Picacho Del Diablo and Botella Azul Three-day Hiking Trip

[Ardiner]

The full write-up with pictures is available at
https://outdoorsphotography.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/picacho-del-diablo-and-botella-azul-three-day-hiking-trip/?preview_id=592


Recently, I had the pleasure of joining my friend Nei Dal Bem on a trip into the central Baja Peninsula on a three-day backpacking/hiking trip into the Sierra de San Pedro Martir National Park to climb Piccacho de Diablo which is the highest point in Baja. In order to make this three day hike possible, we spent time ahead of time securing our Mexican Tourist Visas, obtaining rental insurance and working out the logistics for the trip. As I typically do long day hikes, I have to thank all of those that helped me out with gear to enable the trip. For the first time, I borrowed a GPS and used it on this trip. It would prove to be a life saver (maybe literally) and that now goes on my list of things to get soon.


Our plans for the trip were to make this three day trip from March 13-15, 2015. Our intent was to be at the trail head in San Pedro Martir National Park by 8 to 9 a.m. on Friday March 13th and hike in from the trail head to Campo Noche at the bottom of Canyon Del Diablo where we would camp for two nights. On Saturday the 14th we would leave Campo Noche and attempt our summit try on Piccacho de Diablo and back and on Sunday we would Backpack back out from Campo Noche to the trail head and head back to San Diego. To accomplish this three day event, we packed up in Nei’s Rav-4 and left San Diego at 2 a.m. Friday morning with him driving us the 240 miles through the night down the toll road Highway-1 along the coast to Ensenada and then inland through the wine country to the trail head. Most of the drive was on well maintained highway until the turn-off near Colonet where a marked sign indicating the park highway sets on the East side of the road. Though easy to see in the day as we found on the return trip, at night this sign is not lit and if not careful you may pass the road. This park road is paved all the way into the Park and though it winds up into the mountains it is well maintained into the park.


After about another 6 miles of driving into the park we turned off to a dirt use trail and drove the final 9 miles to the trail head for Botella Azul. It is very easy to know you have reached the trail head as you will drive past a large building that looks like it is used to load water in tanker trucks and ultimately just past there you reach a parking area with a “tee-pee” frame standing at its center. Once at the trail head we packed up and headed out on our way. Although we did not see it on our trip out, there were actually two fire roads that exited the trail head area, the first, which we took was to the south which leads to the Los Llanitos Shack which was not the correct starting direct we learned when we followed the use trail back down the mountain on Sunday and found there was a actually a fainter road leading to the southeast out of the parking area which was the actual use trail we should have used. Luckily because we had the GPS we were able to figure out pretty soon that we were not heading to the way-point and realigned our route. However, on Sunday we ultimately never actually found the correct use trail and instead picked up on a duck trail that led us through much rougher terrain and ultimately added a couple hours to our backpack to the Botella Azul saddle.

Nei and I finally got to backpacking at 8:30 a.m. as we headed down the fire road on our journey. As I mentioned, we did get off track a little in taking the wrong road but ultimately were able to close to back on the GPS way point line that we had downloaded and were choosing to follow by about 9:30. Having done some cross country navigation through various washed we were able to get ourselves to the Aspen Wash and looked to be near the way point indicated by our GPS.

Once we were into the Aspen wash, we picked up what looked like a faint use trail and found what seemed to be a fairly defined duck trail through the wash and aspen landscape. We were able to find our way fairly effectively and pretty easily navigated our way through the terrain and found ourselves along the western base of Scout Peak by about 11:15 a.m where we finally picked up a very well defined use trail that we followed the balance of the way to the Botella Azul Saddle. We arrived at the saddle approximately noon we dropped our packs and stopped have lunch and enjoy our initial views of Canyon del Diablo and across the canyon to Picacho del Diablo.

Although we had taken longer than we had thought we would to reach the saddle, we decided that we should not miss the opportunity to tag the summit of Botella Azul while we were on our way in on Friday since it was a fairly short scramble up the north west face to the summit. It took us about 10 minutes to make the scramble up to the top where we were greeted to some great views of Picacho del Diablo and a 360-degree view of Baja including views to the east of the Sea of Cortez and to the west to the Pacific. A really wonderful little summit along the way to our real treasure we were seeking on Saturday. During our summit visit we took pictures, signed the register and enjoyed the view. From what we could tell the last person to sign the register had done so on January 18th 2015. Wow! Almost two months between register signings. Yes this is a remote location and not so common destination.

