Story of missing hiker in Joshua Tree NP

[Hikin_Jim]

That's a pretty substantial hike and I salute you. Or feel sorry, one or the other.

Yeah, hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew. I don't want to be in such a rush that I don't have time to investigate things. I've also considered just coming in from Lower Covington, taking the CR&HT to the Sierra Club HPS Route 3 jump off point, ascending Quail via HPS#3, and then going to Smith Water. Juniper Flats just gives me a place where I can spend the night in the backcountry. Dunno where I'd spend my first night if I go out of Lower Covington. Never been up La Contenta before.

Bring lots of water. I was out poking around Covington Flats yesterday and it was hot. Also, I don't know if you were thinking of getting water at Smith Water, but if you were be advised the water is roughly in the middle of the canyon, just westerly of the odor location. It would be a hard detour and uphill in sand on the way out. And it's not great water, but it IS water.

It's a long way along the ridge to Smith Water, but you can bail out anytime you want to the west to the trail below.

I've read multiple trip reports about Smith Water. I think I know where there will be water. In this satellite photo, I've identified several points:
A - Some interesting rocks with quartz veins. These are frequently seen in photos of Smith Water that I've come across.
B - An area of greenery. I think water can be found here
C - The falls/dry fall area based on what I can see
D - Vicinity of suspicious odor

Your comment that the water is westerly of the odor seems to corroborate my suspicion of where the water is.

When you say "not great water" do you mean quantity? Quality? As long as I can get a little sierra cup in it, I can scoop and then filter it through a bandana, so hopefully I'll be all right. I am considering carrying 6 to 8 liters to start. 8 liters is of course 16+ pounds. That should be "fun."

Thanks for the reminder of a bail out to the CR&HT to the west. The weather is supposed to improve on Friday. We'll see.

I'm interested in what can be seen of Smith Water from above, particularly well in advance. If that greenery can be seen from above from some distance, it may have influenced Bill's putative route. Dunno. I'm probably just going out for a walk, but who knows?

Fresh eyes on a scene are always good. I'll be interested to hear your impressions.

I'll report back hopefully on Monday.

HJ

[OtherHand]

Yeah, hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew. I don't want to be in such a rush that I don't have time to investigate things. I've also considered just coming in from Lower Covington, taking the CR&HT to the Sierra Club HPS Route 3 jump off point, ascending Quail via HPS#3, and then going to Smith Water. Juniper Flats just gives me a place where I can spend the night in the backcountry. Dunno where I'd spend my first night if I go out of Lower Covington. Never been up La Contenta before.

The crux of your plan is the traverse from the Quail Ridge to above Smith Water, presumably with a full overnight pack and water and a descent into Smith Water. That's a trip. I don't know if you're a hiking pole person, but it's pole-worthy. I figure you're pretty adept, but there are a lot of places to get screwed up on the descent. Without a PLB/SPOT a twisted ankle becomes a survival situation. Oh yeah, and there's that Mountain Lion thing. But having been in there solo myself, I'm not one to try and dissuade anyone.

I've read multiple trip reports about Smith Water. I think I know where there will be water. In this satellite photo, I've identified several points:
A - Some interesting rocks with quartz veins. These are frequently seen in photos of Smith Water that I've come across.
B - An area of greenery. I think water can be found here
C - The falls/dry fall area based on what I can see
D - Vicinity of suspicious odor

Your comment that the water is westerly of the odor seems to corroborate my suspicion of where the water is.

The main water's at your point "B" and all that green crap is the meat eating bushes. They are calling your name. They are hungry. C is the dry waterfall, but there will likely be some scummy water ponded at its top also. Some reports say the dry waterfall is class 3, but I don't know. It's slick I never had too much trouble getting up it. But I was glad when it was over.

When you say "not great water" do you mean quantity? Quality? As long as I can get a little sierra cup in it, I can scoop and then filter it through a bandana, so hopefully I'll be all right. I am considering carrying 6 to 8 liters to start. 8 liters is of course 16+ pounds. That should be "fun."

Thanks for the reminder of a bail out to the CR&HT to the west. The weather is supposed to improve on Friday. We'll see.

There was adequate quantity of water in the green brush area but it wasn't flowing much and had serious algae bloom. As it's the only water for some distance, there's a lot of animal activity and probably contamination. Drinkable if pumped through a filter. Don't know what it tastes like and don't really want to know.

I'm interested in what can be seen of Smith Water from above, particularly well in advance. If that greenery can be seen from above from some distance, it may have influenced Bill's putative route. Dunno. I'm probably just going out for a walk, but who knows?

You can't really see the green areas until you're partway down into the canyon and committed to a route. It's very hard to traverse the southern slopes due to cliff faces and ravines running down. Once you pick a route down, there are a not a lot of options to change it.

I'll report back hopefully on Monday. HJ

Yeah, just be careful. You can always bail out westerly back to the Riding and Hiking Trail. You DON'T want ME looking for you.....

[Hikin_Jim]

The crux of your plan is the traverse from the Quail Ridge to above Smith Water, presumably with a full overnight pack and water and a descent into Smith Water. That's a trip. I don't know if you're a hiking pole person, but it's pole-worthy.

