Lolita

Pilõn Las Paras is the perfect pyramid shaped mountain easily visible from most of Loreto, Some gringos refer to it as Lolita, although I don't know the origin of that reference. The summit is about 3500 feet, the terrain is rugged and there are no trails or maps.

DeeDee and I made our first attempt about 4 years ago, leaving from the small town of Las Paras, which consists of a nice rancho, an oasis and a chapel. After several hours of crawling through relentless underbrush and only gaining several hundred feet in elevation, we gave up.

Earlier this year we gave it another try, this time starting in a gully just east of town. The gully contained less undergrowth, lots of boulders and some tricky scrambles, but was passable. We made it up what we thought about a third of the way. I could see the rest of the way pretty clearly, a long talus slope ending at a high, obvious saddle at the base of the steep summit cone.

With this new information, we enlisted our friends Said and Harry. Our hiking pal Ed was 'out of commission with a busted hand. (That's another story)

The day was good for Baja hiking, about 70, overcast with a nice breeze. The hike up to our previous high point went well. It was just after that we encountered our first obstacle, a 30 foot high wall with no obvious way up. After a bit of poking around, we found a way via three, ten foot scrambles, with some tricky moves to get over much loose rock we moved on.

The gully now becomes a massive talus slope. The footing is tricky and each rock and boulder must be tested for stability, the going is steady but slow. The vegetation has changed dramatically, with large fig trees, giant pitaya and biznaga cacti.

 The cloud cover has departed and the sun beats down on us, luckily the wind is still blowing. We stop for a rest in the shade of a huge fig tree, and are greeted with an incredible sight. A huge boulder, weighing at least 2 tons is wedged between two massive trunks of the tree, suspended four feet in the air. How did it get there? Did the tree lift it? We take a moment and marvel at the wonder of nature.

We continue our slow slog up the endless talus, finally reaching our first goal, the saddle. We are rewarded with incredible views of the Sierra Giganta, the valley below, the plateau to the west and the Sea of Cortez to the east and south.

We gaze up at the summit cone, it's steep walls of loose rock baring any possible ascent. Our only chance is from the north. We start scrapping our way along the base of the walls. The brush here is unrelenting, every piece of vegetation is primed to draw blood. After several hundred yards we reach a small clearing. The slope above us appears less intimidating. The route looks possible by doing several switchbacks rising up through several gullys.

We start up, the going is not as straight forward as we had hoped. The rock is all bad, just waiting to break off. We move cautiously, one at a time. The safest ways involve grappling through the thick brush. To avoid the brush means exposed climbing with questionable footing. The route now doesn't look as promising. Said and I go ahead looking for a way up. We reach what we hope will be a passable ridge, but this ends in a vertical cliff. On the cliff edge we find an abandoned back pack and water bottle. Who would have gotten this far and left their pack behind? Did they fall? We search for other signs of humans and see nothing.

We are about 150 feet from the summit, with no visible route from where we are. Our only alternative is to climb back down. It is getting too late in the day to look for an alternative. We are all tired and we know the way down will not be easy.

3 hours later we stumble to the car, bloody and beat. So close, yet so far. We crack a well deserved beer and gaze up at Lolita....   we tried, she won.     We will be back