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| Peak 3463 - Tucson Mountains, AZ | |
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| | Peak 3463 - Tucson Mountains, AZ | | | |
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Peak 3463 - Tucson Mountains, AZ
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| Hiking | 1.41 Miles |
564 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.41 Miles | 1 Hour 30 Mns | | 0.94 mph |
| 564 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | ** Note: The registry and the SAHC referred to this peak as Peak 3470 as early as 2004. Not sure which is correct.
This was a peak I drove by many times I'm sure and didn't even know it was there. It was an enjoyable hike aside from the sound of engines roaring by on Gates Pass Rd, which could be heard from the lower section.
From where you parked, cross the road and look for a path through the trees. There are at least 2 paths going up here. Once past the initial layer of trees the brush is not thick and there are many ways up.
Thanks to Rafee Memon for posting the 1st route for this peak. I used the same starting point and used his route as a general guideline but tried some alternative branches for better or worse (probably worse).
I ended up going up at a steeper angle, doing a lot of zig-zagging and getting to the ridgeline higher up. There were a lot of flat places to step on which made the hiking easier. When I got to the ridgeline I followed various animal trails up. Eventually I found myself on the South side of some rocky cliffs. The animal trails sort of died out at this point and I needed to do some class 3 and potentially class 4 climbing to get above these cliffs that were in front of me. Luckily it was only about a 30 feet of climbing, mostly class 3, and there was only a small amount of exposure on the lower part.
When I got higher up, I needed to zig zag a bit and then I was on the narrow ridgeline. At this point I was only about 500 feet from the summit. I was able to walk the ridgeline for maybe a couple hundred feet, then I saw a flatter path along the North side of the ridge so I decided to take it. Up ahead I spotted a cairn. I kept moving forward along this line and saw a way to get to the summit. Once there I found a rock pile with a glass jar, however the jar was sitting on top of the rock pile exposed to the sun.
I signed my name and then put the jar in the rock pile and places a few rocks so that the jar was completely shaded. I believe this is important to prevent sun damage to the paper which could happen even in winter in this climate.
I took a few photos and then headed down. I started out following my same route down for the first 300 feet. Then, when I was at a saddle, I saw an alternate way to go down which would bypass the class 3 & 4 climbing. This way ended up being OK and MAYBE slightly safer than the down climb. My biggest complaint was the gravelly slope which was upper class 2 but there were enough large embedded rocks to step on. After dropping more than 100 vertical feet in elevation, I found a pretty good use trail that was probably animal-made. I was able to follow this trail for less than 0.2 miles to get to the main ridgeline going down. From here I decided to go further down the ridgeline because it was easy hiking. Then, once I saw the parking area, I basically went straight down from that point.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip) = 1.41 miles
AEG = 564 feet
Strava moving time = 55 mins
Strava elapsed time = 2 hrs 8 mins
Directions:
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From Tucson, take I-10 to Grant Rd (exit 256).
Go WEST on Grant Rd for 4 miles. Note: Grant Rd. will run into Ironwood Hills Rd.
Turn LEFT on Camino De Oeste, continue for 1.1 miles.
Turn RIGHT on Gates Pass road, continue for 1.4 miles.
You will see a large paved semi-circle pullout to the right. There is room here for 4 or 5 cars assuming they parked in a way where it allows other cars to get in and out. It's not the most well-designed parking area. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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