Picacho del Diablo

  • Picacho del Diablo
  • 3095 m.
  • Primary factor: 2115 m
  • Baja California, Mexico
  • Location: North 30.99253, West 115.37531
  • Difficulty: (YDS) class 3
  • Climbed December 18, 2022.

Information:

How to get there:

Drive south from San Diego to the border at Tijuana, cross into Mexico and continue south on Hwy. 1. There are 3 toll stations on the road to Ensenada, 124 pesos in 2022. Continue south to location N30.9667, W116.1547, to the road serving the national park Sierra De San Pedro Martir. Driving time from San Diego to here should be about 4 hours, add time for the border crossing.
The drive from Hwy.1 to the park entrance is on a good paved road, allow about 2 hours. At the park entrance, you will need to register and pay a park fee per day and per person. This was 64 pesos in 2022. Note that the park road close at 1700 in the winter, it also may close when there is snow.
Continue to drive on the main park road to location N31.02252, W115.47421, where you turn sharp right onto a dirt road. This road requires high clearance and preferably 4WD. There is a sign saying Mirador shortly before this turn.
Drive this dirt road to location N30.99889 W115.44959, where it ends. There is a campground here. This is the trailhead, elevation about 2460 meter.
Route description:
The first part of this route is getting to Blue Bottle Pass, at location N30.97311 W115.39610, elevation about 2830 meter. There is a trail more or less all the way, however with several location where it is easy to loose it. It is highly recommended to download a GPX track for this route. A good one can be found on Peakbagger, That party used the guide Sofia, she has climbed this peak more than 100 times and knows the best route.
From this pass, you have a clear view of Picacho del Diablo across the (deep) valley. It is also quite normal to climb the peak Cerro Botella Azul, this is only a short side trip.
You arrive at the pass after an uphill section that culminates through a pretty close passage. From the pass, when facing Diablo, one should locate the trail that traverses right. This trail is quite visible and continues to traverse while also descending in order to get above the correct gully for the rest of the descent. The initial descent of about 300 vertical meter is pretty straightforward. However, the remaining 600 meter has rather complex terrain where the best route may be hard to spot. Several variants are marked with small cairns, however there are numerous decision points where no cairns can be seen. A general advice may be that if it looks too hard to proceed, there is most likely a bypass route to be found. As you descend lower down in this canyon, water will appear. There is still some more complex terrain, before you reach Campo Noche, a nice spot to camp at location N30.98789 W115.39517, elevation a bit below 1900 meter.
For most groups this is already a full day. One should camp here and prepare for the ascent next day with more of the same complex terrain…
The ascent from Campo Noche starts directly uphill from the campsite. Again, navigational skills are essential. A GPS track is still helpful even if the precise location may sometimes be a bit inaccurate due to reception in a canyon. Several canyons constitute the route of ascent, care is needed when canyons fork. At one point, you will see the terrain quite well and note that you should find and follow the more narrow canyon to the left as it runs pretty directly slightly to the right of the highest (north) summit.
The route has several short passages of class YDS-3, otherwise pretty complex terrain. After ascending some slabs of smooth rock (may also be avoided by staying more right), you finally enter a very distinct and pretty narrow gully with fairly vertical walls on both sides. This is called Wall Street. Higher up, there is a choke stone blocking progress. Fortunately, there is a straightforward YDS-3 bypass on the right hand side. Above this point, the gully continues for more height and distance until it tops out at the main crest just right (south) of the main summit. A final, easy scramble and the top is reached. The summit consists of a single, large rock. Just below the final step, you will locate a small suitcase containing the summit register.
What remains, is descending back down the same way, another overnight at Campo Noche, then a pretty strenuous ascent (with overnight gear) back up to the Blue Bottle Pass, before the final, easier stretch back down to the trailhead.
What other climbers have written:
The late Adam Helman wrote about this peak:

