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| Wildcat Peak - Sawtooth Mtns, AZ | |
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| | Wildcat Peak - Sawtooth Mtns, AZ | | | |
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Wildcat Peak - Sawtooth Mtns, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.54 Miles |
1,691 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.54 Miles | 5 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.19 mph |
| 1,691 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: The stats include hiking Peak 2487, which is along the ridgeline before getting to Wildcat Peak, and also Indian Head peak, which a smaller mountain to the North of Wildcat peak.
Also note: There are better & easier ways to get to this summit. We decided to hike along the ridgeline not knowing beforehand what level of ruggedness we were up against. If I had to do this hike again, I would have hiked in the canyon and gone directly up to the saddle that is East of Wildcat peak.
From our parking location just past the guzzler, which is used for game water, we walked roughly 1/4 mile up the 4x4 road mainly to pass around a small rocky peak that was blocking our access to Wildcat peak. After going around this obstacle, we saw a relatively gentle looking ridgeline going up. We decided to cross the low area and get over to the ridgeline to get up higher on the ridgeline. On the ridgeline there were a few rocky areas that we needed to go around. I found some drug runner trash near a rocky area, then some more higher up.
We kept hiking until we could see Peak 2487 on the ridgeline. Just before getting to the top, we found an old frying pan and a backpack containing a large plastic trash bag and a plastic container of ground pepper. Someone put a rock on top of the backpack to keep it from getting blown around or exposed to too much sun or rain. The back pack was in bad condition and not useable.
When we arrived at Peak 2487 we decided to take a break. From here we could see the summit of Wildcat peak which was 1/4 mile away as the crow flies but a further distance taking the rocky ridgeline. The ridgeline was so rocky and messy that I guess it might take us another hour to get to the summit, even though the actual distance was quite short. This was a pretty good area to get a nice photo of the summit and the rocky ridgeline that we needed to hike along to get to the actual summit.
We left the summit of peak 2487 and often times found animal trails or routes along the steep ridgeline. We stayed off the top of the ridgeline because it was so incredibly rocky and steep. It would take much longer to hike staying on the actual ridgeline. I went slow along these steep rocky areas to avoid injury. I found a few areas with loose rock. We finally arrived at the saddle East of Wildcat peak. On the way out we decided why not try this route because we were sure it was a faster and easier way to get down.
At the summit, we found a registry which had only roughly 1 name per year. I saw a few familiar names and noticed a few years without any hikers such as 2020 and 2024. We signed the registry, had our lunch and admired the views of this range from the Southern end. We probably spent about 1 hour total on the peak. Next we hiked back to the saddle East of the summit and then started to head down into a canyon from the saddle going North. The top section was steep but it was fairly easy to zig zag going down. When we got further down, the canyon turned going Northwest and then West. It was about 2/3 of a mile to get down to lower ground. Near the bottom of the canyon, we needed to stay on higher ground to avoid the messy areas. We also saw a lot of dry grass which was most likely buffelgrass, near the bottom. After the terrain flattened out a bit we headed North and eventually ran into a road heading East/West. We followed the road going East for a little less than 0.5 miles, then turned left to take that road over to Indian Head peak.
Route: Our hiking route was 6.54 miles and 1691 feet AEG.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 6.54 miles
AEG: 1,691 feet
Strava moving time: 3 hrs 28 mins
Strava elapsed time: 7 hrs 15 mins
Driving Directions:
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** High clearance vehicle required, especially for the last 5 miles of the drive **
See my route from Red Rock which is just under 36 miles.
If driving from Tucson, Red Rock is a good exit to take off of I-10.
If you are driving from Phoenix, it's probably better to get off at Sunland Gin road and take that South through Arizona City and all the way South down to Aries Drive.
There are some sandy areas along Aries drive and some of the roads North of Aries drive which can be done with a RWD high clearance vehicle when conditions are dry. You just need a little momentum to get through these areas.
When turning from Aries drive onto Ceres drive, there's a primitive gate that you will need to open and close behind you to get to our starting point.
Your vehicle may get some free Arizona pinstriping on Ceres drive!
The final 1.25 miles of road leading up to the parking area / guzzler can get a bit rocky.
If you have 4WD you could continue past our parking area and drive further West. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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