Turtle Mountains, Mopah Point

27-Mar-82

By: Gene Olsen

14 of us met Saturday at 7:00 a.m. for the shuttle to the Turtle road-head. The place we stayed Friday night was a nice area about 7.0 miles north of Highway 62. The dirt road north is .6 miles east of the railroad crossing at Grommet. There is a VCR (Parker) just south of Grommet on a black top road. We drove .6 miles north from our campsite to the junction on the right. The cairn is in place. The road was easily driveable in my van and from the junction we went 5.9 miles to the road end.

Hike the wash till it crests and take the next wash down, staying low to avoid gullys. We mounted the ridge just south of the summit. All were on top by 11:00. One of our party had been here a number of times years ago. He stated that there was a road that went up the valley to a point west of Castle Rock. We checked on the way out and sure enough, the turn-off was there. This could be an easier way to go in. See map.

We then all proceeded to the Mopah roadhead after a re-supply at Vidal junction. Had a nice happy hour, a great dinner, and a superb fire! The weather was beautiful. The next morning we left at 8:00 for Mopah. Ted had a bad cold so Norm Rohn took over as assistant. Thanks Norm. All were at the summit by 11:30. A little windy on top. Back at the cars at 2:00 p.m. for an early drive home. Some of the group stopped at Dino's on the way back.