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Oh, the Horror! by pseudalpine Overview
A frightening little peak located just inside the northeast corner of the Sonoran Desert National Monument and just southwest of the expansive Goodyear city limits. Portuguese and Spanish translations of Espanto list some of its meanings as awful, dismay, horror, terrible and/or terror. Each of these words could describe a hike to this mountain considering its close proximity to the Rainbow Valley Landfill. Perhaps reading a few passages of “Heart of Darkness” at the summit would seem apt. Hike The start is amongst trigger trash on the west side. Once ascending onto an upslope bajada, this unpatriotic nonsense becomes a non-issue. There's a rocky wash that can be followed and then some rock hopping on either side to the steeper summit slopes. Similarly to many of the other hikes in this area, the route isn't bushwacky and would be brutal in the hotter months.
Not really that horrifying of a summit since the mountain is quite a distance west of the landfill (~ 1.5 miles) and also higher than the multitude of its dump slopes. As is the case often in the Maricopa Mountains, the rumbling of passing trains is constant with an added persistent backup beeping of dump trucks. The summit also provides an elevated vantage point of Christmas Camp for reference and/or contemplation. Check out the Official Route and Triplog. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
