| |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 7.18 Miles |
2,320 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.18 Miles | 5 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.31 mph |
| 2,320 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | URL Link: bmgr.recaccess.com
Note: This hike is in "Area A" of the Sonoran Desert National Monument, overlaps the Barry Goldwater region and requires a permit. Please visit this website to get a free permit which is good for 1 year: bmgr.recaccess.com
Maricopa peak is on Javelina mountain in the Sand Tank mountains which is a part of the Sonoran Desert National Monument AND "Area A" of the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Base. I never saw a place that had so many complex descriptive names before. Maricopa peak is the high point of the Sand Tank mountains.
Brian and I drove to meet Michael B here at 10 am. Michael and I chatted for many months but today was the first time we met, and this was the first hike we decided on together since none of us hiked this before. The high temp was supposed to be 80 today, a little above average for early February. This is a winter hike! Do not attempt this hike in the warmer months!
From our meeting point, we drove South and eventually crossed into the Sonoran Desert National Monument. Looking West we could see the semi-famous Squaw perks that I hiked a while back.
We parked near a camp site and started off following a route posted by Paul M. The route follows a road for about 1/3 of a mile, then turns left off the road after that. There were many hills along the way and you won't get a clear look at the summit until after you pass over many of the hills in the way. Every time we climbed up to a hill and looked at the summit, we noticed that there were more hills and ridgelines in front of us. We kept weaving through the hills and crossed a few canyons along the way. Finally, we saw 2 ridgeline heading up in the direction of the summit. The easier of the 2 ridgelines appeared to be the one further away. We hiked up the right side of this final canyon a bit, crossed the rocky canyon and then started up the ridge to the summit. The summit was out of sight at this point.
On the way to the summit, pretty close to the summit we found a large antenna. From here, we only had another minute to the summit. We found a registry that was surprisingly in good condition. It was placed there in December 1983 by Gordon MacLeod and Barbara Lilley. Quite impressive! The registry entry previous to ours was from Dec 2023, so nobody summited this peak in all of 2024.
On the way down we decided to stay more on the "C" shaped ridgeline, West of our route going up. We thought the route going down might be easier but it was not. On a few occasions we needed to drop left or right below the rocky ridgeline. In one spot, we went too far West and ended up following the wrong ridgeline. Once we realized this, we tried curving around and ran into some steep dropoffs so we decided to work our way down into the canyon below. The canyon below was a bit messy so we needed to weave a bit and hike along the sides at times. When we got lower, the canyon opened up and was easier to walk through. Brian and Mike B were slightly ahead of me in the sandy canyon. When I saw that I was just West of the road according to the topo map, I got out of the winding wash and got onto the old road. This road allowed me to make better time. Brian and Mike B made their way to the road and by this time I caught up to them, then we walked the road back to our parking spot.
Stats:
--------
Distance (round trip): 7.18 miles
AEG: 2,320 feet
Strava moving time: 4 hrs 21 mins
Strava elapsed time: 6 hrs 35 mins |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
 |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