After spending about 20 minutes at the summit, we worked our way back down to the saddle where we picked up our packs and continued to the traverse along the north face of Botella Azul and ultimately our descent into Canyon del Diablo at about 1:15 p.m. To our surprise, we encountered much more snow on the traverse than we would have expected. Up to that point, we had seen almost no snow until we reached the saddle and had to scramble to the top of Botella Azul. However even there we had quite a lot of exposed rock to use and the snow was very shallow. Instead of these conditions, as we crossed the traverse and began to descend slightly we began to encounter fairly long expanses of snow and in some places it was about a foot deep obscuring ducts and the use trail. The exposure was not terrible but there were places where the crossing was narrow and had we slipped could have slid quite a way. We stopped a couple times reinforcing we would need to be careful and we finally reached the conclusion that we should not cross all the way across the traverse to the way point called out on the gps but instead we found a manageable wash and carefully began our descent into the canyon early. As we descended we slowly worked our way to the west hoping to pick up the use or duck trail down. Apparently we were not the first ones to have decided to not cross the full traverse as we ultimately began to find ducks on our decent and worked our way through the snow and rock on the decent. This decent line ultimately proved to be much more difficult that the way point line defined in the GPS. We managed it but we found ourselves in very bouldery portions of the canyon that required a lot of boulder hopping, down climbs and careful navigation around the larger boulders. After a tiring descent, we ultimately found ourselves at the creek and the falls at Gorin’s Gulch above the camp ground at about 4:30 p.m. and finally rolled into Campo Noche at about 5:15 p.m. for a well deserved dinner and rest for our challenge the following day.

Saturday morning, we got up about 6:30 a.m. to eat breakfast and get ready for our assault on Picacho del Diablo that day. The weather was excellent on the trip with the highs being in the upper 40s and the lows in the upper 30s. Nei and I loaded up our day packs and hit the trail at about 7:20 a.m. looking forward to a wonderful day on the mountain. The night before Nei had done some scouting and had discovered what one write-up we had read had referred to as hidden camp. Unfortunately, we had misunderstood the write-ups and mistakenly believed that the ascent line started from hidden camp versus Campo Noche (more to come on that later). Although there were a few ducks as we left hidden camp, the line was clearly difficult to follow. As we scrambled up the face through the manzanita bushes finding obscure duck to obscure duck we slowly worked our way up a ridge line above camp. As we went we found ourselves beginning to find more and more difficult sections as the ridge got steeper and the line of ascent more limited. Because we occasionally found a duck or what appeared to be ducks now and again we attributed the difficulty as being just part of what had been described to us as a very challenging ascent. By about 10 a.m we began to question our line seriously and after one section of ascent which was a bit tricky we found ourselves in a area where we realize the way up from there was a serious challenge and the way down was getting very tricky and marginal.

Time for a gut check and a serious talk. Although we had checked the GPS at a few points in the morning and knew we were slightly off line, the occurrence of ducks had unfortunately misled us into thinking we’d resync with the main line a little higher. At our 10ish stop, we again consulted the GPS and realized we were now almost a quarter mile off line and in light of the increasingly difficult terrain we needed to rethink the strategy or we would not summit and might get ourselves in serious hot water. We pulled out all our various maps and references and soon realized that the line along the ridge was definitely not the right path and we actually belong more in the wash which we could see in the distance to the north. Although we now realized we were definitely not on line and that to continue not a good option we now faced the prospect that the last section of the ascent had included climbing a section that in descent was much more difficult and has some serious exposure of about an 80 ft drop should we slip at the wrong point. We had no rope and while Nei was an experienced climber, I was a hiker not a climber and class 3 was really the extent of my prior knowledge. Nei openly expressed the concerns and dilemma and explained we really had two options: bad and worse. He calmly explained the risks and asked what I wanted to do. Mentally reviewing the the options, I definitely did not like the prospects of continuing up an increasingly difficult ridge line and a strong possibility our situation would just get worse and ultimately we might have no exit options and while I recognized that there was a big risk in the first 300 yards of descent we would face I felt that I had ascended it without problems by being careful so with coaching I felt I could tackle the descent. I let Nei know this and we agreed that was our better of two bad options. I give Nei a lot of credit for how he calmly dealt with this situation. He calmly expressed the options, walked me through the risks and then when the decision was made he took the lead and prepared the line by removing as many of the risks of loose rock, dirt from the holds and assessing and determining the safest line. When the line was ready, Nei slowly talked me through each foot hold and hand hold along the descent to the tree we would then regroup at for the next section. He had me hand him my camera bag so there would be nothing that might interfere or distract me on the descent and he talked me through each step of the way. He was masterful. Although I know the exposure was high and the risk significant, his line and foot and hand holds were exceptional and at no point did I feel I did not have a secure grip or at risk of slipping. Once I was to the tree, we worked our way around a large boulder and were back down to a manageable area of the mountain. As we looked back an hour or two later as when we finally had found the correct line and been on it a while, we realized that decision to change our game plan and come back down was the pivotal point of the day and probably was the decision that salvaged our summit and more importantly probably kept us from putting ourselves into a very serious situation that was beyond my experience set to recover from.

