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| Hiking | 8.25 Miles |
1,213 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.25 Miles | 4 Hrs | | 2.41 mph |
| 1,213 ft AEG | 35 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Originally I was planning a 12-15 miler in Patagonia but a little glitch with Route Scout proved to be a blessing and resulted in one hell of a kick-ass adventure. The app sometimes gets stuck in the on mode and the animal sounds every mile were getting a bit much while driving. Low and behold as I went to shut it off, I noticed a peak just a few miles away from my location [South River Road, Rio Rico]… and not just any peak but one with trails/jeep roads leading to the summit. Just when I thought I’d run out of nearby summits that have trails/jeep roads leading to the top, I accidentally stumbled upon something new. Given that I’ve driven within 1/3 of a mile from where I parked for this adventure 10+ times over the past 6-8 weeks, it’s really amazing how I managed to overlook it.
Ironically however, [while I had an absolute blast and encountered nothing more than an innocent roadrunner in terms of wildlife], what I thought was going to be very well deserved, autopilot summit hike up a jeep road proved to be the bushwhack from [‘mental’] hell. In other words, [while not at all difficult from a technical standpoint], my hike to Mt. Benedict about ties my adventure from a few weeks ago to American Peak & Hermosa Hill as possibly one of the worst to be doing during snake season. With crotch high grass in several places along with many spots that looked like perfect hiding places for snakes, parts of this hike were a total ‘mind-pumpkin’ just knowing that snake season is in full swing. And with the rattlesnake encounter on my return trip from Sardina Peak [less than 24 hours prior] still fresh in my mind, it’s safe to say that parts of this adventure were a little unnerving, given the conditions.
Each segment of this adventure seemed to present different challenges. After launching, I enjoyed well defined jeep road for all of about 1/4 mile before it seemed to run smack into private property. Luckily, being in a rural area and having many small washes and mesquite trees to help block the views, I managed to get by the questionable areas without issue; and, after almost 1/2 mile of hoping I wouldn’t piss off the locals or set off a neighborhood watch, [and 4-5 barb wire crossings later], I was once again cruising on well-defined jeep road, [although it felt much more like a trail than a jeep road at this point], without any homes in sight.
The next mile or so was smooth sailing. The jeep road then crosses a fence line and at this point Route Scout came in extremely handy… with cattle in the area, [and the many other intersecting trails they’ve created], Route Scout topo was extremely helpful in keeping me on the right one. Aside from some GPS spot check, the next mile or so after having crossed the fence line was also smooth sailing.
Next the trail/jeep road starts to ascend toward Mt. Benedict. With several mines in the area as well as a summit with tons of radio towers, I was expecting the trail to become more defined, but what happened was the complete opposite: rather suddenly, the trail/jeep road went from being well defined to extremely overgrown & barely discernable. While my intent was to stay on the trail/jeep road, I ended up on a nearby route that led to one of the tailings piles in the area. Given how incredibly overgrown things were at this point, [and that getting back on the jeep road/trail meant crossing a wash with some VERY tall grass], I opted for a more direct approach and proceeded to bushwhack almost as the crow flies to the summit of Mt. Benedict. With a shallow grade and excellent footing, this was a very easy bushwhack from a technical standpoint… but with crotch high grass and many shrubs / large rocks that looked like they’d make perfect hiding spots for snakes, it was a total mind-pumpkin to say the least!
It didn’t take long to reach the summit, and the views are quite beautiful; much better than I anticipated given the rather ‘plain’ landscape for most of the hike. I did not find a register or survey marker but interestingly enough, [while standing right in the center of the ‘triangle’ that signifies the highpoint on Route Scout topo], I noticed three metal stakes in the ground that would align with the three points of the triangle on the topo. Perhaps those stakes represent where future survey markers are to be placed?
Coming off Mt. Benedict was a neat experience. There are a few other lower summits with radio towers, and one of them also has what appears to be a really unique shaped lookout tower… although I couldn’t tell whether it was a fire lookout or a lookout for illicit activity. There were also some really neat homes [mansions] on the south side of Mt. Benedict; and the views of them were quite good from the vantage point of the mountain. One of the homes literally appeared to have a full out grass stadium, [less bleachers / stands], as part of its ‘back yard’.
About 1 mile after leaving the highpoint of Mt. Benedict, the NICE paved road makes a hairpin turn and proceeds South, while the “road” I was to return on heads North. The brush and overgrowth on my return “road” was so thick that I’m really glad I had opted for a straight up bushwhack on my approach instead of having done an out-n-back via this “road.” The “road” looks more like a trail, and not even a Rubicon with the best off-road tires money can buy would have a prayer of being able to drive it. Trust me when I say, as far as vehicles are concerned, only the Batmobile would have a chance…
Luckily, the section of “road” with extreme overgrown was only about 1/3rd of a mile. However, [proceeding with extreme caution to watch for snakes], it felt like forever. As the “road” crosses a wash, the overgrown starts to let up. At this point I noticed some defined routes leading up a small hill to the left and decided to follow them. There were a couple of really neat mines up there, all of which appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time. CalTopo labels them as the Gold Hill Mines, while FS Topo lists it as the Columbia Mine.
Lastly, I followed some routes back down to the jeep road, which landed me on the well-defined section. The rest of my return trip was smooth sailing, and I even found a much better way to navigate through the section of private property, which involved slipping under just 2-3 barbed wire fences. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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