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| American Peak (my ass) & Hermosa Hill, AZ | |
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| | American Peak (my ass) & Hermosa Hill, AZ | | | |
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American Peak (my ass) & Hermosa Hill, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.08 Miles |
1,544 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.08 Miles | 3 Hrs 18 Mns | | 2.08 mph |
| 1,544 ft AEG | 23 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | [Take it or leave it for what it’s worth], all I’m saying about the title I choose for today’s adventure is: Grandview Peak is to the Pinalenos like American Peak is to the Patagonias…
I’d drawn up several summit hikes in the beautiful Patagonia Mountains, and today, [given that I slept in and had errands to run in the afternoon], I intended to select one of the few where there are actually trails/jeep roads leading to the peaks [or very close to them]. After reaching the “TH” without issue [= a pullout area I selected from satellite imagery, which proved to be much more spacious than anticipated], I proceeded to hike up a very well defined jeep road toward the ridgeline that would lead me to American Peak, sans hiking poles and shin guards.
Go figure, within the first 1/4 mile, the jeep road petered out to nothing. At first I thought this was going to be like my recent hike to the nearby Kunde Mountain, [where the topo shows a jeep road leading to the summit but in reality the “road” is so old / overgrown that it’s nothing more than a route a best]. However, after encountering several patches of crotch high grass, it suddenly dawned on me that it was the other peak in the Patagonias that starts with “A” [Ashburn] that has a jeep road leading to practically to the top… American is the bushwhack.
If you can deal with crotch high grass in places [and not seeing your feet at times], it’s really not a bad bushwhack, thanks to a surprising lack of thorny vegetation; I did not see a single shin dagger or ocotillo, and even the isolated prickly pear, [which is a given on almost any hike in this neck of the woods], was in the form of small “leafs” vs. actual patches. Furthermore, [like many areas in Southern AZ], the ridgeline I selected to ascend American had some well-defined routes to choose from… so it wasn’t all crotch high grass to the summit, luckily. 
Though I must admit, in looking back on today’s adventure, it seriously feels like I was given 9 lives:
1. No poles AND no shin guards [yet for once I didn’t pay a price for leaving either/both behind]
2. Extra stumbles thanks to my equilibrium still not being back to 100% [yet I miraculously managed to correct myself mid-air and not fall, break a leg, twist an ankle, etc.]
3. Negotiate 5+ barbed wire crossings without lacerating myself or even getting the slightest scratch [there was an annoying barbed wire fence that ran for the entire length of the ridgeline to American and then some; and due to the nature of the fence / terrain, slipping under would not have been ideal… and stepping over or slipping through [which is what I ended up doing] was a bit of risk with my equilibrium still somewhat out of whack…]
4. “Escaped” the bees [It wasn’t surprising to see tons of bees on this adventure given the number of flowers that had sprung up; and whenever I had to go through a thick patch of grass with flowers, the sound of buzzing, [along with having a few bees fly over to check me out], was definitely a little unnerving… but luckily there was never any angry buzzing and I did not get stung]
5. Traversing through patches of crotch high grass during snake season [no further explanation needed]
6. Proceeding to the peak despite stormy skies and loud crashes of thunder in multiple directions [yet somehow, there was not a single flash of lightening]
7. Somehow managing to stay warm [despite literally getting drenched from head to toe about mid-way through and then having to hike the last 1-1.5 hours of the adventure in 64 degree temps and alternating heavy rain / full out downpours]
8. Forgetting to tell anyone I was even going peak-bagging today [or any details in terms of what peaks I was planning to bag]
9. Something I do not want to reveal at this time… but trust me when I say, it blows #’s 1-8 away! 
I’m glad I took the time to snap a few pics and pause to enjoy the views en route to American Peak because they are truly sensational! The reds, whites, greens, and other colors of the rock, [particularly in the direction of Red Mountain], were just AWESOME; and being located in the center of many other peaks, [some of which were shorter and some taller than American / the other prominent points on American’s ridgeline], the 360 views were phenomenal. I managed to sign the summit log on American, [which was located under a well-defined summit cairn, constructed on top of what definitely appeared to be the highpoint]; then I took a quick pic of the summit cairn/log and the survey marker next to it, and then skedaddled…!!! Let’s just say, there wasn’t opportunity to enjoy the views, take summit photos, or even walk around on the peak to ensure I hit the highpoint; [speaking of which, I’m still not sure whether or not to count this peak as officially ‘bagged ‘n’ tagged’ cuz my GPS track shows I barely touched the top contour, but it sure looked like the highpoint; and I’ve had that happen many times before where the highpoint is at the edge of the top contour]…
At any rate, for MANY more reasons than one, I did an ‘up-and-over’ on American and then headed over to bag Hermosa Hill. Aside from getting drenched shortly after departing American, [which didn’t bother me since I somehow managed to not get cold], the rest of the adventure was much smoother sailing. There was a much nicer route [with almost no brush and better footing] leading off the North ridgeline of American, and there were many routes to choose from for pretty much the entire way to the summit of Hermosa. It was VERY nice to not have to deal with knee high [let alone crotch high] grass.
I’m not quite sure how/why the hill that ended up getting named “Hermosa” got that designation over the many other more prominent looking UN 6,000+’ers in the area. Not having to skedaddle off of Hermosa, I can say for certain that I was on the highpoint, [on top of which is the remains of a cement base that rooted a pole or some other structure, and next to that the summit cairn/register]; yet just like with American, my GPS track barely touches the top contour. The summit register on Hermosa goes back to 1986 and the pages were rather brittle. Luckily, the rain let up just enough for me to sign quickly and snap a photo. There are some awesome views of Red Mountain from Hermosa Hill, but because views are blocked in several directions due to some surrounding trees, this summit would not be among my tops picks for best summit views in the Patagonias.
After Hermosa, I decided to cut myself a break and opted for what proved to be an extremely easily bushwhack of about 1/3 of a mile from the summit of Hermosa back down to Harshaw Road, [which I then took for about 2.5 miles back to my vehicle]. After getting drench from head to toe, battling crotch high grass, and overcoming several other challenges en route to bagging to two summits, even I felt I deserved a little break / easy cruise back. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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