| |
| Mineral Mountain Peak 3225 Peak 2819, AZ | |
|
| | Mineral Mountain Peak 3225 Peak 2819, AZ | | | |
|
|
Mineral Mountain Peak 3225 Peak 2819, AZ
| | |
|
| Hiking | 5.28 Miles |
1,452 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.28 Miles | 3 Hrs 20 Mns | | 1.58 mph |
| 1,452 ft AEG | | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Note: I did 2 other small peaks in conjunction with Mineral Mountain - Peak 3225 and Peak 2819. Both of the numbered peaks are shown on the topo map, but Peak 3225 only has a little over 100 feet of prominence.
Right where I parked, I found a cattle trail exiting the wash and going up. I decided to take this. I kept moving Southeast and got to the road after about 500 feet. I followed the road about 0.5 miles, then made a left to go in the direction of where the peak was. I continued along the road for another 1/3 mile until I found a dry cattle tank with a storage tank nearby. There was evidence that cattle were here. At this point, there was a road continuing South up the ridgeline I wanted to go up, so I followed it. The road ended only after about 500 feet. At this point, my open Country hike began. I walked up the ridgeline in the direction of Peak 3225. This peak was on the topo map but not listed on Peakbagger probably because it only had roughly 100 feet of prominence. I decided to bag this peak because it was not far away. There wasn't much to see on this peak.
From Peak 3225, I could see it looked fairly easy to get to the Mineral Mountain high point from here. I just followed the ridgeline West and then Northwest. There were some pretty good cattle trails along this ridgeline. When I got to the last saddle, the cattle trails were not so well-defined. I ended up hiking North of the peak, and then doing a scramble to get onto the rock section. Once I was on the top of the ridgeline it was easy to get to the summit. There was nothing above class 2.
At the summit, I found a registry in a rock pile. I found an entry from January and another from December, then the next most recent was April 8th which was solar eclipse day. On the way down, I decided to go North and follow another ridgeline which was a more direct route to the road. On the way down I found some tailings and a small mining hole that looked way to small to go into. I followed a small portion of canyon and then got out of the canyon right near the dry pond & storage tank. At this point, I had only traveled 3.5 miles total and needing something else to do.
I checked peakbagger and found a peak called 2819 which had over 300 feet of prominence that was under 1 mile to the NW. There was a road going in that direction so I followed it. Along the way I saw a male cow standing near a rocky wall and chewing something. I walked within about 30 feet and the cow didn't run away which I thought was strange. I didn't get any closer cause I didn't know how it would react. Those horns are a bit intimidating. From here I followed a ridgeline to the top of Peak 2819. Once I reached the summit, I saw a group of 4 bighorn sheep about 400 feet away from me. Once they saw me, they ran South and around the mountain and then I could no longer see them. This happened to be in the direction of where the mining activity was. I did get a nice video.
From here I took one of the ridgelines heading Northeast and back down to the road. Then, I followed the road back down to where I parked my truck. All in all, this was a really great and enjoyable hike. I would do it again.
Stats:
-------
Distance (round trip): 5.28 miles
AEG: 1,452 feet
Strava moving time: 2 hrs 48 mins
Strava elapsed time: 4 hrs 20 mins
Driving directions:
-----------------------
From Tucson, take Oracle Rd/AZ 77 North toward Oro Valley and Catalina.
At Oracle junction, well before the town of Oracle, take AZ 79 West toward Florence.
Continue on AZ 79 West toward Florence.
Pass through the town of Florence.
About 10 miles past Florence you will look for Cottonwood Canyon Rd on your right.
Here is where the road turns to dirt.
Turn right here and continue.
RESET ODOMETER HERE...
There will be some washboard for the first 4 miles and it should be OK for most passenger vehicles.
After 3.1 miles stay right at the junction.
At 5.6 miles stay left to continue on Cottonwood canyon road.
The road gets a little rougher at this point and high clearance is highly recommended.
At 6.25 miles stay RIGHT, getting off of Cottonwood canyon road.
At 6.7 miles there's a rough spot but you can loop around it if you stay on the alternate road to the right.
If you don't have 4x4, you may want to look for a place to park before going too much further because the road will descend into the wash about 500 feet past here. You will need 4x4 OR good tires and some power to get up the hill on the way out.
At 6.8 miles the road will descend down into the wash.
At 7.25 miles stay right to exit the wash.
Even though I had 4x4, the road exiting the wash was very rocky and I felt like I could bottom out easily, so I decided to back up and park in the wash, but in a place where other cars/vehicles could get through.
Here's where I parked and started my hike.
My parking spot: 33.190414, -111.238101 |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
 |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
