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| Peak 3263 - North of Picture Rocks Road, AZ | |
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| | Peak 3263 - North of Picture Rocks Road, AZ | | | |
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Peak 3263 - North of Picture Rocks Road, AZ
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| Hiking | 4.16 Miles |
1,282 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.16 Miles | 2 Hrs 35 Mns | | 1.61 mph |
| 1,282 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Linked |
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none
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| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
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none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Note: stats are for both Contzen Hill and this peak.
What's amazing is there are TWO Peak 3263's in the same basic area and they can easily get confused.
One is a few miles South of Picture Rocks road and is at this location: 32.301101, -111.143001
The other is North of Picture Rocks road and is at this location: 32.3375, -111.1504
This is why I propose that the Northern peak is called Contzen Peak, which is on the same ridgeline as Contzen Hill but higher up.
I believe I've walked this entire ridgeline before but never really knew there were any peaks/high points until recently, so I did it again.
From the trailhead, I started off in the wash for the first 0.18 miles. Then, I made a left at a point where the brush wasn't too bad and started my open country hike UP. There seemed to be a faint path that either people or animals took in the past. It got a bit steep but the footing was good. I kept going up and after hiking a total of 1/3 mile, I was on the ridgeline. Before getting to the ridgeline I noticed about 7 horseback riders entering the canyon below coming from the direction of the trailhead.
Once on the main ridgeline, the grade was a bit flatter and I was able to follow animal trails up. At times I didn't see a trail but there was so little brush that I could go almost any way I wanted, as long as I stayed near the middle of the ridgeline. After hiking a total of 0.64 miles, I was at the top of Contzen hill. I looked around and did not see a registry/jar, but I did see a nice Hohokam Trinchera here. I don't know if it really was a native one built by Native Americans, or if it was a more modern one, built by hikers.
I continued West/Northwest to the saddle next to Contzen Hill. It was a nice big saddle and from here I could see the slope going to Peak 3263 was quite steep. There were also rocky areas along the ridge that I needed to go around. I decided to go to the right of these rocky areas. I continued to wrap around the mountain and saw a canyon up ahead. It was pretty deep so I just kept going along the same line, staying to the left of the canyon. I was able to zig-zag and continue up to the ridgeline above me. That ridgeline sent me up and perpendicular to another ridgeline which I could use to get to the peak. Based on the topo map, I felt like I might have trouble transitioning from my ridgeline to the next one because of what looked like steep cliffs, but when I got to the junction, I was able to walk right on over to the second ridgeline, like a bridge, and continue up from there.
Looking up I could see I was getting close to a high point, but that wasn't the peak. Getting to the peak involved walking roughly 1/4 mile Northwest to get to the actual high point which was probably only 10-15 feet higher than where I was. Getting near the high point, I saw a few large rock piles, but one was larger than all of the rest. This looked like the actual high point. I climbed up the rock pile, looked around and was pretty sure this was it. I looked around for a registry but did not find one. Luckily I had a jar with me, which I used to start a new registry. From this high point I have nice views of Sombrero peak, Panther peak, although there was some huge saguaros in the way. I was able to walk around the saguaros and get a nice photo, unobstructed. Looking South I could see Wasson peak, the high point of the Tucson mountains.
On the way down, I decided to walk a slanted route going down the East slope to the ridgeline that I was previously on, but lower. Along the slanted route, I startled some large animal that ran away. I got a look at it from a distance and it was quite large and seemed to have black fur. It definitely was not a deer. It seemed to be too large to be a javelina, and too slow to be a bobcat. I'm thinking it may have been a black coyote, but I'm not 100% sure.
I continued to follow that ridgeline down which was new territory for me. After following the ridgeline down for roughly 0.4 miles, it started getting rockier and I saw a way to get down into the canyon which I thought might be a better way out. I took a steep slanted route to get down to the canyon. I saw a lot of rocks piled up here almost like it was some kind of old wall, but I believe it was natural. The rocks had a strange pattern - they seemed to all be lined up going down the canyon. I was able to continue walking down the canyon. When it got messy, I got out and walked along side it. I was hoping to find a wide sandy wash but I was still too far up. After hiking over 1/2 mile, I decided to exit the canyon and hike around the hill that was to the right of me. I kept moving and saw a low saddle up ahead. I hiked to the low saddle and found a few use trails there heading in the direction I needed to go. I followed those trails which brought me pretty close to the original wash where I started out. I made my way down to the wash in a location that was very close to where I exited, and then walked back to the trailhead from there.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 4.16 miles
AEG: 1,282 feet
Strava moving time: 2 hrs 35 mins
Strava elapsed time: 4 hrs 11 mins
Driving directions:
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From Tucson take I-10 to the Ina Rd Exit.
Continue West for 2.8 miles.
Turn left on Wade Rd and continue for 0.6 miles. Note: There is no stop sign for this turn.
N Wade Rd turns slightly right and becomes W Picture Rocks Rd.
Continue for 1.2 miles over Contzen pass.
Park on the pullout on the right side of the road.
There is room for about 10-12 cars. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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