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| Hiking | 4.84 Miles |
1,597 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.84 Miles | 6 Hrs 45 Mns | | 0.92 mph |
| 1,597 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I've had this hike on my wish list for a while and finally did it. As usual, I greatly under-estimated this one, and I wish I looked at this guide before I hiked it!
Follow FSR 4393 for roughly 1.5 miles to get to the saddle between Black Diamond peak (7146) and Peak 7091. At about the 1.4 mile mark there is a junction. You will want to turn left to get to the saddle. If you turn right, it takes you near the old Black Diamond Mine. I wanted to take a look at this area but ran out of time. Near the end of the road going to the saddle, there is a lot of grass and the road is a bit washed out. But, keep going and you will reach the saddle. Black Diamond is that rocky mountain to your East. Keep in mind that the summit is more toward the right side of the rocky area you're looking at.
I went into this hike completely blind as there were no published routes anywhere on the internet - but I was wrong apparently after finding this guide! I thought I could get to the peak from the left side, either behind the cliffs or that there would be a way to get on the ridgeline and hike across. I was wrong. The ridgeline is very rocky with cliffs all over the place. If you want to summit this peak, you will need to find the right canyon going up. It's steep and there's a lot of loose rock. You have to be a bit crazy to want to summit this peak. I'm not crazy; I just greatly underestimated this one. In the final canyon near the top, there's a ton of loose rock, dead trees and the grade is pretty steep. You will need to go very slow and look for the larger rocks. I found SEVERAL larger rocks, even some 100-200 pound rocks that were loose and not stable. Always have 3 points of contact and don't assume a rock is stable even if it looks stable.
At the top of the canyon the GPS was telling me to go left. I went left and walked up to the high point, but then realizing the TRUE high point/peak was to the South. I went back to the rock saddle and climbed up to the true summit. I found 2 registries at the top and signed both. From the top you can see the town of Tombstone in the distance. Also, other peaks in the Dragoons such as Sheepshead, China peak, and Glenn in the distance to the far North.
Notes about my GPS route: Do not try to reach the peak from the left side cliffs. I tried that and reached a dead end and had to turn back. Traversing the base of the cliffs was very messy. There was no good route and I needed to cross at least 3 fields of rock tailings. The rocks in that area were very loose and it's easy to slip. How I didn't fall once on this hike was an absolute miracle! It would be best to stay on the "low trail" for another 600 to 700 feet and exit somewhere below the canyon leading up to the summit. Then, from here you will want to zig-zag up, avoiding the tailings as much as possible. There may be some cairns in this area. On the entire hike, I think I only saw 1-2 cairns. On the way down I ended up following some deer trails across. I thought about going down to reach where the trail should have been but the grade was very steep and the terrain had a lot of loose rock. So, I stayed on the line I was on which worked out OK in the end.
Stats:
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Total distance (round trip) = 4.84 miles
AEG = 1597 feet
Strava moving time = 2 hrs 39 mins
Strava elapsed time = 7 hrs 52 mins
Driving Directions: From points North, take I-10 toward Benson and Take AZ-80 South toward Tombstone. Only 2 miles before entering the town of Tombstone, you will turn on Middlemarch road heading East. There is a sign before the turn. The first mile of Middlemarch road is paved. After that the road is "primitive" but graded very well. A passenger car should handle this road fine. High clearance is preferred, though. Take this road 13.3 miles until you see FSR 4393. You will turn right here and park at the campsite. Hopefully nobody is using that campsite. If so, there should be a few other places to park but this road gets pretty rough quickly. If you don't have 4x4 you will need to find a place to park off the road. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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