Peak 1787 - Gibraltar Mountain Wilderness, AZ

Overview
Enjoy an easy paved access and an easy off-trail hike to a summit in the middle of the Gibraltar Wilderness. It’s not Gibraltar itself, but higher, and the route features the remains of an RF-4B plane crash.


Hike
From the intersection of Shea Road and Swansea Mine Road, head northwest across the desert. Follow an old road as it climbs the ridge to the north. Efforts have been made to obscure the road by throwing boulders onto it, and if you get even a few feet off, it can disappear. However, its general direction is clear and you can see it high on the ridge, so it is not hard to follow.As the road gets to the top of the ridge, take a detour over the top to a geocache commemorating the site of an RF-4B jet crash from 1975. Some of the debris can still be seen from the ridge. The road ends soon after. Stay on the ridge crest, with easy walking, first heading west, then north to the summit.

From here, one could envision many other rambles around this wilderness. A lot of wandering seems possible.

The false summit just a little short of the main destination has its charms as well. There is a curious hole that might have once supported a pipe or flagpole, and signs that large birds sit up there and survey the desert.

2022-11-10 GrangerGuy