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| Copper Basin Peak Bag, AZ | |
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| | Copper Basin Peak Bag, AZ | | | |
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Copper Basin Peak Bag, AZ
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| Hiking | 15.31 Miles |
3,544 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.31 Miles | 7 Hrs 40 Mns | | 2.31 mph |
| 3,544 ft AEG | 1 Hour 2 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | If counting UN topo peaks, then this adventure is likely a personal best in terms of # of peaks bagged in a single day. Cliff note version [listing] of the said peaks:
UN 6783
Wolverton Mtn
UN 6732
Mt. Francis
Copper BM
UN 7035
Williams Peak / Porter Mtn
UN 6588
UN 6418
UN 6551
UN 6553
UN 6550
Pretty impressive given that I sorta ‘winged’ this one as well.  While I prefer to draw my routes ahead of time, life has been insanely busy. The closest I had for the specific area was: the Prescott Circle Trail System, a route I imported from someone who had bagged Wolverton, and a few other roads/trails/jeep roads courtesy of Route Scout’s CalTopo. Thus, of the above list of peaks, all but Wolverton was 100% free-styling / winging-it.
The previous day I’d driven down Copper Basin Road to route Peter on during the Whiskey Row Half Marathon. There were tons of pullouts, tons of trails taking off in the area, and tons of peaks just waiting to be bagged. To top it off, getting there was a breeze. After sleeping in later than anticipated the next morning, [but still wanting to go on a 12-15 mile peak-bagging tear], returning to Copper Basin Road was the perfect option. In fact, I parked in the same sweet pullout that I parked in the day before during the half marathon.
Since both visibility and maneuverability on the pine-covered hillsides were excellent, I proceeded to bushwhack from where I’d parked toward UN 6783 and then over to Wolverton Mtn. I did not feel like I was taking any additional risk [by bushwhacking vs. being on the trail] in terms of snakes]; and I actually did encounter two snakes while bushwhacking, neither of which appeared to be rattlers [although I didn’t get a good look at the 2nd one]. The first snake sighting was during my off-trail approach to Wolverton. Thanks to the wild colors [it was a red, white & black one], I spotted him while I was about 8-10 feet away. If any snake experts read this, then definitely let me know whether [or not] there are any defining features that can rule out a Coral Snake [ photo ] . There are many red, white, & black snakes in AZ that are not Coral Snakes so hopefully it was one of those!
The 2nd snake sighting was toward the end of my adventure, en route to bagging one of the UN peaks. I was in mid-air, leaping off a boulder, when I heard a loud rustle below. I glanced down and saw a small-medium sized snake hauling pumpkin away from me. I did not see the whole snake, but from the quick glance I got of the head, it looked like a non-venomous, Garter Snake. It was moving so fast to get out of my way that I did not even flinch or feel the need to adjust my stride, mid-air.
At any rate, Wolverton Mtn proved to be an easy bushwhack. I did not find a register but there was a nice bench [ photo ] in the area of the highpoint. A well-beaten route led to the summit from another direction, so I decided to use this route for my descent… however, [mixing up my sense of direction], I soon strayed from the route and found myself in a MUCH thicker than ideal section of brush during snake [and bee] season… let’s just say BOTH the visibility and maneuverability were not good! Fortunately, after a few panicky minutes, I contoured around and picked up a route leading to some small radio towers near the highpoint of Wolverton, and shortly after that I picked up a “trail” [jeep road].
Next I headed toward Mt. Francis, leaving the jeep road to bag UN 6732, [which was well routed], on my way. Mt. Francis has tons of large radio towers, some of which are located near the highpoint, and others further down. I did not find a register on Mt. Francis but I didn’t spend much time looking, other than a few spots that seem obvious. The views from the highpoint are awesome!
After Mt. Franics, I was planning to loop around via some jeep roads and then bushwhack up to Williams Peak aka Porter Mtn, but I noticed on the topo that the Copper BM was practically right on the way. Eyeballing the topo as I descended Mt. Francis, the Copper BM appeared to be a small summit with a boulder pile on top. I decided to investigate. As luck would have it, a route that is wider than many trails takes off from the jeep route and leads to the boulder pile. From the time I turned onto the route, it didn’t take more than a minute or two to reach the bolder pile. Upon quick glance, reaching the top of the boulder pile without ropes/gear seemed like an impossible feat, but upon further examination, I noticed chute-like area where several of the boulders come together. I removed my pack for extra maneuverability and proceeded to scramble to the top. This was one of those few pleasant instances where reality proves to be the total opposite of ‘it’s a lot harder than it looks.” It took all of 30 seconds for me to scramble up with ease, but those 30 seconds were a total blast; and the 360 degree views from atop the boulders were just breathtaking!
The final named summit of the day was Williams Peak [aka Porter Mtn]. Aside from using jeep roads to get down from Mt. Francis / the Copper BM, most of my approach to Williams/Porter was entirely off-trail, with visibility & maneuverability ranging from very good – excellent. I was unable to find a register but there were two survey markers in the area of the highpoint, one for Williams Mtn [ photo ] and the other for Porter Mtn [ photo ] .
The plan for the final segment of my adventure was to descend Williams Peak/Porter Mtn and then stay on jeep roads/trail to loop back around to my starting point, [bagging any other UN peaks I happened to pass, provided I still had the energy]. After FINALLY making it off Williams/Porter, [there were more than few instances of thick brush and/or loose footing that did not make for the most ideal conditions during snake/bee season], I ended up on trail/jeep roads. However, it wasn’t long before I was off-trail once again, cutting off distance and bagging unnamed peaks. Eventually I got tired enough that I opted for trail/jeep roads for most of the final couple of miles. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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