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40 ft above Tumac BM. Why doesn't this peak have a friendly name? by Mike_W Overview Peak 5675 is 60 feet lower than the Tumacacori Mountains high point, but worth checking out if you're up on the same ridgeline. Basically, this hike involves walking roughly 2.75 miles up an old steep 4x4 road. Near the high point of the road, you'll need to bushwhack to a saddle which is 1/3 to 1/2 of a mile further up the canyon. From that saddle, it's another 1/2 mile to the peak. There's an unmarked ridgeline trail that will take you part of the way to the peak. Hike Start by hiking up the 4x4 road. There are some very steep and rocky sections and I can't imagine what vehicle ever could have driven up this road. Perhaps they just used horses or mules for the mines in this area. Stay on the road for about 2.75 miles until it reaches a high point. The road continues, curving around and heads toward some old mine prospects. Once at the high point of the road, you should be able to look West and UP and see a saddle. This is your next goal and the most challenging part of your hike. You can either bushwhack up to the saddle or you can climb up the ridgeline that heads just North of it. This whole area has a lot of cat claw weed, shin daggers, etc. You can navigate around the shin daggers but the cat claw weed is all over the place. Wear jeans and you should be able to hike through it carefully without any scratches. Luckily the cat claw weed is nowhere near as thick as the cat claw bush, seen in other areas. The shin dagger has a nice-smelling yellow flower which is only present at certain times but was seen in early June. Continue to the saddle or any point on the ridgeline North of the saddle. Once on the ridgeline, you will see a trail heading North. Take this trail until you are roughly 1/4 mile North of the saddle. Somewhere in this area, you'll want to get off the trail and curve West, heading up to the top of Peak 5675. The hike from the saddle to the peak is quite easy. Along the way, it is very likely that you will see some unusual rocks, some broken, and some with hollow cavities containing mineral formations on the inside. See my photoset for more info. At the high point, you'll see a rockpile and a registry inside. The peak has a lot of scrub oak, some prickly pear, yucca, bear grass, etc. There are some shady areas under some of the scrub oak and various bushes. From here, if you look West you'll have some nice views of Baboquivari peak. Looking North along the same ridgeline you may be able to see at least one white observatory tower on Kitt Peak. On our descent, we stopped about 20 minutes from reaching the 4x4 road to explore a very unique rock area on the South side of the canyon. This area was very shady and it would be possible to camp here. See my photoset for more info. Once we reached the road, we decided to take the road to the South end, to explore the old mining prospects. We didn't see any mine shafts probably because they were all filled in but did see a lot of mine tailings, an old broken wheelbarrow without a wheel, and a "hidden" place where someone camped up alongside the rocky cliffs. In this area, we saw a lot of thorny trees, which I believe were New Mexico Locust trees. After exploring this area, we walked the old 4x4 road back to where we parked. Check out the Official Route and Triplog. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
