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| Salt River Pk and Two Salts, AZ | |
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| | Salt River Pk and Two Salts, AZ | | | |
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Salt River Pk and Two Salts, AZ
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| Hiking | 3.32 Miles |
1,278 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.32 Miles | 5 Hrs 12 Mns | | 2.01 mph |
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| 1,278 ft AEG | 3 Hrs 33 Mns Break | | |
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| Partners |
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none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Salt River Pk was the main reason to drive east, to Globe, then north on Rte 188.
Salt River Pk is a short, easy hike, up to a very narrow ridgeline, with the high point being on the south end of that ridgeline. Good footing all the way up, with easily avoidable sharp things. I didn’t get ‘stuck’ once.
The mountain does remind me a little of Saddle Mtn (Tonopah), as parts of it are falling away, leaving shear drop-offs on one side.
Salt River Pk is the highest point in the Salt River Mountains and is home to ‘Salt River Pk’ Triangulation Station. The US Forest Service put the disk up there up in 1934. The USGS came along in 1948 and added two reference marks. All three are still there and in great shape.
The USFS’s data sheet says the peak is “AKA Smoke Signal Mountain”.
While I was ‘in-the-area’, I also climbed up another nearby mountain (Pk 4252) to locate “Salt” Triangulation Station. (Just “Salt”, so as not to be confused with the benchmark on Salt River Pk, which is named ‘Salt River Pk’)
The Salt benchmark was set by the NGS in 1946, very near the high point (summit) of a pre alignment of Rte 188, before the road drops down (to the north) into the Roosevelt Reservoir area. Maps even mention “The Summit”.
The NGS surveyors for ‘Salt’ benchmark also set two reference marks plus an azimuth mark.
Three out of 4 disks are gone, including the actual triangulation station. Drill holes and scattered cement bits are the only remnants of the benchmark itself, and one of its reference marks. The Azimuth mark went the way of a ‘now removed’ cattle guard. The Azimuth mark had been in the headwall of that cattle guard.
I hiked alone, unless you include the constant buzzing of bees. The warmer the temps got, the more they were active. No attacks though - They just buzzed!
If you want to impress your non-hiking friends, drive up Rte 188 and point out Salt River Pk. from the car. From the car, the peak looks very formidable and a bit foreboding.
Impress them and say,“Yeah, I climbed up that mountain. I’m quite the hiker”.
Little will they know, you can first hike down a road north, then go ‘up’, from the unseen and gradual sloped backside, making the hike up a stroll in the park.  |
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Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
J.R.R.TOLKIEN |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