So once we had navigated out of the very sketchy part of our adventure and had traversed the ridge to our north we ultimately found what we knew to be one of the correct lines for attacking the mountain. The number and frequency of ducks increased and more and more we saw strong signs of a use trail having been beat into the mountain. When we found the main trail about 11 a.m, we talked and set a turn around time at 2 p.m. for safety as the descent would not be simple. After the rough morning, we both had nagging doubts in the back of our mind that our summit was at risk and that one more major side-track and we’d definitely lose our chance. So we vowed to stay to the was and if we found ourselves heading toward or along a ridge to stop and retrace quickly. It proved a good strategy for the rest of the ascent.

By about noon we found ourselves starting to hit patches of steeper climbs and the narrows began to narrow. The ascent through this area was beautiful with large colorful granite cliff faces and interesting wash features. At about noon we finally reached a point in the trail where we began to work more to the north up a small boulder field and to the section of the trail where the ascent would then turn east and head steeply up between to steep ridgeline into the slabs and ultimately Wall Street section of the hike. As we reached the bottom of the slabs, we stopped for a quick bite to recharge our batteries for a strong push to hopefully summit. We still had about a third of a mile to go but it would be through the steepest and most difficult sections of the trail and after our morning experience the summit still seemed in doubt. After our quick break, we loaded back up and made our push for the summit. The slabs section and the ascent through Wall Street proved challenging but very doable and we fairly quickly worked our way toward the section, after Wall Street we found ourselves back on a section of slabs which we navigate and we began to encounter snow patches which was a little concerning. At just short of 2 p.m., we suddenly found ourselves in a saddle with a view east opening up to the Sea of Cortez and desert below. Nei was about a minute ahead of me and he turned back and told me that he had the summit in sight and a couple minutes later at 1:50 p.m. the summit was ours.

What a beautiful 360 degree view from the summit of this aptly named mountain. We took about 15 minutes to take pictures, sign the register and enjoy the view. Unfortunately the previous summit visitors had not sealed the register tube well. The register was soaking wet. Although it will probably only last until the next climbers who will probably take it, I signed a 20 peso bill which should be somewhat water resistant to document our accomplishment. I did find one fairly dry page later and also signed the register but that might not survive either.

As is always the case, finding and holding the line back down the mountain proved much easier to do though of course it still was not an easy descent due to the terrain. As I was running very low on water, we did stop and collected some snow placing it in our water bladders and we’d need it. We worked our way back down the mountain at a steady pace. By the halfway point, my legs were beginning to tire as we descended. At this point, the ducks were fairly easy to follow so our nemesis was going to be darkness. Since we’d lost a couple hours in the morning and didn’t summit until 2 p.m. we only had about four and a half hours of light. We pushed on and found the point we had intersected the real trail earlier in the day and lo and behold a clearly marked descent line continued and as we worked out of the very rocky sections a very clearly worn and used use trail developed. Wow, if only we had found and used this path on the way up. This use trail really proved to be a blessing as we were able to push on fairly quickly in our final descent and finally found ourselves emerging from the end of the trail DIRECTLY into our campsite at Campo Noche 6:08 p.m. ) I don’t mean right by it or a short distance away but literally all we had to due was step directly our of our campsite onto the trail had we realized it was there) What a day and adventure during those 11 hours on the mountain. Although we had started a fire the first night, both of us were tired and we ate our dinner and called it a night very early.

Sunday morning we again were up early with the understanding that we had a long backpack back out of the canyon to the saddle facing us Sunday and anticipating a 10 hour hike and then a 240 mile drive back to the US ahead of us. I needed to take a bio-break before we began the day so grabbed my supplies and went to take care of business. As luck would have it, while I was off the resident ring-tailed cat we had read about must have thought they was an indication the camp would be empty and see what we had left for him as a treat. Nei remained in camp and saw the little devil at work. He grabbed my camera but unfortunately in our descent at dusk I had set the camera to no-flash and all the shots came out very blurry. At breakfast we formulated a strategy which Nei had suggested the day before as we had looked back at Botella Azul from the summit of Picacho and decided that we would try to stay to the east side of the traverse as long as we could on the ascent to try to minimize the amount of snow we would encounter on the traverse. At least we can confirm that the ring-tail cat remains at camp and Nei got the live experience with him. With luck we felt maybe would even find a fairly snow free path all the way to the summit of Botella Azul and perhaps avoid a snowy traverse altogether. It was a good plan. we broke camp and began our ascent out of Campo Noche at 7:30.