"As the reader may be aware, navigation is the key to success on this hellish peak. We barely made it given the available daylight and the one gallon of water we each carried. Then there is the hike out the day AFTER summit day with full packs up 3,000 vertical feet to the saddle near Blue Bottle Hill. What a haul that was too! This is one weird mountain - on all length scales there are obstacles to impede one's progress. That's why, for instance the Grand Teton has been scaled in 4 hours .... but the fastest attempt on Picacho is no less than 17 h 45 m! It is also why I liken this mountain to a fractal object - one which is self similar on all length scales. I have never climbed a mountain quite so strangely intricate in its topographic details. That is why navigation is key.... ... for if you get off-route there is ample opportunity to get cliffed out over most of the approach as well as on the climbing route itself."

Since then, The Grand Teton has been done round trip in less than 3 hours.

Summitpost has a pretty detailed description, a few lines repeated here:

It is said that on a clear day you can see both the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean from the summit. But reaching that point which affords such a view, requires some very serious effort. Those contemplating an ascent of Picacho del Diablo should be in peak physical condition and have years of experience with off-trail navigation. Failed attempts are common, as well as rescue operations and injuries. The park service takes this endeavor so serious that they may ask to photograph the tread pattern on the bottom of your boots. Think about that..
Picacho del Diablo is a peak of exposed granite riddled by a complex system of canyons and gullies, each densely choked with desert flora. The difficulty of this peak is not a sum of technical challenges. What makes it difficult is the sustained nature of tricky navigation in combination with incessantly rugged terrain. Furthermore, a steep descent of 3000 feet down into a deep canyon is required just to reach the base of the summit route which in itself gains 3850 feet. Lost elevation must be regained on the way out. Also keep in mind that the difficult sections of the route are inside the deep canyons and washes, so GPS devices may not function properly. Combine all those factors with 3 days worth of supplies and overnight gear and you can start to get the picture.


