can properly record all sightings of wildlife before animals are scared off.  We’re bound to see some oddball vegetation here and there, and it will be necessary to record that also. 

                We’‘ camp by the cars.  I’ll bring my fire pan so we can have a night fire unless it’s windy.  The moon is Last Quarter;  stars will be bright unless it’s cloudy.  This is relatively high country, so expect cold night temperatures this early in the season.

 

                This is a good trip for those who want to do desert monitoring to protect Wilderness and wildlife.  It’s interesting country, and we’ll be seeing a lot of it.  Aside from the “attenuated” Grand Canyon rock in the Little Piutes, most of the rock is Precambrian gneiss and schist or Mesozoic granite.  The gneiss and schist are crystalline and very old, about 1.7 billion years.  There is a ridge of Tertiary volcanic rock in the Little Piutes as well.  The vegetation is Mojavean; expect Mojave yuccas and barrel cactus plus a variety of shrubs.  It will probably be too early for flowers or tortoise, but bighorn should be active.

 

FEATURES

 

  — Wash and fan hiking, plus rocky canyons; several water sources of varying condition

  — Good work in protecting the Wilderness, doing Wilderness monitoring

  — Mojave vegetation: Mojave yuccas and cactus

  — Bighorn sheep and desert tortoise habitat; we’ll be recording signs of both

  — Warm days, cool nights under moonless starry skies

 

GEAR, ETC.

 

  --- Bring four gallons of water per person in the car; we’ll need to carry water on each day’s hike.

  --- Bring food and cooking pots plus a stove, or plan to cook with car mates; no central commissary.                

  --- Bring cold weather gear in case it storms. Bring rain jacket, down jacket, warm hat and tent. For the intense sunshine, bring long-sleeve shirt, long pants, sunhat, sunglasses & sunscreen.

  --- Bring toilet paper & a trowel, plus a plastic bag to pack out your paper. No burying of toilet paper.

  --- For night hiking and/or camping, bring headlamp/flashlight with fresh batteries.

  --- A walking stick may help on steep slopes

 

DISTANCES

 

  --- Driving: 516 miles on pavement to the meeting place from Oakland, plus 10 miles to the trailhead on graded dirt roads

  --- Hiking mileages and elevations:

                First day: 11.0 miles, +1330', -1330'; 241.8 ft/mi.

                Second day: 14.0 miles, +2220', -2220'; 317.1 ft/mi.

                Third day: 8.0 miles, +820', -820'; 205.0 ft/mi.

 

           

BE ADVISED:

 

  --- All participants must be paid-up members of Desert Survivors.

  --- All participants must have a Desert Survivors Expedition Release (liability waiver) on file, and a driver's license and automobile insurance if driving.

  --- A $10 donation will be requested at the trailhead.

  --- Maps: BLM Amboy Desert Access Guide; Topo maps: USGS Painted Rock Wash 7.5, Little Piute Mtns. 7.5', Fenner Spring 7.5', Essex 7.5'; the AAA San Bernardino County map will help with roads.

 

  --- This trip is exploratory in nature.  The trip leader has not scouted the route beforehand and has relied primarily on topographic maps for planning purposes.  The route detailed here may not go as planned.

 

  --- PLEASE NOTE: This is a wildlife monitoring trip.  On this trip, hikers will have to stay behind the leader at all times as the group penetrates into Wilderness where we may come upon wildlife at any time.  When hikers selfishly run ahead of the group, they spook wildlife that the rest of the hikers never get to see, thus impoverishing the trip experience for everyone.  Staying behind the leader also contributes to hiker safety.  The leader will call regular rest stops to moderate the pace of travel and prevent fatigue from effecting hikers’ performance.  All participants are expected to know the leader’s whereabouts and to stay with the group at all times while hiking.