I figure I'll be packing a minimum 35 lbs to start which will lighten up as I drink water.

I am a trekking pole person. They're part of my shelter if nothing else, but I use them constantly on descents. From last Saturday:

I figure you're pretty adept, but there are a lot of places to get screwed up on the descent. Without a PLB/SPOT a twisted ankle becomes a survival situation. Oh yeah, and there's that Mountain Lion thing. But having been in there solo myself, I'm not one to try and dissuade anyone.

Yeah, I've got a PLB. Not too worried about Mt. Lions. In nearly 50 years of hiking, I've seen only one. Tense moment though to say the least.

The main water's at your point "B" and all that green crap is the meat eating bushes. They are calling your name. They are hungry. C is the dry waterfall, but there will likely be some scummy water ponded at its top also. Some reports say the dry waterfall is class 3, but I don't know. It's slick I never had too much trouble getting up it. But I was glad when it was over.

Thought so. Thanks for the confirmation.

You can't really see the green areas until you're partway down into the canyon and committed to a route. It's very hard to traverse the southern slopes due to cliff faces and ravines running down. Once you pick a route down, there are a not a lot of options to change it.

OK, thanks. Well, there goes another one of my pet theories.

Yeah, just be careful. You DON'T want ME looking for you...

You got that right.

Main question in my mind is if I can hit the top of Quail (where I've seen photos of people camping near the summit) if I leave Irvine at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon and drive straight to Lower Covington. Pretty tight.

HJ

[Hikin_Jim]

Main question in my mind is if I can hit the top of Quail (where I've seen photos of people camping near the summit) if I leave Irvine at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon and drive straight to Lower Covington. Pretty tight.

Enh. Just did the math in my head. If I leave Irvine at 2:00, the earliest I can get on the trail is about 5:00. That gives me 3 hours of daylight to get 5 miles to the top of Quail including a couple of miles of XC with a full overnight pack. Probably ain't going to happen.

Better plan would be to camp in Lower Covington and hit HPS Route 3 at first light (about 0500).

Any decent camp sites around point "A" on this map?

HJ

[thatoneguy]

In addition to the searched area on the main map you could include the area from the Edward Rosenthal search which was not to long after the search for bill.

[OtherHand]

If I leave Irvine at 2:00, the earliest I can get on the trail is about 5:00. That gives me 3 hours of daylight to get 5 miles to the top of Quail including a couple of miles of XC with a full overnight pack. Probably ain't going to happen.

Irvine to the Covington trailhead, with no traffic, is almost exactly 2 hours. Make sure you understand the La Contenta route in. There's a point in the residential area before you get into the park where the road turns right and you need to stay left. The road is great once inside the park.

Any decent camp sites around point "A" on this map?

I passed through Point A on the ascent for my JT34 trip. It's a nice sandy wash, decent sized. I ascended the slope on its south. Another spot I've seen people camping is exactly 1/2 mile west of your point A. There's a lot of large rock outcrops adjacent to the trail. Looked like a nice site. Or, if you have the time and can make the ascent to just the ridge, the saddle exactly 1/2 mile east of your Point A is flat and good for camping (if it's not windy). Killer view and good cell phone coverage if you want to call for pizza. Leave your gear and bag the peak, then return to your camp and decide where you want to go depending upon conditions.

If you get to the peak and see aircraft parts, it's from this 1999 double crash:
http://dms.ntsb.gov/aviation/AccidentRe ... 120000.pdf

This plan gives you a lot more room for contingencies than doing it from Juniper Flats and you will likely not die. But you will discover the hike back out to the trailhead is uphill and very annoying.

[thatoneguy]

I would be interested in seeing a map of open mines with in a 10 mile radius of his vehicle.

[OtherHand]

I would be interested in seeing a map of open mines with in a 10 mile radius of his vehicle.

The only one I know of is Lang Mine, which has since been covered. Searchers checked it several times by lowering a headlamp down. There's a mine just below Lang to the north a few hundred yards, but I don't know if it's a shaft.

The only other mine shafts are at Lost Horse, and I believe they are covered. That's it, there are no other mine shafts in this immediate area of the park.

[Hikin_Jim]

Well, shoot. It's not happening for me to get on the road by 1400 today. Rather than brave afternoon the eastbound traffic on the 91, I'm going to head out early in the morning. This hike to be powered by coffee.

I guess this has the advantage of me not having to slug around a pile of overnight gear, but I was kind of looking forward to waking up in J Tree. Sigh.

By the way, if you use Google maps to plot a route from Irvine, CA to the Lower Covington trailhead, be careful. Looks like they're routing you on a questionable little dirt road. I plan to come all the way down La Contenta Rd.

HJ

[OtherHand]

I was in the Covington area very early this morning and out by 11 AM to beat the heat. It was 85 at that time, but with a wind, so it didn't feel too bad. Did a very strange 6 mile trip that will become JT37 when I write it up. Nowhere near Smith Water. There's out of the box and then there's out of the room the box is in. The idea for this trip was more of the latter. Another one of my beautiful theories running into reality.

But I do believe this will have been my last Joshua Tree trip until it cools in the Fall (in the absence of any more beautiful theories).