Hike Easy Bake Peak and Lower Whipple Wash Whipple Mountains BLM, CA

Dec 10, 2022 — This route links together the peaks at the mouth of Whipple Wash in the eastern Whipple Mountains. The route includes some of the most fun summit scrambles in the area. Whipple Wash is a major drainage coming from the southwest that helped form some absolutely amazing volcanic peaks around it, those on this hike being the final cluster before Whipple Wash drains into the Colorado River. Despite being very close to one another these peaks take a remarkable amount of work to hike, vertical elevation racking up much more quickly than miles.

A couple of years ago Matt and I hiked Whippled Cream Peak (Peak 1860) via a short and ultra-fun Class 3 scramble, a phenomenal route found by Bob Burd. The name was inspired by the Whipple Mountains and the general "dessert"-theme of peak names in the area that more than a few fellow peakbaggers seem to be playing with, resulting in names like "Scone Peak" and "Muffin Peak". After doing Whippled Cream Peak on that day I became infatuated with the idea of looking for a route up the peak's north side which seemed doable on maps, so I returned on my own to locate one. Unfortunately it's a lot less fun than the eastern route, but it allowed me to form a loop with the nearby summits. This trip report has a combination of photos from my day out with Matt (April 20, 2020) and my solo endeavor today. Since I'd already taken photos with Matt on Whippled Cream Peak and Easy Bake Peak (two peaks on this route), I figured I'd just recycle those for this trip report to save myself some time writing this up.

Matt and I set out from the side of Trail End Camp Road, accessible by any vehicle (though passenger vehicles may need to be slower). We headed up the eastern slope to the base of Whippled Cream Peak's incredibly steep volcanic face. A route looks impossible from here. It's very tempting to start ascending immediately, but hugging the face allowed us to wrap around the cliff base and locate a gully that seems to just materialize, previously hidden by the black rock. Some Class 2 steep stuff led diagonally up to a wide, sloped ledge. We followed the ledge until the terrain became more reasonable on the left, and made a hairpin turn, now heading south. Some Class 2+ moves with some brushiness brought us to a very cool slickrock slab with a Class 3+ move required to pull a lip at the top of the slab. From the top of the lip, we continued northwest along another wide, sloped ledge, where we were forced to drop a few feet and then continue ascending to the north side of Whippled Cream Peak's northern summit ridge. Once on the ridgeline, a Class 2 rocky outcropping kept the ridge interesting, but the route-finding was pretty much over as we continued south to the summit.

From the summit of Whippled Cream Peak, it was time to try the northern slope, the route characterized by a wide gully reaching from the peak's ridgeline down into Whipple Wash below. I followed the ridgeline until it became cliffy, so I kept to the right of the crest instead, pulling a few Class 2/2+ moves here and there. A sheer wall popped in on my left at the head of the major gully, so I became doubtful there would be a way down, though I pressed on. I descended from the ridgeline via a slope toward the gully below and picked my way down a Class 2 zig-zag past an arch and safely below using a ramp. Now within the gully, it was just a Class 2 descent on sometimes loose terrain, but mostly just typical desert ground with embedded boulders. I actually couldn't believe the route went and I can't imagine there's another option from this direction.

At the base of Whippled Cream Peak, I was now in Whipple Wash where I could head toward Peak 1540, a much more tame endeavor than the other peaks on this route. To reach this summit I headed up a minor drainage on the southeast side of the peak and used a burro trail to reach its wide slope. After using a short section of old mining trail remains, I passed over a buried mine shaft and then just ascended the Class 2 slope up to the summit. The views were really nice here, especially toward Easy Bake Peak (coming next) and Whippled Cream Peak.

Next up was Easy Bake Peak, though the photos below are from when I did it with Matt a few years ago. On that very much too hot day to be in the low desert, Matt and I decided we wanted to get this little add-on. After all, the eastern Whipple Mountains are comprised of such impressively cool little craggy peaks that we couldn't help ourselves. We gawked at the caves embedded within the impressive walls on either side of Whipple Wash, and were happy to splash ourselves with the trickle of flowing water coming through. We dubbed this peak Easy Bake Peak, sticking with the "dessert" theme of the area and also because we were near death from overheating.

We searched for options to ascend Easy Bake Peak from within Whipple Wash, locating a viable Class 2 boulder-hoppy option using a slope that led toward the ridgeline above. Our general route would stay just to the right of the ridgeline and it definitely required some fun, finicky route-finding. A few hundred feet of scrambling brought us to the ridgeline, where a sketchy-looking cliff prevented us from following the crest. An interesting overhung feature with water stain streaks beckoned us toward it, and we headed along its path-like ledge beneath the overhang. We continued to hug the cliff face as we ascended on Class 2 terrain. I recommend staying as close to the cliffs as possible to keep the route doable since meandering too far to the right would likely require some hardy moves. After a few hundred feet of Class 2 scrambling we got to a pretty arch tucked away along the ridge, and we hung out next to it in the shade to prevent ourselves from dying from the heat. An interesting little bit of Class 2+ kept us along the cliff base, then wrapped around the right side of an otherwise sketchy scramble and safely to the summit ridgeline. The surrounding views were immediately incredible, and some Class 2 scrambling brought us to the summit. Someone else had left a massive cairn and an old shirt, but there wasn't a summit register. I wonder if they took the same route we did? The peak seemed well-guarded from all other directions. We descended after taking in the views and convincing ourselves we shouldn't do more peaks or we'd die, despite the many possible options we had on the Whipple Mountains peaklets surrounding us. Hence why I returned another day to get the final peak in this area, Peak 1260.

Peak 1260 is nestled between Whippled Cream Peak and Easy Bake Peak, but the route I ended up using (another by Bob Burd) led up from the northwest, out from within Whipple Wash. A gully above seemed like the likeliest candidate to acces the summit, but it's inaccessible due to a cliff at its base. However, a Class 2 slope farther down the wash led up to a ledge created by an eroded overhang, where I was able to wrap around horizontally into the gully. Class 2/2+ brought me a few hundred feet up this steep gully to the western ridge of Peak 1260. A Class 3 move continued along the ridge, but just before the summit is a false peak with a cliff on its opposite side. I wrapped around this unexpected obstacle on the right and reached the final bit to the summit, a Class 3+ crack and then some light scrambling. I backtracked from Peak 1260 and headed through Whipple wash back to the dirt road, taking the road back to my car.