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| Sunset Peak - Rattlesnake Spring Quad, AZ | |
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| | Sunset Peak - Rattlesnake Spring Quad, AZ | | | |
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Sunset Peak - Rattlesnake Spring Quad, AZ
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| Hiking | 14.11 Miles |
3,662 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.11 Miles | 8 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.83 mph |
| 3,662 ft AEG | 47 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This hike was to the summit of one of several Sunset Peaks in Arizona. This particular Sunset Peak is in Greenlee County, northeast of Clifton. It has an elevation of 6,980 feet and prominence of 1,200 feet, making this peak the highest and most prominent of the Arizona Sunsets.
Not far beyond where I parked is a really steep hill that goes up to Rattlesnake Gap -- a sign said that the grade was 25%. A rule of thumb is that a 10% grade makes you feel a bit uncomfortable, and a 20% grade has your passengers jumping out of your vehicle. With that in mind I decided not to drive up it. I have only seen side-by-sides go up it.
However, after walking it I believe that I would have had enough traction in 4-LO to get up the hill. It has recently been graded, and most of the loose rock is gone, leaving bare dirt that is a bit loose. The lower part is more firm than the upper part; in fact, I was almost plunge stepping down on the descent.
This hike was mostly a road walk. I left the road not too far from the summit and went off-trail the rest of the way. The grade was modest on the off-trail and the going was much more open country than bushwhacking -- there was some vegetation but it was easy to get around.
There are two distinct bumps at the summit. The southern most of the two bumps has the flivers, but I believe that northern bump is the highest (that is what is mentioned in the surveyors data set). I found RM1 and saw where the benchmark is supposed to be -- unfortunately it looks like vandals have removed the benchmark.
There were great views at the summit, so I sat up there for a bit. I returned the way that I came.
About 3 miles into the hike a dog came out of nowhere and followed me for the last 11 miles. It was a very friendly dog. The dog had a collar that had the owners name and phone number; I gave him a call, did not get an answer, so I left a message. He never returned my call though. As I got close to my vehicle a guy in a side-by-side came by. We talked for a few minutes and I asked him if he knew who owned the dog. He said "no", but he was from around there and put the dog in his side-by-side as he left.
Synopsis
This was an open, scenic area and I enjoyed the hike even if almost all of it was walking on forest roads. If I did the hike again I would try and go up the steep hill and shorten the hike a bit. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
There were some cane chollas with yellow flowers near the summit. |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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