Leaving Dos Palmas, the men continued eastward between the Orocopia and Chocolate mountain ranges, briefly passing by the southern end of the Chuckwalla range and ending at the Palo Verde Valley. Once they crossed the Colorado River, the party rode upstream for about four miles to the gold fields. Despite the fact that the trail crossed mostly barren desert, there was lots of water to be found at water holes found at roughly thirty-mile/48km intervals.