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| Dos Titos South & North, AZ | | -
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| | Dos Titos South & North, AZ | | | |
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Dos Titos South & North, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.28 Miles |
1,357 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.28 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 1.06 mph |
| 1,357 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This was one of the last remaining high prominence peaks that I haven't done yet within a 40 mile radius of Tucson. I also hiked Dos Titos North which was only a few minutes out of the way.
From my parking spot, I headed West through the open desert aiming for the summit. Within about 500 feet I found a barbed wire fence which I slid under. There were no signs anywhere along this fence and it was probably use to keep cattle in a certain grazing area. Of course whenever cattle have been in an area it makes the hiking so much better. They tend to graze down all of the brush, even cactus apparently. Glad they like the taste of it!
In the first 1.25 miles there are 3 or 4 wash crossings which are pretty easy. The washes are lined with some thorns bushes and other brush so you may need to do some weaving to get across. On the 2nd wash, I noticed a lot of drug runner trash - plastic bottles (black & clear), metal cans, backpacks, clothing, blankets, sneakers, socks, trash bags, glass jars, and more. I probably saw a total of 50 backpacks the entire day. I could tell most of this stuff had been there a while. Mostly everything was sun damaged. The backpack material could be easily ripped. I spent some time looking through the items and found a blanket in pretty good condition that looked Chinese (not the Walmart Chinese if you know what I mean!). Maybe it was in better condition because it was shaded more. I took many photos and some video.
I continued heading West toward Dos Titos South. Along the way I found some ironwood trees which this area is known for having. I continued, staying left of a canyon and working my way up toward a saddle. Once at the saddle, I saw that I could follow another ridgeline almost all the way to the summit. The final few hundred feet were very steep and had a lot of scree. I kept going up zig-zagging at times. When it got really steep, I continued West below some vertical cliffs and found a channel that was much easier and safer to follow. The footing was better here and I made it to the summit within a few minutes.
At the summit, I looked around for a registry but didn't find one. Luckily, I had a jar which I placed in a rock pile, starting a new registry. I took some photos and video, had a short lunch and then headed over to Dos Titos North. Getting from the South peak to the saddle wasn't quite as steep as my ascent and I was able to find larger rocks and flatter areas heading down. At the saddle, the climb to Dos Titos North was less elevation but the footing wasn't great. There were some scree areas that could not easily be avoided. I just took my time and zig-zagged as much as I could. At this summit, I didn't see a registry. There wasn't much to see here except for the views of Dos Titos South.
Next, I headed East down the ridgeline. It looked very steep but I figured that I could zig-zag and stay on the larger rocks. This worked out well for the first 500 feet. After that, there were some unstable scree areas with loose rock and smaller rock. I had to basically make my own switchbacks here, navigating around the ocotillo, cholla, thorn bushes, etc. I spent a lot of time getting from this steep area down to the flatter ridgeline below. Once I got to the ridgeline below, I was able to move faster. Once on the ridgeline, I saw some javelina running away from me and down into the canyon to the South. I kept following the ridgeline down. On my route back, there were a few wash crossings. When I got back to the same wash that had all of the drug runner trash, I saw more drug runner trash and I was roughly 1,000 feet North of where I crossed the wash on my way up. I decided to walk South and see just how much trash there was. I walked about 1,000 feet of the wash and in this 1,000 feet, there wasn't a single 50 foot section the entire way that didn't have a lot of trash!! I took photos and a video. I even found an overhang in the wash where it looked like a large number of drug runners hung out. All I can say is if you have any doubt that our Southern US border is secure, I challenge you to go to this place and see it all for yourself. See the waypoints on my route. The amount of trash in these areas may shock you!
I exited the wash and continued East back to my parking area.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 5.28 miles
AEG: 1,357 feet
Strava moving time: 3 hrs 4 mins
Strava elapsed time: 5 hrs 56 mins (time spent looking through a lot of drug runner trash, looking for pottery, rocks, etc.)
Driving Directions:
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Note: I did this drive in my high clearance Chevy Colorado truck on a DRY DAY. I didn't need to use the 4x4 option on this drive.
From NW Tucson, take Ina West of I-10 and pass Silverbell Rd.
Continue to Wade road and make a left (Note: There is no stop sign here. Proceed through the intersection and turn left)
continue on Wade Rd for 0.6 mi.
N Wade Rd turns slightly right and becomes W Picture Rocks Rd, continue for 6.6 mi.
Turn left onto N Sandario Rd, continue for 2.5 mi.
Turn right onto W Manville Rd, continue for 7 miles on paved road.
Manville Rd turns to dirt here but it's still a pretty good road that is well graded.
Continue West for 3.5 miles.
There will be some alternative paths around the sandy areas which you may want to take.
The road will get rockier in this area.
Continue West for 1.5 miles.
You will see a Y-junction up ahead.
The left junction goes to private property - The Agua Blanca Cattle Ranch.
Take a right here and continue for 0.5 more miles to another North/South road junction.
You can park near the junction and obviously do not block the road.
Park at approximately this location: 32.271362, -111.42204 |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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