DWTH Day 25: Whipple Wash

Tuesday, Feb 25th 2025, 0800-1740
Outside Parker mm2 to Whipple Wash mm22,  Section 6
23 miles.

My watch and phone were on different time zones in the morning, so not trusting either, I started the day a little late. California is one hour behind Arizona…but only for another few weeks when DST takes effect. Then they will both be on the same time, since AZ doesn’t observe DST.

It was also just really hard to say goodbye to Alan and resume my lonely journey. I was very eager to get back on trail, just also apprehensive about the lack of water and the heat going into the Mojave. I knew the upcoming section was the longest and most difficult of the route. The forecast called for above normal temperatures all week, topping out in the high 80s. This was at least a little better than a forecast I saw a few days before, where temps were soaring above 90. On top of all this, I woke with a pretty bad migraine. Ugh.

I had coffee with Alan and then he had to take off, back towards Los Angeles. We both looked forward to the possibility of some summer hiking…perhaps the Sierra High Route. Luckily my current route was just a road walk for many miles, into the rugged Whipple mountains. I suffered through, waiting a long time for my migraine medicine to kick in and knock down the stabbing pain in my head. I’ve learned to be pretty functional even with a migraine, but this was a particularly bad one. I didn’t even drink alcohol the day before, so I’m not sure why it was so bad.

At least I was distracted by the scenery. Two geologic layers seemed to be at odds with one another, having an epic battle to see who would come out on top. A volcanic fissure seemed to have just opened at some point, spewing lava rock in quantities so massive, mountains formed. But not so much like the single point cone of a volcano. It was more like a fault line. Dramatic reddish monoliths stood as walls and sharp pinnacles all around. There was also a lot of mining activity. There were several shafts I could have walked right into, but I don’t really care for that kind of thing. One of them had a chair inside. I thought about taking a break from the heat but didn’t.

The series of roads ended, and I walked cross country and in a feeder wash to make it to the main Whipple Wash just after noon. There I needed to take a detour in the opposite direction, down the wash, to retrieve my 2 gallons of cached water. But first I took a long lunch break in the shade of a giant volcanic boulder. My thermometer was reading 84 degrees in the shade! I was not looking forward to going back out into the heat to fetch my water, but at least I piled all my other gear under the rock…no need to carry it for the detour. I set off with my empty backpack, which felt great

The distance wasn’t as far as the notes said…1.35 miles to where I left the jugs as opposed to 2 miles. But I also walked them up the canyon a bit away from the road. The total came to 2.7 miles RT and it took me about 1.5 hours. This was in the peak heat of the day…it was 89 degrees under the shade of my umbrella. I wouldn’t have enjoyed the section coming up much during this time anyway, so the detour actually wasn’t a bad thing. This way I was sure I would have water. On a normal year, the Whipple wash has large pools and sometimes is even flowing. But the last water report was from February 14th, noting some small pools that were likely to dry up before I got to them.

I took another long break under the rock once I got back, using the time and water to make my dinner. Hiking in the desert sometimes involves a lot of strategy to maximize the time in the morning and the late evening. My planning worked out perfectly. Just as I started up the canyon, the sun dipped behind the wall and suddenly the conditions were quite amiable. I was so glad I waited because there were a lot of laborious small scrambles over boulders in the canyon. I’d been a little concerned about this stretch, but the scrambling was well within the scope of my past experiences. It was actually even easier than I expected. I took off my pack once or twice to facilitate some step-ups of 5′ or so, but that was as technical as it got.

Miraculously, I did find a few small pools of water in the canyon. A couple of them actually looked quite decent, and I probably could have collected the water easily enough. But you never know when that water is alkaline or salty. Certainly, it was tainted by a lot of burro piss and poop. I was still glad for my water cache, as it meant that this water could all go to the wildlife that so desperately needed it.

I hiked for another hour and a half up the canyon as the sun set. It was really great. Unfortunately I missed seeing the last saguaro cactus along the route, oh well. It was supposedly up on a ridge somewhere. They pretty much stop at the border with the Colorado River. I did see lots of evidence of burros, but no live ones. A few didn’t make it and a few had dug holes to get to the water in the wash. They can smell the water and dig to it… another handy skill that might be useful to our corrupt government. They can put the burros to work as miners, extracting stuff to make Tesla Trucks that are being sold to the government at inflated rates, for no apparent reason at all, and no use at all.

I found a good spot to set up camp in the wash just as it was getting dark. I had a BIG day coming up, perhaps one of the most difficult stretches up and over the Whipple ridges. Exciting!