Hike Central Whipple Mountains from Copper Basin Whipple Mountains BLM, CA

Feb 17, 2021 — This route hits a few of the very rarely visited peaks in the heart of the Whipple Mountains, likely best accessed via Copper Basin. You might be able to get to this remote area via Whipple Wash from the north to avoid the long drive, but I haven't checked out the cliffs from that direction. We knew we could make it to the most prominent peak of the group, Peak 3012, by using a combination of routes from Bob Burd and Adam Walker, and getting there would facilitate playing around on the higher terrain to access a couple of other peaks.

Whiley and I made our way along the sandy (4WD likely required) and mid-clearance-required Bowmans Wash Road, the public access road into Copper Basin. Note that if you're passing over Parker Dam, it closes at certain hours, so make sure to check before driving out late at night or super early in the morning. From our parking spot (just a small pull-off), we headed toward the sheer cliffs of Peak 3012. Bob Burd reported going up a scary direct route that we had no intention of trying, instead following the base of the cliffs. This required a lot of side-hilling on Class 2, with the occasional catclaw to keep us on our toes. The views were nice as we progressed beneath the cliffs, but this took longer than expected. There were a couple of sections of big boulders to navigate around, a few mellow ups and downs, and the occasional cliff that needed working around (max Class 2+). We vowed to attempt a descent later on using Adam's approach, which used the canyon below, but more on that later. Ultimately though, both routes were fine, and neither particularly more efficient than the other.

The cliff base route led up to higher ground, where the rocky terrain gave way to a grassy tundra-like landscape that shaped a bowl-like formation separating Peak 1312 and Peak 2922. We would return for Peak 2922 at the end of our loop. First, we started up to Peak 1312, navigating a bit of easy brush and finding ourselves on the mellow slope leading to the summit. The views toward Copper Mountain were delightful, and the cliffs of the peaks to the south had us longing to make more time to check them out.

We headed northwest along the ridgeline from Peak 1312, Peak 2892 the next on our agenda. We had no idea what to expect for this route, since the peak was so far away and the craggy nature of the eastern Whipples could mean we'd get cliffed out at any point. We were most concerned about the first mile, where the black cliffs seemed a bit ominous. However, aside from a lightly exposed Class 2 ridge and a couple of rock outcrops we had to avoid on the right, we encountered no serious obstacles. Toward the end of the ridge, we learned we actually weren't even close to Peak 1312, despite already spending a bit of time enjoying the traverse. We could see it farther away, requiring a few hundred feet of dropping down on a mellow and grassy slope before we could start ascending to the summit. Whiley and I agreed that this section was reminscent of Colorado ridgelines, but maybe we're just excited for summer. Regardless, this was a unique and beautiful area with some gorgeous desert views. We really didn't feel like we were in the Mojave Desert, and enjoyed the intensifying wind as we strolled through the "tundra".

The ascent toward Peak 2892 meant leaving the grassy slopes and scrambling on fun Class 2/2+ black boulders and volcanic obstacles until we made it to the east ridge of the peak. This also introduced some incredible views down into Whipple Wash, as well as expansive views back toward the way we came. It was really a delightful area. There was a short Class 3 down climb along the ridge, a few hundred feet before the summit. A small cliff blocked us from staying on the ridge crest, and this down climb was accessed with some minor route-finding on the right. The last leg of the ascent to Peak 2892 was Class 2 and fun.

We backtracked down to the "tundra" area, but didn't re-ascend to the ridge, instead working our way east toward Peak 2922 in order to avoid unnecessary elevation gain. The terrain here is pleasant and sweeping, and we soon found ourselves at the base of Peak 2922. We encountered some Class 2 and sections of relatively steep slope, and quickly found our way to its summit. More Class 2 led down to the initial bowl-like formation we entered earlier before going up to Peak 3012. Here was where we decided to head down the main drainage rather than backtrack along the base of the cliffs like we had on our ascent.

The canyon was fairly slow-moving, lots of Class 2 boulders and occasional brushy obstacles preventing a quick descent. We also encountered a dryfall that we initially thought would force us to turn back, but a Class 3 smaller dryfall led us safely down. A couple more Class 2/3 dryfalls and some boulder obstacles continued down the canyon, but it was pretty and a nice alternative to our ascent. A final dryfall obstacle appeared after the canyon widened into a wash, and we avoided it on the left. Soon after, we decided to hoof it through the foothills to make it back to our car since the wash was about to start pushing us the wrong direction. The foothills required a couple hundred feet of elevation gain, but we were able to keep the ups-and-downs to a minimum by choosing a good route and sticking to higher ground.