Hike Wildcat Peak and Razorback Peak Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, NM

Oct 16, 2018 — My first attempt at Wildcat Peak was a failed one and returned about a year later (2019-11-17) with some new friends and we did Dingleberry Peak and then Wildcat Peak, tacking on Razorback Peak.

The road where we parked is in designated wilderness, so park where I marked the trailhead and just walk along the rocky road even if your car could make it. The road eventually leads to the Organ Mountains Modoc Mine, which we didn't take a detour to explore. The road will begin to cross over a gully before winding up the hills, but you should see a hump begin to form on the left, locally called "Wholt's Welt" (described by R. L. Ingraham in his guide to the Organ Mountains). It's hard to find the social trail leading onto Wholt's Welt, but if you stay near the crest, you should pick up the well-cairned, though still cactus-filled, route up to the base of Wildcat Gully. From the top of Wholt's Welt, hug the cliff face to get into Wildcat Gully (don't enter the gully prematurely like I did on my first attempt or you'll be bushwhacking on all sorts of awful things)  My advice on ascending the gully from here is to keep left at any junctions with other potential side-gullies, staying within the rocky path where water would flow. Deviating from the watercourse resulted in awful bushwhacking, even though they initially seemed like they might work. Eventually, you'll get to a spot below a massive rock pinnacle feature called "The Swale", where you climb a short rock rib (easy Class 3). At the top of this rock rib, you can see another canyon/gully to the north of Wildcat Gully on the left, and Wildcat Gully continuing up on the right. Continue up Wildcat Gully.

On my first try, this is where I stopped because the rock was too wet to attempt the Class 3/4 stuff to the north to gain the summit. You'll notice my photos change below to show bright skies past this point. Anyway, there are really two routes to the summit as you near the top of Wildcat Gully. The first is a section of Class 3/4 just before reaching the saddle between Wildcat and Dingleberry on the ridge crest. This Class 3/4 route has good rock, but with particularly thoughtful moves. It will appear to be the only reasonable ascent out of Wildcat Gully since everything else is vertical-looking. The second option is to continue to the saddle of Wildcat and Dingleberry and drop down on the northeast side, then head up a Class 2 gully. The second option sucked. It was full of rude plants, but I'd recommended it as a descent route since the Class 3/4 ascent was a bit on the exposed side. Both options meet just east of Wildcat Peak's summit in a flatter area. From here, a Class 3 chockstone obstacle brought us up to just some Class 2/3 to the summit, and the views are absolutely wonderful.

From the summit of Wildcat Peak, Marta noted Razorback Peak just to the north, suggesting Kevin and I go for the 4th class summit. A Class 3 downclimb led to the saddle, and then a steep ramp led to the summit of Razorback Peak. It's a minor bump, but the Class 4 moves were really nice, though a bit too exposed for my taste. I had to take a few deep breaths while Kevin had no problems.