Info on Matthews Peak or Pastora Peak???

[Turkish]

Does anyone have any information on Matthews Peak or Pastora Peak in far North Eastern AZ??? Looks like fun. Anyone wanna plan a road trip???

[david_allen_3]

Heard its a great area as well, not much has been printed about the area, much left to be discovered i'd imagine.

[Hoffmaster]

I don't know anything about these peaks, but I'm interested. If you need a partner, count me in!

[azbackpackr]

I found these two peaks in my AZ topo map CDs. Matthews Peak is on the Tsaile topo, and is northeast of Canyon de Chelly. Pastora is on the Pastora Pk topo. They are both in Apache County (where I live) BUT they are both on the Navajo reservation. So you will need permission and permits in order to climb them, and the tribe may also require a guide--you'll just have to check into it.

I recently acquired 1/4 of the Arizona Big List of Peaks. It takes up about 1/4 of AZ, the northeastern 1/4. It has 1,933 peaks on it, so there are plenty to climb. But none of them are on Indian reservations because often it is not too easy to get permission to go into some of these areas.

(Anyone who wants this peak list--by the way it also includes the Supes--please p.m. me. I'll need your regular email address. You will need to have Excel on your computer, or something compatible with Excel (I've heard there is now a free knock-off you can download from the Internet.)

My son went backpacking with a friend in the Chuskas Mtns. on the Navajo Nation one time in January (brr!). When he and his friend walked back into the nearby village the people asked them where they had been. My son said, "Up there, camping in the mtns." The people then looked very alarmed and asked if they had seen any skinwalkers (witches) up there! Luckily my son's friend had once lived in that village, he was a teacher's son, and so the people knew him and accepted him.

I hope you can get permission. I have been a lot of places on the rez, to peoples homes and hogans, to a women's sweat lodge, have eaten roast mutton and mutton stew, etc. But I would feel uncomfortable hiking in the Chuskas, Lukachukais or other mtns. up there unless I was with a Navajo person. It is their nation, and we are only visitors.

[DaveO]

I've been on top of the Chuska and Carrizo mtn areas several times. Pastora Peak is easily accessed from a graded dirt road off US 64 to the top of the mtn. Pastora "peak" is more like a 400ft knoll on top of a mountain, with oak and pine vegetation to negotiate thru. I wouldn't think of it as challenging climb,but more like a quick highpoint hike. The Carrizo mountain area is an alpine desert. An interesting mix of pines-pinion, oak,aspen and sagebrush flats on top. The Chuska-Tunicha-Lukachukai Mountains are much more vegetated and wetter than the Carrizo's.

It is wise to obtain permits when hiking the Navajo Rez. I'm not Navajo, but have mtn biked, hiked and driven in the mts, without harassment or permits. Long as you remain respectful of the people and the land, there should be no problems. And yes, there are rumours of Skinwalkers (Navajo Spirit beings) occasionally seen in the mts. Most people who live in the Four Corners have never seen anything out of the ordinary, but there are occasional sightings of something strange by reliable folk. I know several with stories almost unbelievable, but i know them well not to lie.

The Navajo mountains are remote and extremely uninhabited. There are very few people or little help in those mountains. Prepare well when setting out for an excursion into those areas. I'll try to post a couple of pics of Pastora Peak and surrounding terrain.





If the pics work, Pastora peak is the lower photo. Excuse the poor quality :-) The Carrizos may be the driest 9000ft mountians in Arizona!

[DaveO]

I've been on top of the Chuska and Carrizo mtn areas several times. Pastora Peak is easily accessed from a graded dirt road off US 64 to the top of the mtn. Pastora "peak" is more like a 400ft knoll on top of a mountain, with oak and pine vegetation to negotiate thru. I wouldn't think of it as challenging climb,but more like a quick highpoint hike. The Carrizo mountain area is an alpine desert. An interesting mix of pines-pinion, oak,aspen and sagebrush flats on top. The Chuska-Tunicha-Lukachukai Mountains are much more vegetated and wetter than the Carrizo's.

It is wise to obtain permits when hiking the Navajo Rez. I'm not Navajo, but have mtn biked, hiked and driven in the mts, without harassment or permits. Long as you remain respectful of the people and the land, there should be no problems. And yes, there are rumours of Skinwalkers (Navajo Spirit beings) occasionally seen in the mts. Most people who live in the Four Corners have never seen anything out of the ordinary, but there are occasional sightings of something strange by reliable folk. I know several with stories almost unbelievable, but i know them well not to lie.

The Navajo mountains are remote and extremely uninhabited. There are very few people or little help in those mountains. Prepare well when setting out for an excursion into those areas. I'll try to post a couple of pics of Pastora Peak and surrounding terrain.





If the pics work, Pastora peak is the lower photo. Excuse the poor quality :-) The Carrizos may be the driest 9000ft mountians in Arizona!

I'll go up to the Carrizos soon, when the snow and mud clear out. I'm partially disabled at the moment, but can drive to 1/4 mile of Pastora Peak and make a pictoral.