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| Geode Peak Canelo Hills HP 6262, AZ | |
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| | Geode Peak Canelo Hills HP 6262, AZ | | | |
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Geode Peak Canelo Hills HP 6262, AZ
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| Hiking | 8.48 Miles |
1,609 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.48 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 1.70 mph |
| 1,609 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I've hiked in the Canelo Hills area before but mainly on the well maintained AZT. Getting to Geode peak, which I believe is the Canelo Hills high point, from the major AZT trailheads it would have been 7 miles of hiking just to get to the saddle West of the peak. Not wanting to do a 15-16 mile hike, I looked for a shorter route. In my analysis and planning, I found some old 4x4 roads, all of Forest Service land, that headed from AZ-83 West and then South toward the peak. This looked like the easiest route to this peak.
Mike B joined me on this hike and started about 20 minutes after I did. From where I parked, I started off walking North up the old 4x4 route. After about 0.20 miles, I saw an open primitive gate, a border patrol agent with vehicle, and shortly after that, a cow carcass on the left side of the road. Then, the road turned to the right and went down a hill. I saw a cattle tank on the right side and about 5 cattle hanging around near the cattle tank at about 2/3 mile total. The trail got a bit steeper after 1 mile and looking down to the left I could see a wash called Turkey Creek. Closer to the creek there were several more trees. After hiking a total of 1.66 miles, I saw some orange ribbons on some trees on the left side of the road. There was another road leading down into Turkey creek. This is where I wanted to go. When I got down to Turkey Creek I didn't immediately see a road going across the wash, but after turning right and walking about 40 or 50 feet, I could see an obvious continuation of the road. This was definitely a 4x4 road as it was rocky and very steep in some sections.
The road follows up a ridgeline curves left and then right. After hiking a total of 2.43 miles I reached a high point. Along this high ridgeline I could see the summit looking Southeast. From here the road is relatively level and continues down to a low point and back up the next hill. After hiking a total of 2.7 miles, I realized that I needed to get off the trail and follow trails to get to the saddle West of Geode Peak. The trail was relatively easy to follow from here to the saddle but there were a few confusing areas and one major switchback to get around some rocks. After hiking a total of 3.17 miles, I saw a metal gate ahead. I realized later that the AZT was less than 1/4 mile from this gate.
From here it was about 0.6 or 0.7 miles to get to the summit. I expected to see some animal trails going up but there was very little. I ended up following a barbed wire fence up and then when the brush got thick I had to weave around it. At the higher elevations I found a lot of catclaw bush. I hate this stuff so much, I spent extra time using a dead tree branch and hacked a lot of it down. I found that it was much faster to use a 3-4 foot dead tree branch like a baseball batt to whack at this ugly thorn bush. I spent some time cutting a cleaner path through the catclaw bush which was especially thick in the last 1/4 mile or less. At the summit I found a rock pile with a plastic jar. I found 2 registries each containing a total of 4 names over the last 4 years. I signed the registry, had a very late lunch around 3:30 pm, took some photos and started to head down.
On the way down, it was a bit easier and faster because I chopped through a lot of the catclaw bush on the way up. I followed the fence line a little more closely on the way down and only got away from the fence line when I had to. Once back on the trail, I started heading back the same way I came. On the downhill section about 1/4 to 1/2 mile from Turkey Creek, I ran into my friend Mike B. He was taking a break and telling me that he got off the trail and had a bad experience walking into what was a canyon but thought at first was a road. But, eventually, he found the right trail and was able to make better progress going up the ridgeline. By this time it was already starting to get dark. We put our headlamps on and continued down to the wash and followed the road back to where we parked. The temps got quite cold in that area after sunset.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 8.48 miles
AEG: 1,609 feet
Strava moving time: 4 hrs 5 mins
Strava elapsed time: 6 hrs 49 mins
Driving Directions:
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From Tucson, take I-10 East toward Benson/Vail.
Take exit 281 for AZ-83 S toward Sonoita/Patagonia.
Turn right onto AZ-83 S/S Sonoita Hwy.
Continue to follow AZ-83 S for 47.5 miles.
There will be a pullout on the right side of the road large enough for 4-5 cars.
You will see an old 4x4 road behind you going up a hill.
This is the start of your route.
Note: My parking location was 31.4796337, -110.4816750 |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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