Spectre Peak 4482′, Aqua Benchmark 4419′ and Dyadic Point 4360′
Desert Peak Section- Joshua Tree National Park
Total Time: 7:30
Distance: 14.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 3800′
Crux: Class 3
Trailhead: Highway 62, no services
The first series of storms had brought cold and snow to the Sierra, and it was time to turn my attention from the alpine to the desert. I had a random stretch of 3 midweek days off, and with little hopes of finding a partner, decided for a mini solo trip to Joshua Tree, ticking off a few more DPS summits and getting in a little rock climbing. My goal for the first day was a climb of Spectre Peak, the highest summit of the Coxcomb Mountains on the northeast end of the park, a CA P2K and reportedly one of the better DPS summits in the area. The peak was often combined with two nearby summits, Aqua Benchmark and Dyadic Point, the latter with some solid third class scrambling. Staying in Tehachapi to split up the drive the night before, I finished the ride into Joshua Tree, continuing east on Highway 62 to the gated dirt road and approach to the climb. It was shortly after 8 AM as I started out, following the old dirt road as it angled south and slightly west to the mouth of the broad canyon splitting the Coxcomb Mountains.
The range was quite jagged, a collection of granite spires and jumbled boulders, and it was hard to pick out any of the peaks I’d be climbing from the wash below. As I approached the range, mounds of boulders near the mouth of the approach canyon pushed me a bit further west, ultimately angling back slightly east as I entered the canyon proper.
My plan was to utilize ‘DPS Route B’ on the ascent, climbing a side canyon directly north of Aqua BM, and descend via the standard ascent route after tagging Dyadic Point, making for a nice loop. It took me about an hour to reach the base of the side canyon, and I side hilled above the canyon floor, finding the cross country travel relatively easy in the Mojave compared to the brushier Sonoran Desert.
I gained elevation quickly, climbing another 1,100′ in under an hour to reach a high saddle to the north of Aqua BM. I was a bit disoriented at the saddle, not expecting to see a drop between me and the first summit of the day. But the drop was less than it initially appeared, and I followed another drainage up to the west ridge of Aqua BM, with some easy scrambling bringing me to my first summit shortly before 11 AM. Directly across the valley was my main objective for the day, Spectre Peak, with Dyadic Point to the south, the class 3 northwest ridge looking quite impressive and knife like from this angle.
I took a short break, then dropped off the summit directly aiming for Spectre Peak, dropping several hundred feet and immediately regaining it, reaching summit #2 in under 30 minutes from the summit of Aqua BM. I signed into the register and took another short break, the line to Dyadic being a bit less obvious with a series of rocky outcrops blocking a straight line to the summit.
I dropped off the summit to the east with a series of short class 3 drops to a shallow saddle below. Crossing a drainage to the north, I went up and over a rib of rock before ascending a slabby ramp leading to the west ridge of Dyadic Point. From this vantage point, the ridge looked far less knife like with a series of ramps on both sides that would keep things third class.
I spied the obvious chimney to gain the ridgeline, looking fairly vertical from across the gap. But a huge pillar of rock leaning inside the chimney made for easy scrambling, and I quickly gained the ridgeline proper.
I was able to briefly follow the ridge before needing to drop off and utilize the series of ramps on the south face to bring me up to the high point. The scrambling had been fun and engaging, and was certainly the most enjoyable of the three summits for the day.
It had taken just under an hour to cover the distance between Spectre Peak and Dyadic due the more complex terrain and trickier route finding, and I took another short break before descending by the same route. Once back down the chimney, I cut up and over a notch and descended a steep gully directly to the north, eventually intersecting the main gully running northeast, joining DPS Route A. This gully was fairly boulder choked and a bit tedious to follow until I dropped into the main wash splitting the terrain below.
I was initially disoriented in the lower wash, not realizing I needed to go up and over a shallow saddle to the northwest, but quickly finding a good use trail to put me back on track. I took one final break just before reaching the point where I left the wash on my ascent, putting me a solid 3 miles of relatively flat and sandy terrain to get back to the car.
I hit my car at around 3:45 PM, the outing taking just under 7.5 hours. From there I headed back towards Joshua Tree, stopping at the distillery and grabbing a bit to eat before checking into my hotel for the night.