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| Catalinas - Peak 8686, AZ | | -
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| | Catalinas - Peak 8686, AZ | | | |
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Catalinas - Peak 8686, AZ
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| Hiking | 1.45 Miles |
695 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.45 Miles | 1 Hour 2 Mns | | 1.40 mph |
| 695 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I parked on the side of Ski Run Rd. in an area where I could access the ridgeline heading out toward Peak 8686. Based on the topo map, this hike looked relatively easy, but it was much steeper than I expected. The good news is I found a cairned trail on the middle of the ridgeline heading down which saved me a lot of time. But, first I needed to get to the ridgeline and there was no trail to get there.
First I needed to climb the embankment on the side of the road. There were some steep eroded areas, but I was able to find a use trail leading up. Along the way I found piled of dead wood, most likely put there by fire fighters after either the Aspen fire (2003) or Bighorn Fire (2020). When I got to the ridgeline, my original plan was to head up to the high point and then go down Northwest down the ridgeline heading toward Peak 8686. Instead of going to the top and getting to the ridgeline, I tried to take a short cut which was a mistake. I cut the corner too sharp and ended up doing more side hilling than I wanted. But, I did find a lot of nice ripe raspberries along the way. I ate several of these which made it all worthwhile.
When I finally got over to the ridgeline, I was surprised to see the use trail and some cairns leading down in the direction of Peak 8686. I suppose there were climbers that sometimes took these trails down, as they did for the Reef of Rocks area which was the next ridgeline to the East. The trail was very steep at time and similar in steepness to the trail heading out to Peak 8012 in the Reef of Rocks area. See my trip report for that one on the same day.
After seeing the cairned trail, I felt like I had enough time to summit before dark but I felt like I would need a headlamp for some of the hike on the way back. The trail was maintained fairly well but there were a few overgrown areas. I lost the trail 2 or 3 times but then found other cairns which kept me on the general path.
When I got to the base of peak 8686, I wasn't sure where to go from here. There was a lot of thick brush made up of Aspens and some New Mexico locust trees. I definitely wanted to avoid the thorned NM locust. I went left and saw a way around the brush. Within a minute or two I found a cairn so I knew I was on the right path. I kept climbing higher and found more cairns along the way and eventually made it to the peak. There were some amazing sunset views to the West and I could see several area of monsoon rain in that direction also. I looked for a cairn here but didn't find out. Unfortunately I didn't have any more jars with me. I took my photos and video and started to head back the same way I came. The trail was steep and slow going but I made it mostly to the top before it got dark. After it flattened out, I put on my headlamp and continued up. I ended up going too far up the ridge and found myself heading away from where I parked. I had to back track about 10 minutes to get back to the same area that would lead me back down to the road.
All in all it was an enjoyable hike but I was tired after bagging 5 different peaks on this single day. The 5 peaks ended up going from easy to moderate to hard. The rain and hail I encountered on my 2nd & 3rd peaks did slow me down a bit, but it was still a fun day overall.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip) = 1.45 miles
AEG = 695 feet
Strava moving time = 1 hr 2 mins
Strava elapsed time = 2 hrs 2 mins |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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