Byous Butte, AZ

Overview
Starting at 2762 ft this off trail out-n-back route has 4 planned destinations
1) Saddle #1 (3333 ft)
2) Saddle #2 (3405 ft)
3) Saddle #3 (3472 ft)
4) West-High Viewpoint (3500 ft)


Warning
This entire hike involves off-trail navigation. To understand the terrain before heading out, it is recommended to review triplogs, photos (captions/tag notes, etc.), download, and follow the Official Route, which has "key" navigation waypoints.Hiking from the improvised TH to Saddle #1 and to Saddle #2 is full sun exposure with various Sonoran Desert vegetation. Long pants, long sleeve shirt, gloves, and sturdy hiking boots are recommended.

Trekking poles are also helpful in navigating the 40% up/down grade before reaching Saddle #1 and help to navigate the sometimes steep traverse off-trail along the backside of Byous Butte from Saddle #2 to Saddle #3.

History
There are a few old wooden boundary markers held up with rock cairns located along the route to Saddle #1 indicating possible historic mining claim interests. On Saddle #1, there is an old (newly built-up) rock fire ring with older tin cans within the fire ring.

Hike & Camping
This hike will fool you, appearing short in the total distance at ~2 miles roundtrip, but it takes a while to complete with view stops, navigating, lunch, to reach Saddle #3 West-High Viewpoint (at 3500 ft) and then return to Park/TH Start.

For Hike and Camping details, this author recommends viewing his well captioned 2018-01-17 Photoset with A/R tag notes which details this entire hike.

Synopsis
The four (4) recommended destinations described in this guide for Byous Butte represents only a small section of off-trail exploring that is possible in this immediate, rugged area. One can plan a very scenic, engaging, and remote off-trail route exploring within the vast Hewitt Ridge area by merely making a Right Turn (instead of a Left Turn) at Saddle #1... Enjoy!

2019-01-27 Grasshopper