The Island - PAH BM

A couple of weeks ago when the temperatures in Ocotillo were hovering around 108 degrees Tom and I set out to try and find the PAH BM which lies on one of the final bumps of the north end of The Island....or so we thought. I was using a link from Peakbagger and CalTopo maps to locate the BM but they are not correct on those maps and Tom and I found out the hard and Hot way that afternoon.

We met up at Millers Garage and took the old highway until it turned into the sandy wash road which would cross under 2 bridges until the road ended at our steep rocky climb up.









At a flat open sandy spot near the top Tom was looking for rock art while I was checking out the view







At the top of peak 1740 we looked around for the PAH BM for about an hour and finally conceded it wasn't there, we must be looking in the wrong place. We found some shade and rested a bit, my thermometer in the shade showed 107.6. While we were discussing where the BM could possibly be my radio caught a SURCOM dispatcher call in a downed motorcycle 5 miles east of Ocotillo Wells and then changed it to 5 miles east of the Border Patrol, Tom says "that would make it in the Salton Sea"....well the rest of the dispatch was kinda funny



It was hot and we called it a day and headed back home empty handed except for the one mylar balloon we found, a Mothers Day left over.

With Tom's help I found the correct listing on the USGS site for the PAH BM and this last weekend I tried again to find it, in another 107 degree day.



I think I finally found a BM that the Monday Manics have not visited..!!





There are some great views of Ocotillo and the windfarm...and a Turkey Vulture flew into view and buzzed close enough I could take a photo with my phone







I decided to try a selfie of me blending in with the desert environment



Driving home I noticed it looked like they finally replaced the Old Highway Cafe sign in Ocotillo

--Original sign


--New sign



Total Mylar Balloons for both trips - 2


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