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| Peak 5466 and Oracle Hill HP (5300), AZ | |
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| | Peak 5466 and Oracle Hill HP (5300), AZ | | | |
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Peak 5466 and Oracle Hill HP (5300), AZ
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| Hiking | 8.37 Miles |
1,745 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.37 Miles | 4 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.86 mph |
| 1,745 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
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| no partners | | Note: I hiked the Oracle Hill high point (elev 5300) in conjunction with this peak. Stats for BOTH peaks are combined and shown here on this trip report.
** Thanks to Brian C. and his dog for joining me on the hike to this peak!
I had a late start because I forgot to fully charge my cell phone. I waited until my phone had about 60% battery and felt like that was good enough. I didn't arrive at the trailhead until about 1:25 pm, then started up the Oracle Ridge trail which is part of the famous Arizona trail. There were a few gates to go through along the way. A section of the trail goes close to some houses and you'll be following a fence line for some of that section.
Along the way, I saw patches of snow in shady areas on the side of the trail. I saw some coyote or possibly dog prints in the snow. But, the air temp felt like it was in the high 60s or maybe 70 in the sun. After hiking roughly 1 mile, I could see the slightly snow capped Mt Lemmon up above. But, from here it was so far away it didn't look like it was 9,100 feet in elevation.
After hiking about 0.9 miles, I noticed the junction going West over to Oracle Hill (5174) & Oracle Hill HP (5300). I hiked Oracle Hill previously but this time I planned on hiking Oracle Hill HP, which was higher than the actual hill. There should be a US survey marker on Oracle Hill and it is also referred to as the Oracle Hill benchmark.
At about 750 feet from the summit of Peak 5466, I met Brian C and his dog. We talked for quite a while about hikes in the area, peak bagging, exploring old mines, petroglyphs, Indian pottery, Rocky Point, various hiking apps, and more. We could have talked for hours but we both had hiking goals and his dog was getting impatient ;-). Brian downloaded the PeakBagger app and I gave him a quick intro. He joined me to the summit of Peak 5466 which was only a 5 minute walk off the AZT. At the peak, we didn't see a registry or any kind of US survey marker or rock pile. But, from this peak, we had some nice views of the Galiuros and could even see the Pinalenos, Mt Graham, and the observatory nearby Mt. Graham. We could see some snow near the top of Mt Lemmon.
We headed back down the same way we came and hiked back down to the junction where I continued the 2nd part of my hike and Brian headed back down from there. His dog was no longer afraid of me at this point which was nice ;-).
I followed the unmarked dirt road West and dropped over 200 feet in elevation. Up ahead was a gate which I remember from when I hiked Oracle Hill. But, this time instead of going through the gate, I made a left a few hundred few before it and headed in the direction of the Oracle Hill HP. I started following cattle trails and they kept going up higher in the direction I needed to go. One of my goals was to get to the saddle on the East side of the Oracle Hill HP. Then, from there, it seemed like a pretty easy walk up. There were a deep canyon to my right which I wanted to stay out of because it was very brushy. Up ahead I could see a smaller canyon that I could have crossed but it was very brushy in that canyon and I didn't see a clear path through it. I ended up hiking roughly 500 feet South and then about 500 feet West to get around that brushy canyon to avoid the brush. That route worked out pretty well. I kept moving forward, following various cattle trails and found myself very close to the top. Near the top, I found a barbed wire fence with a low spot that I stepped over to get to the official high point. At the summit, I found a rock pile with a glass jar/registry inside. The paper was frayed and in pretty bad shape due to sun exposure. Most of the registry pages were full. I saw an entry from 2024 and another from 2011. There was a slight breeze at the top and some of the pages were tearing just handling them, so I put them back in the jar and decided not to try to photograph and other pages.
It was 5 pm by this time. I ate a very late quick lunch and then started to head down. I went down basically the same way, but I did try to cut the corner sharper than my route on the way up. I ended up finding a gap in all of the brush and was able to cross a small ravine. After crossing I just stayed right of the deep wash and kept moving forward. Eventually, I saw the dirt road and the gate. I followed the same cattle trails down to the road and then headed back to the AZT junction which required doing some more uphill. By the time I got to the junction, it was already dark, but I could see fairly good because of the lights around the town of Oracle. I eventually put my headlamp on for the final 15 minutes of the hike. It didn't feel like I hiked over 8 miles for the whole day but I did. All in all it was a great hike and those cattle trails definitely make it easier. They are pretty smart when it comes to route finding. Thanks to the cows!!
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 8.37 miles
AEG: 1,745 feet
Strava moving time: 3 hrs 30 mins (estimated)
Strava elapsed time: 5 hrs 30 mins (estimated)
Driving Directions:
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From Tucson, head over to Oracle Road (AZ Rt. 77) and follow Oracle Road North toward the Biosphere 2 and town of Oracle.
As you get closer to Oracle, you will see a Ford Dealership on the left side of the road.
Continue for roughly 0.5 miles past this.
Turn right onto W American Ave (follow signs for Oracle), continue for 2.4 mi.
Turn right onto E Mt Lemmon Hwy, continue for 0.3 mi.
Turn right onto N Cody Loop Rd, continue for 0.8 mi.
Destination will be on the right.
You can park on the left side of the road near a water tower.
You will see a trail on the South side of the road, just past the water tower.
This trailhead is called "Oracle Ridge Trail at Cody Loop Road".
Note: The drive is paved the entire way. You can easily get there in any passenger car. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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