HikeArizona.COM

Ive done many local phx summit hikes including,

Browns peak
Flatiron
Thompson peak
Camelbak (of course)
Humphreys Peak (flagg)

these are all great hikes and ive greatly enjoyed them, but i want something bigger and badder. Im willing to drive a long distance.

Recommendations please!

Sincerely,
Matt

Mazzie Peak is a ton of fun, lots of off-trail and some mean manzanita on the return. May be snow up there at this point tho: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=202

In Arizona?
Now or any season?
Do you have any technical skill?
Is climbing out of the Grand Canyon a summit?

The other end of the Superstition Ridgeline, Superstition Peak 5057 from the Carney Springs TH.

Tortilla Mtn takes some trail finding ability but nothing technical depending on the route you pick. There are some pieces of an small plane on the NE slope about 150 ft below the summit.

If you liked Brown's peak, you could also do the Four Peaks Motherload. It's challenging but "doable".

In az or surrounding states, I have skills, am in great shape although i guess id still consider myself a novice hiker. All of the hikes ive listed didnt present much challenge and ive completed them all much quicker than the listed round trip times. The grand canyon rim to rim i have planned for may, ill hike in any season, snow/no snow. Im all ears to big bad summits.

mtlongisland2 wrote:In az or surrounding states,.

Whitney & Shasta in CA are great hikes. But you have to get permits and they are probably closed for winter. CO has all the Teeners. Wilson is challenging.

mtlongisland2 wrote:I have skills, am in great shape although i guess id still consider myself a novice hiker. All of the hikes ive listed didnt present much challenge and ive completed them all much quicker than the listed round trip times. The grand canyon rim to rim i have planned for may,.

Technnical skill means ropes, setting protection, rappelling, etc. From your comment, I'm guessing you might want to watch for some Arizona Mountaineering Club introductory courses. They are usually taught in the Spring and Fall. After the R2R consider summitting Wotan's Throne. That was one of Harvey's favorites and where his ashes are scattered.

mtlongisland2 wrote: ill hike in any season, snow/no snow. Im all ears to big bad summits.

Wrightson is a good summit. Know your limits. Do you have Wilderness First Aid training? If you are heading into the teeth of winter, you should know the medical dangers and alpine skills like glissading and self-arresting. TalusMonkey (David Worthington) was awesome on big, bad summits until one mistake glissading on Humboldt killed him. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5883240

A fun option is to bag the highest points in each of Arizona's counties. (Some are more challenging than others)

There was a thread on this a while back. The last post in the thread has two links which direct you to the HAZ trip descriptions, and map to all of them.
http://www.hikearizona.com/dex2/viewtop ... f=2&t=5331

Matt - I would recommend that you join the others in the search for GPSjoe. Great country to hike/climb and excellent partners to experience more of Arizona with.

SuperstitionGuy wrote:Matt - I would recommend that you join the others in the search for GPSjoe. Great country to hike/climb and excellent partners to experience more of Arizona with.

I agree. That way you'll bag Mt Peeley and Sheep Mountain and get an introduction to the Mazatzal's.

What is bigger and badder? Many things can make a summit more difficult
-remoteness: long approaches, difficult access (Knob Mtn in the Mazatzals)
-lack of established trails (Four Peaks Motherlode)
-steep/technical: requires climbing and ropework (Babo)
-accumulated elevation: sheer vertical gain (C2C with 10k AEG vs some Colorado 14'ers with 1500 ft AEG)
-overall elevation (hiking in Nepal vs Arizona)
-quality of rock (granite vs sandstone)
-weather conditions (Snow/ice)

Then to make things difficult, you can start combining these types: remote, poor quality rock, 7k cumulative AEG

Since you are a beginner and likely non-tech, and you are ruling out anything other than dayhikes - I would recommend you consult the traildex at HAZ and filter for hikes that are:
1) Longer - the summits you list you've done are still fairly short distances - likely single digit miles
2) Taller - Keep up with the AEG like with Humphries and Flatiron at minimum 3000-4000 ft AEG

Here's some results: (HAZ doesn't have a "summit" filter I'm aware of)

http://www.hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=617 (This is the one Al suggested)
http://www.hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=2033
http://www.hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=457
http://www.hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=202 (This is the one Liz suggested)
http://www.hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=2040
http://www.hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=54
http://www.hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=849

mtlongisland2 wrote:ive completed them all much quicker than the listed round trip times.

Those times don't mean squat. And it's not about the times, it's about the enjoyment. Those times represent the time it will take 95% of the people who complete those hikes to complete those hikes. Those are times for old farts like me. And those times factor in some photography time, and breaks, etc. Camelback from Echo Canyon - shoot for 25 minutes to the top and 25 minutes down. R2R2R is listed at 24 hours - most people will complete it in less. Some of the elite - like Allyn Cureton - complete R2R in a little over three hours and R2R2R in 7 hours. I understand someone recently (in the last few years) broke Allyn's R2R2R record and the 7 hour barrier. Look at SidHayes' times, especially on the CO Teeners for a benchmark. Many of this times were 3rd party confirmed. His VO2Max in his prime had to be absolutely awesome. Don't judge yourself by the times it takes an old fart like me to complete those hikes. VO2Max really starts declining after age 50. I repeat, it's not about the times. it's about the enjoyment. If you want to compete on time, look at the Silverton Hardrock 100.

nonot wrote:"summit" filter

You can mark "Yes" next to the Peak option for summits, I believe.

Ah, thanks Liz, I never noticed that (I'm not much of a peak bagger).

Here's a clickable link, I setup a few parameters for some intermediate level summits.

http://hikearizona.com/interestDEX.php? ... &SUB_ID=0&

Mt. Wheeler from valley to summit in Nevada?

Why wait till May to head to the Canyon, winter is some of the nicest hiking weather there. A rim to river and back will certainly be more challenging than Flatiron.

The superstition ridgeline was always my favorite phoenix area hike. Usually done best with a group and start on both sides, or you need to drop your car off on one side and get a ride to the other.

Tuscon has a lot of challenging hikes as well, most doable in winter. Look at Kimball, Wrightson, Rincon, Lemmon, Miller, Cathedral Rock.

Babo is a must do... and harder than most in the Tucson area

thank you all for this wealth of information, i will reply to some of you privately for more details later tonight!

I enjoy the Superstition Peak hike from Carney - if you can arrange a shuttle, it's a great traverse to/from Flatiron.


The other end of the Superstition Ridgeline, Superstition Peak 5057 from the Carney Springs TH.[/quote]