Argus Crest Anyone?

[wbdeford]

Anyone hiked up the Argus range to the crest (Maturango, Parrot, and/or Parkinson)? 

Hoping to do that on a relatively near-future trip and looking to plan a route.

Thanks!

[Candace66]

Bob Burd posted a detailed report covering his hike of all three: https://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_reports...ngo_2.html


You can also check Peakbagger.com for more reports.

[wbdeford]

Bob Burd posted a detailed report covering his hike of all three: https://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_reports...ngo_2.html


You can also check Peakbagger.com for more reports.

Thanks, Candace!

[DAW89446]

Not having a map handy at the moment, at what point does one enter the China Lake Naval Weapons Center? I was thinking that in the southern part of the range it is the crest, but farther north it comes over to the east side.

EDIT: This from Summit Post .org: Maturango Peak is the highpoint of the Argus Mountains. This rugged Mojave Desert peak rises over 7,000' above the west side of the Panamint Valley. However, despite its impressive stature, Maturango Peak is somewhat of an unknown mountain. This is almost certainly due to the fact that the peak lies within the boundary of the China Lake Naval Weapons Station. Also, there are no maintained trails, roads, or campgrounds in the Argus Mountains. As a result of all these factors, it appears that few people ever venture out into this area. Other high peaks in the range include the 8,744' Parkinson Peak, and the 8,378' Parrot Point. Both of these peaks are situated just south of Maturango Peak, and are also located inside the military reservation.

https://www.summitpost.org/maturango-peak/203576

[DVexile]

There used to be a peak log on Maturango. Sometime in the very late 90’s or early 00’s I know the China Lake police removed it though I have no idea what if anything they did with the entries. For the record the police did not climb the peak, they arrived via helicopter…

I know prior to 2001 there was little in the way of permitter fencing or marking. The base got a lot of funding to build more but I haven’t the foggiest what they might have done on the east side there.

[Candace66]

Yes, those peaks are on China Lake property.  That's why Maturango Peak (along with Argus Peak) was suspended from the DPS List.  But it appears plenty of people are poaching them.  I'm not advocating that, however.  

Too bad we can't use this much shorter route to climb Maturango Peak from the road south of Darwin:  1946 trip report