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| Hiking | 9.78 Miles |
1,677 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.78 Miles | | | |
| 1,677 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Today I decided to go hike to Sugarloaf Mountain. This was probably the 4th or 5th peak named "Sugarloaf" that I have hiked in Arizona. This particular Sugarloaf (elevation of 3,418 feet and prominence of 1,188 feet) is in the Belmont Mountains in western Maricopa County. It is also the highpoint of the Hummingbird Springs Wilderness.
I parked at Dead Horse Tank and followed the excellent driving directions posted by @grangerguy. In fact, his triplog is a de facto guide for the hike!
The first half of the drive on Microwave Station Road had some rough places, but the second half of the Microwave Station portion of the drive was much better. The spur road going to Dead Horse Tank was in decent shape also. I was happy to have been driving a high clearance 4WD vehicle, but if the road was dry I would think that an AWD SUV with decent clearance, decent tires, and a competent driver could drive to Dead Horse Tank.
The hike was straightforward: follow a road for a couple of miles or so, then follow some cattle paths, go along a wash, make your way to a ridgeline, then head up to the summit. There was one short class 3 move not too far below the summit, but other than that the hike was all class 1. There were nice unobstructed 360 degree views at the summit.
On the drive in we saw 3 deer, and then we saw a wild burro along the hike in the morning.
This was an enjoyable hike, and was perhaps the easiest of the desert peaks that I have hiked this winter.
After the hike we stopped and hiked up to Eagle Eye Arch. Tracie the Intrepid had never been to this arch, but it was my second time in 3 days to do it. The climb up to the arch from the road is short and steep, gaining 400 feet in 1/4 mile. There is loose dirt and lava rock on the use trail, so it is a bit slippery. We did not go up to the peak this time.
Distance and elevation gain for the 2 hikes is below. Stats above are the sum of the two.
Sugarloaf: 8.24 miles with 1,177 feet of AEG
Eagle Eye Arch: 1.54 miles with 500 feet of AEG |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Wildflowers were on the light side of moderate. There were sections with prolific poppies, and in one section there were lots of yellow flowers, which I believe were wallrockets. |
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Dead Horse Tank |
76-100% full |
76-100% full |
| | | There was lots of water in the tank. You'd need a boat to get across it. | | _____________________
| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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