It was cold enough for a jacket and wish for another as I walked the road into Collins Valley. I’d seen the third crossing once before with several feet of water which is why I’d chosen to park back at the second crossing. Today the water would have been no problem for the 2WD Tacoma and I debated on heading back to get the truck.  The crux of the road was just ahead so I continued on foot, though it would turn out that I could have driven to the base of Elder and Palms (the road into Collins Valley IS rough but possible in good conditions with 2WD high clearance, good tires, and a locking diff).  

 

It took me about an hour and twenty to get to the base of Palms and Elder, hitting a faster pace once I left the sandy Sheep Canyon trail and on to hardpack.  It had warmed up considerably.  From a distance my intended route looked intimidating but the closer I got the better it looked. I climbed up a boulder filled gully between the two peaks, making good time over easily climbable boulders mixed into pockets of steep dirt. I reached a nice flat area between the two summits at 8:32am and took a short break to mow down a granola bar.

 

Heading towards Elder first, I stayed on flat ground until forced upwards. The angle here was steeper than what I’d come up already and I sought some easy class three for fun. I wrapped around to the east to avoid the steepest parts and found easier terrain as I got higher. I crested the summit plateau near the benchmark, it took just a minute to find the register. 

 

From Elder, Palms was several hundred feet lower and looked mild.  Mt. Collins really caught my eye though, what a striking desert peak! I’d hiked to its summit just a few days ago from the west, and another trip via Salvador Canyon may be in order. I signed the SDC register at 9:39am then took a quick jaunt to a higher point just southwest (the northern summit is actually the highest point on Elder).  I continued back down to the flat between Elder and Palms with my sights set on a saddle just west of the Palms benchmark. 

 

Palms was brushier than Elder but had half the elevation gain from the flat. I climbed on orange desert boulders and even more desert dirt, reaching what I thought was the summit boulder at 10:35am. An easy scramble got me to its top but I found no register, so I climbed back down and spotted a lower boulder with a cluster of rocks on top. I found the register here to which I added my name. Another entry mentioned signing another register at the highpoint but I searched again without luck.  

I again took in the striking views of Mt. Collins along with Squaretop. It was hard to notice anything but Squaretop while looking south, such a cool mountain. I started my descent down the east side of Palms, at first sticking with what looked easiest, then being funneled into a steeper chute. I reached the desert floor just before noon and was startled by a coyote that ran off from behind a bush. 

I took a detour to visit a palm grove on the way back to the truck, thinking it was out of the way by just a few minutes. The brush got thick a few hundred feet from the oasis but I found a clear path to get to the base of the thick palms. I attempted to continue on without backtracking, pushing through more brush to a smaller section of palms before it got too thick to continue.  Some hidden cat claw ripped at my arms and drew blood in a few spots.  I turned back, attempting to retrace my steps, but thrashed about for another 15 minutes to reach better times. Is this real life?  

 

*-the driving directions get you to Di Giorgio Road. From there you would continue heading north onto the main unpaved road heading towards Collins Valley. Google maps will route you on to De Anza Trail which is incorrect.