DESTINATION Signal Peak Black Hills 4364 1 Photoset
2024-02-15 | | -
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| Hiking | 7.80 Miles |
1,698 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.80 Miles | 4 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.73 mph |
| 1,698 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: for this hike I also ascended the Grant Benchmark (elev 4323) which is about 1.4 miles North of Signal peak, as the crow flies.
Just up the road from where I parked, there were a lot of deep ruts in the road, so I decided to just walk it. I'm sure my truck could have made it but I didn't know if there would be more turn-arounds up ahead and I didn't know the condition of the road up ahead either. So I started walking up the dirt road. After walking 2/3 of a mile I came to an unlocked primitive gate which I crossed through. There was a sign that simply said keep the gate closed. After passing through the gate, just up ahead I saw some campers. They had a jeep and said they came from the San Manuel junction. I didn't ask how rough the road was. But, at least I know for future reference there are other ways to get up here.
At 0.7 miles I saw a road heading West, so I decided to take it, not knowing exactly where it would go. The road went uphill and ended after another 1/4 or so. The good news is the brush wasn't too thick around here. There was evidence that cattle grazed all through this area. I saw a high point to the West which I knew was not Signal Peak. The topo map had it labeled as BM 4323 which was slightly lower in elevation than Signal Peak at 4364. I continued hiking an open Country hike across some rolling hills and up in the direction of Peak 4323. When I got near the top, I saw a barbed wire fence which I had to crawl under. I went to the top and found a US survey marker with an arrow labeled Grant. So, this was the Grant Benchmark. The arrow pointed toward the high point but I did not see the official marker with the triangle symbol at the high point. At this point, my total mileage was at about 2.0. Looking South I could see Signal peak. From here, it was 1.4 miles away.
From here I decided to head down to the saddle which was Southwest of the Grant Benchmark, and then head South along the ridgeline toward Signal peak. There were a lot of rolling hills. I crossed a wash at 2.46 miles and another at 2.64 miles. After traveling a total of 3.05 miles, I reached a dirt road. I later discovered that I could have gotten on that road a while sooner, but at the time, I didn't know the road was there. I followed the road South for about 0.55 miles before the road ended at the top of a hill. This hill had an elevation of roughly 4211 feet. From here, I was only about 1/2 mile away from the summit, but I needed to cross a few rolling hills to get to the base of it first.
I hiked right up the North ridge which looked steep from lower down but I was able to zig zag and it wasn't too steep until the last 5 minutes getting near the top. At the top, I found a glass jar registry that was not covered by any rocks. I signed the registry and put some rocks over the jar to reduce the amount of sun/heat damage to the contents. I saw one lonely poppy at the summit and some nice views of the snow covered Mt Lemmon. There was a lot of black rock around which I suppose is why this area is called the Black Hills.
On the way, down, I decided to take a different road going East. I noticed that the topo map had a BM 4066 which was not on top of any high point. I searched around this area and could not find any marker or reason why it was labeled as a benchmark. The topo map also showed a dashed line going East from this area but I didn't see any roads. I ended up doing an open Country hike East and then North. I kept looking for a road but later found a wide canyon which I suppose could have been what the dashed line was indicating. I dropped down into the canyon and saw tire tracks in areas where I would never even attempt to drive, even with my capable 4x4 HC truck. I kept following the wash down and saw an old tank and metal tower right outside the wash. Up ahead I saw 2 cattle resting in the shade and they may have been sleeping. When I got closer they heard me and took off. I continued and ran into a road crossing and turned left getting out of the wide sandy wash. I took the road back to the primitive gate and then back to where I parked. By this time, the campers were gone. I didn't see anyone else out there except for 1 other vehicle on the graded portion of the dirt road.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip) = 7.76 miles
AEG = 1,698 feet
Strava moving time = 3 hrs 45 mins
Strava elapsed time = 5 hrs 00 mins |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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