Again as we we reached Gorin’s Gulch and began our ascent we came across what proved to be the real optimal line of descent/ascent from the bottom of Canyon del Diablo to the saddle. Although it was a very strenuous ascent, we found a line that had much shorter and less frequent boulder scrambles and over all the path marked by the ducks was easy to follow and work our way up the ridge line. The two days of previous hiking and climbing were definitely taking their toll on my legs and energy and I’m sure Nei was questioning if my stamina was going to hold up. Well I was slow and steady and it ultimately did. We did encounter on draw where the only line of ascent without a major backtrack was a somewhat difficult climb move for me. Nei had worked it out relatively quickly and determined there was a seam above our head that could be used for a secure handhold as we traversed the shelve. The only problem was by then my arms and legs were very tired and I just could muster the energy to hoist myself. Again Nei showed tremendous patience with me and he let me think it through and develop a plan. He broke off a pine branch to offer help and a little leverage and between the two of us 10 minutes later I had found a way up and across the feature and continued up.

The earlier morning strategy did prove to be a good one. We were able to work all the way up to the eastern saddle of Botella Azul and much higher up than we had traversed on Friday. There was snow but it was much shallower and there was much more rock to work up. Then we hit the saddle and looking up realized that we would not fully get the advantage of the sun as it would be just to steep to get all the way to the summit from the west side. However, as we made the traverse, the snow was shallower and at the higher elevation we encountered a lot of small aspen which we could use for support as we crossed. At 12:40 we reached the Botella Azul western saddle and began the final push on the plateau back to the car. At one point we again found ourselves wandering off the line of the way points on the gps as we followed ducks up a wash and found ourselves on the side of Scout Peak with a steep descent facing us. After consulting the GPS and realizing again we were about 2/10th a mile off track we cross country hiked and found a clear use trail which we successfully followed all the way back to the trail head. If only we’d found this coming in what a time saver that would have been. It is always like that. A couple final highlights on that final push included stumbling upon the bones of a large hoofed beast. Probably a cow based upon the size of the jaw but we are not positive. Finally about a half mile from the trail head we encountered a lone coyote who stopped to check us out. A great way to finish the hike. We hit the trail head at 3:30 p.m. Changed into fresh clothes and packed the gear and hit the road for the drive home.

We hit T.J. at about 9:30 p.m. and after a getting in the wrong lane and having to refind the right place to get in line we ultimately did and after a little over an hour wait crossed through the San Ysidro Border Crossing back into San Diego. By about 11:30 we were back at Nei’s for a quck good-bye and then my drive home. An incredible trip accompanied by a good friend and fellow hiker. A memory I will not forget.

Doug

Summary statistics for the hike approximate the following though we probably had a little more mileage as we got off track a few times along the way:

Day 1 – Trail head to Blue Bottle Saddle: 4.5 miles, 1300 feet gain and Botella Azul Saddle to Campo Noche: 1.75 miles, 3080 feet loss

Day 2 – Campo Noche to Picacho del Diablo summit and back : 3.0 miles, 3850 feet gain, 3850 loss

Day 3 – Campo Noched to Botella Azul saddle and back to the trail head: 6.25 miles, 3080 feet gain, 1300 feet loss

Total gain and loss both ways: 8,200+ feet Total Distance 15.5+ miles

https://outdoorsphotography.wordpress.c ... iew_id=592

[Cy Kaicener]

Thannks for a great trip report and super pictures on your personal blog. I was there a long time ago with the Sierra Club.
I cant find the trip report but here is a more recent one -- http://www.summitpost.org/picacho-del-diablo/925851

[Ed]

Sounds like this was a west-side trip from San Pedro Martir National Park?

It took me two trips to do Big Picacho. The first was a west-side 1974 Sierra Club trip led by Paul Lipsohn. I reviewed the trip report on the Desert Peaks Section website, and Paul made it sound a little smoother than it was. It was unexplored territory for everybody, including Paul, an adventurous and optimistic type, who I think was relying mainly on looking west from the summit on an earlier east-side trip and some Mexican maps. Perhaps we could have made it with another day, but we had a water problem. Could not find a source of water, had to melt snow, but few of us had the fuel to do that for long.

The second time we took no chances, signed up for an east-side trip led by John Robinson, who was El Senor del Big Picacho at the time, he knew the mountain like nobody else. Went as smoothly as that route can, except one person fell on the way down, and had to be carried for a while. Better than an earlier trip by John when, according to SC legend, someone died of a heart attack, and they buried him on the mountain, rather pack him down and show up at the border with a body in the car. (Sierra Club trips were more free-wheeling and less bureaucratic in those days.)

[Ed]

Here is a good description of both the east-side and west-side approaches to Big Picacho, plus some history, and references for Jerry Schad's map and John Robinson's book:

http://www.dankat.com/swhikes/devil.htm

And regarding some earlier discussions of ducks on another thread on this discussion board, here is a quote from that write-up of a route where you can't afford to go wrong:

Worse still, there are ducked trails that go off in what are clearly wrong directions.

Hopefully, clearly wrong.