2022-02-12, 08:15 PM
With respect to the Borax BM area... I first heard of it from Kauri. I don't recall if it was she or I who first hyped the Blue Mountain - we saw it on a gorgeous sunny day and were blown away. We tried to go down via 20 Mule Team following the base of Monte Bello and decided it was beyond us to go down the area circled in the above map. Plus it was late and we were not sure what we'd find below, or if we could climb back up. So we went back they way we had come.
If you take Kauri's route you need to go way back almost to the headwall, well beyond Monte Bello on your right. Then you turn right and go up drainages in the badlands. If you go too far left at the various forks, you climb higher than you need, but it is hard to pick the proper fork, and it gets rather steep at the end. But well worth it. I took photos of some of the forks on the way down, but when I went back a few years later (first time was 2012) I headed too far left as well.
I know John has gotten up from 20 Mule Team, but I also know that his scrambling ability exceeds mine significantly at this point.
If you take Kauri's route you need to go way back almost to the headwall, well beyond Monte Bello on your right. Then you turn right and go up drainages in the badlands. If you go too far left at the various forks, you climb higher than you need, but it is hard to pick the proper fork, and it gets rather steep at the end. But well worth it. I took photos of some of the forks on the way down, but when I went back a few years later (first time was 2012) I headed too far left as well.
I know John has gotten up from 20 Mule Team, but I also know that his scrambling ability exceeds mine significantly at this point.