Very obvious, this one, from the town of Loreto, only nine air miles and 3500' higher. Many of the streets, looking down them, are laid out so as to have it as a backdrop (nice touch!). So it seems an obvious first choice for a mountain trip here and with the road now paved, even more so. Suitable for someone with route finding and scrambling experience.
How to climb it. Find the road to San Javier about a mile south of town on the carretera. Go 10 miles to Las Parras (an olive ranch) then back up 200 meters, back towards Loreto, to a turnout (1421'/433m). From the east end, start in the gully that's on the other side of the road then climb out of it to flatter ground. The best, most brush free route goes up to a little rock outcrop (15min), left onto a slope below the ridgeline, up a minor gully to the left of grey, steeper rock, then angles right to the base of the climb (50min). Now look for some obvious, right trending lines and a cairn at the top of one of them, the most southerly. From here work up along the ridge, first somewhat right and then more and more left beginning from under a blank spot. Take care on the descent to stay on the route - everything else ends in cliffs!
Why are you making me go this way?? There are of course other routes, but they're all harder! Of the more obvious, one goes up the gully that this one started out in, all the way up to the notch between the big gendarme on the west side and the summit, then up. This gully though has a lot of problems and the west side is steep. Another goes up the backside (a long way from the road) where the route finding is easier and the terrain less steep, the likely first ascent route, and likely approached through the ranch lands to the north.
Carl Dreisbach
from a trip in Nov. 2011
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