Comments / Trip report:
In 2018, I climbed the two other ultras on Baja, while travelling north with Adam Walker. There was no time for Diablo, also Adam had already climbed it back in 2014. I was attending a special program at IPAM/UCLA and knew that an opportunity to climb Diablo would come in 2020, when a return to IPAM was scheduled. The covid-19 pandemic changed all this, but finally in late December 2022, I returned to IPAM.
Michael wanted to join and this solved many different issues. I would be based at Lake Arrowhead, about 2 hours from LA. Michael would drive from the Bay Area and pick me up, then after the trip drop me near LAX for my return flight. We would be a team of 2, much preferable to a solo climb in such a rugged and remote region. I knew little of Michael before this trip. He turned out to be a perfect partner. A former Austrian national team member in orienteering as well as extensive experience with mountaineering in the Alps and in the Sierra Nevada, he had both endurance and good navigational skills, exactly what was needed for this peak. Being 15 years younger, he could move considerably faster, I will always remain grateful for his patience adjusting to the slower team speed.
Thus the trip was planned as a 5 day expedition, 2 days of driving and 3 days to ascend the peak and return to the trailhead.
Michael came to Lake Arrowhead Thursday evening and we planned for an early departure Friday morning. We were on our way shortly before daylight. The stop at the border should be routine, Michael knew that a visit less than 7 days should be free of charge. The Mexican officer asked for proof, like a limited hotel reservation, otherwise he insisted that we pay for a possible longer visit. Staying in a tent did not quite convince him. I then came up with the idea to show him my flight reservation from LAX to Europe, departure December 21st. problem solved.
We continued to the National park entrance. There we paid for a 3 day stay and were informed that we could camp just nearby since the road was closed just a few hundred meter onwards. I asked when the road would open the next morning, the answer was 10 am. Too late, I argued, telling that we wanted to go to Cerro Botella Azul. We did not dare telling that our goal was Picacho del Diablo, this late in the season and with the ground completely covered by snow.
The communication with the park official was quite unclear to state it mildly, he spoke Spanish, we English. What, if any, was understood, remained in the dark. They produced some more forms to be signed, looked like "do this on your own risk" forms. Next, he wanted to take a picture, then we could proceed. Driving onwards, we very soon came to the road closure. This consisted of meter high traffic cones placed across the road, with a red and white plastic band tied across the road slightly higher than the cones. I jumped out and removed the cones as well as the band in order for Michael to drive through. After restoring the barrier, we continued driving. It remains unclear if this was according to Park regulations or not. We got to the trailhead without any additional issues, it was getting dark and it was quite cold. Sleeping in the back of the truck was quite comfortable.
We started out shortly after daybreak the next morning, Saturday December 17th. The ground had snow cover, but the route was still fairly easy to follow. We reached Blue Bottle Pass after about 2 hours. A short break followed by an easy ascent of Cerro Botella Azul. We had a good view of Diablo from here, it looked like less snow on that side, however snow and ice in shady gullies are obviously not easy to see at a distance.
Back down in the pass we started our descent to the bottom of the deep canyon that separated us from Diablo. A pretty good trail traversed the hillside, then started descending. We were quite pleased, pretty easy going. This lasted while we descended about 300 vertical meter, but then suddenly, we faced what this mountain is best known for. Big rocks and boulders mixed with dense canyon bushes. Progress slowed down considerably. Michael was certainly much faster in such complex terrain. It was therefore very natural to make him go first and try to find the best way. Overall, he did a pretty good job finding more or less obvious bypass options when going directly downhill seemed too difficult. We arrived at Campo Noche around 1600, quite happy with the overall effort.
Next morning, December 18th. There is only 10 hours of daylight this late in December. In fact, we may be doing one of the absolutely latest ascents of this peak, only 3 days away from winter solstice. We had a quick breakfast and started uphill at 0630, just as daylight started to break. The terrain pretty much as expected based on yesterdays experience. Michael led the way with expert route-finding, making frequent stops to check the GPS route. This was quite welcome as I had a chance to catch up.
We made slow, but steady progress. At one point there was water in the canyon, good for filling up my bottle, also nice to keep in mind for the descent. In this area, we also encountered more ice and snow, care needed, but it could mostly be avoided.
Higher up, we could see the somewhat narrow canyon that should be followed in order to reach the summit, the leftmost where a wider canyon forks right. Next, some smooth rock slabs that people have photographed in many trip reports and wrongly called Wall Street. The proper Wall Street starts higher up, this is quite a distinct, narrow passage with "walls" on both sides. Near the upper end of Wall Street is a choke stone that makes progress harder. However, there is an easy YDS class 3 scramble route bypassing this on the right hand side when ascending.
We arrived at the summit about 15 minutes before 1200 - noon. Great views in all directions. We could see the sea to the east, the west was a bit more hazy. After about 20 minutes on top, we needed to start the descent as we wanted to be back down at camp before 1700, when it got dark. This worked well, we arrived Camp Noche before it got dark.
Another dinner, then early to bed. Michael brought his super light tent, a tent that works well in good weather. His walking sticks served as tent poles, no floor. We slept well and woke up fairly well rested the next day, December 19th., ready for the big ascent, first rocks then in snow, before the final walk out. Starting around 0700, we reached the Blue Bottle Pass shortly before noon and the car around 1430, pretty much according to plan.
We had originally planned for an overnight along the access road to the park, but ended up driving all the way to San Diego. The border crossing took 3 hours in a slow moving queue, when finally there the officer just asked: " How long was the wait?" We crashed at a Super 8, then continued to LA/LAX the next morning. Michael needed to make it back to the Bay Area, his drive was now considerably shorter, since we got back to the US the previous day. I flew home for Christmas, arriving at my mountain cabin around 1400 on December 23rd,
In summary: A great, but tough hike taking 3 full days. Few mountains are more complex and cumbersome. Great thanks to Michael for good orienteering and a fair dose of patience.

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