2023-02-17, 09:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 2023-02-17, 09:31 PM by MojaveGeek.)
Little Corkscrew. From the saddle with Corkscrew, to get out to the Little Corkscrew ridge, there is a nice use trail on the right / west side of the ridge, which gets you past a steep bit of nastiness, and then out where you can easily gain the main ridge and take your pick of which point is the actual high point (I'm not sure). You have to look a bit to find the start of the trail - it actually drops a few 10s of feet from the saddle before contouring - but trust your instinct because it gets better. If you try to follow the ridge line it's pretty rough, and people I know who have traversed on the left / east side say it is passable but rugged; I thought it was pretty ugly and might not have gone all the way up had we not found the use trail on the west side.
From that saddle there is a good trail which angles down and south on the east side of the ridge, and passes through a little notch (very short class 3, otherwise class 1). From there you can turn left and work your way back around to the trail which you may have come up (as it is the most direct route to the main summit). OR, you can turn right, contour over to the spring area (lots of sheep evidence there) and then pick up a very clear trail going down (it's a bit hard to see in the midst of the spring vegetation, but then becomes quite clear). This will head down and also ends up being a pretty direct route to where you probably parked.
From the spring you could also go straight on a game trail for a long ridge walk and end up at the main wash near Hell's Gate - that's pretty long at that point, especially if you got there by first summitting Corkscrew.
When I first climbed Corkscrew there was a can of Bud in the register box. It's far from my favorite beer, but I will admit that it was not there when I left.
And thanks for pointing out Ron's list, John - it's much more manageable.
From that saddle there is a good trail which angles down and south on the east side of the ridge, and passes through a little notch (very short class 3, otherwise class 1). From there you can turn left and work your way back around to the trail which you may have come up (as it is the most direct route to the main summit). OR, you can turn right, contour over to the spring area (lots of sheep evidence there) and then pick up a very clear trail going down (it's a bit hard to see in the midst of the spring vegetation, but then becomes quite clear). This will head down and also ends up being a pretty direct route to where you probably parked.
From the spring you could also go straight on a game trail for a long ridge walk and end up at the main wash near Hell's Gate - that's pretty long at that point, especially if you got there by first summitting Corkscrew.
When I first climbed Corkscrew there was a can of Bud in the register box. It's far from my favorite beer, but I will admit that it was not there when I left.
And thanks for pointing out Ron's list, John - it's much more manageable.