Teutonia Peak
Hike Review
Cassie and I hiked the Teutonia Peak Trail.
The trail was well defined until we started walking on rock instead of sand. When that happened, the trail got faint and it became difficult to figure out how to exactly get to the north, center, and south peak of Teutonia Peak. We ended up figuring out how to get to the south peak, but that was only because I had read bits of Bob Spirko’s blog. We climbed a chimney to get close to the north peak, but we didn’t have the right gear to just climb to the top. We also explored the south approach to the center peak—we thought it’d be fun to do with rock climbing gear, not-so-fun without protection.
There was one party of three hiking back when we started, but other than that, we saw no other human being nor any other animals.
There was plenty of parking at the trailhead, but there were no bathroom facilities.
There were Joshua Trees, bushes, flowers, and grass as far as our eyes could see. Though in a sparse fashion, since we were in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
What I Learned
Especially with a peak like Teutonia, it pays to have done the research, as we did end up getting to the south peak.
Alas, I made the same mistake as last time, which was starting too late. It would have been great to have another hour to play around and actually find the route to the center peak. The woes of trying to pack too many things in a single day.
I should always bring headlamps to every hike. Every time.
What Happened?
4.1 miles, 2 hrs 23 mins, 937 ft of ascent
I had hiked Teutonia Peak in 2022, but never got to touch any of the peaks. When I got to the impassable maze of boulders, I turned to the east side, looked over at the possible routes, then headed back to the car.
This time, I brought along my secret weapon, Cassie, and in trying not to disappoint her, I knew I’d try my best. So, I read a blog on a possible approach that would get us to a couloir between the center and south peak, and we started the hike carrying our climbing shoes in case we could climb the north peak boulder maze.
The start of the hike, as well as the hiking to the north peak, felt very familiar. And when we got to the north peak, even though I now had years of rock climbing experience, it felt almost as impossible as the first time. I say almost because I did have a desire to head up the eastern boulder that blocked us as I saw possible hand and feet holds… but I did not want to climb it without protection. So instead, we looked to the western part of the maze, where a chimney seemed to lead to an opening at the top. It was a tight squeeze, but I did end up getting near the top (at least enough for me to stick my arms up and take a picture of the view), where I got scared and climbed back down. Cassie tried the same, and was one move away from where I had been. But for her, the chockstone that I had stood on without any issues moved for her, and we decided that it’d be for the best for her to come down.
With that little scare out of the way, we headed to the east side of the ridge, and I attempted to find the couloir that the Bob’s blog pointed out. Because I had seen the pictures on the blog, I quickly found it, and we walked it up, dodging boulders. At the crest, we looked up to the north (towards center peak) and found it slabby. Low enough where I wouldn’t rule out just free soloing it, but vertical enough where I knew I’d have a bad time on it. So, we went up the class 2 path to the top of south peak. The view was fantastic, and we took in the sights.
By this time, the sun was about 15 minutes from setting, and the strong wind that had accompanied us this whole time was not getting any gentler. So, while we wanted to find our way to center peak (and the summit register that I knew would be there), we walked back to Ramona (our truck) in haste. When we got to Ramona, it was definitely dark, and we were glad to have made it back, especially since we had left our headlamps in the car.
All-in-all, it was a story of success and failure. While we got to get to south peak, we still missed out on north and center peak. Next time, I want to bring my trad climbing gear and see if I can get up to north peak. And once I get to the east side of the ridge, I want to find the path that will get me between north and center peak.
And after all this, we headed off to Vegas, where we found comforting food and some yummy drinks.
