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| Cottonwood Peak (7100) - Whetstones, AZ | |
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| | Cottonwood Peak (7100) - Whetstones, AZ | | | |
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Cottonwood Peak (7100) - Whetstones, AZ
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| Hiking | 11.54 Miles |
3,047 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.54 Miles | 7 Hrs | | 1.65 mph |
| 3,047 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This was my first time visiting Kartchner Caverns State Park and 2nd time ever hiking in the Whetstones. The first time was Apache peak (7711) which was a tough hike, very rocky, quite steep, and no known trail.
I was originally planning on doing 2 summits but including Peak 7344 would have been a bushwhack from HELL from the Cottonwood peak summit (more below). I'll save that one for a different day, or maybe I'll just skip that one! I would like to go back sometime and hike East peak which is about 400 feet less elevation change as compared to Cottonwood. It also appears that there may be a use trail going in that direction from the saddle. Whether it goes all the way to East peak is unknown since there aren't any trip reports for it (yet)!
Trails taken:
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Guindani trail #398
Cottonwood Saddle trail #386
open country/bushwhack to summit
The Guindani trail is a loop trail and either branch can be taken to get the Cottonwood Saddle trail. It's 1.8 miles to get to the junction if you take the Northern branch and 2.6 miles if you take the Southern branch. I took the Northern branch up and the Southern branch down, although the Southern branch has some extra uphill portions if you take it back like I did. This trail is well-maintained and you'll be hiking through oak, mesquite, manzanita, agave, ocotillo, etc. You'll see a few gates along the way. Just keep them all closed after going through. Some of the gates don't latch properly, but for those cases, there was a chain with a carabiner holding the gate closed.
Eventually the Guindani loop trail will meet the Cottonwood Saddle trail which heads up higher and further West. Continue on this well-maintained trail to the saddle. Higher up you should see more manzanita trees, some rainbow cactus, some pines, etc. Not far from the saddle you'll see an old concrete cistern that was dry when I passed it and not being used apparently. There's a barbed wire fence at the saddle and for me it was a total of 4.1 miles to the saddle taking the shorter Nothern branch of the Guindani loop trail.
There's a primitive gate at the saddle and some low fence areas within 100 feet of the saddle. I stepped over the fence and started following the fence West toward Cottonwood Peak. You can start going up on either side of the fence and on the route up you will probably cross the fence a few times. Higher up on the ridgeline, the barbed wire is basically laying on the ground. Not sure whether this is a problem for cattle. I didn't see or hear any cattle out there, but I did see a few piles of poop from cattle and even bear along the trail and higher up in the "open Country" area.
At the saddle, if you look to the West and UP, you will see a high point and another high point just behind the first one. Cottonwood peak is the rocky high point in the back. On the way up to Cottonwood peak, the grade got a bit steeper, but the terrain made it fairly easy to walk up. I had to weave around some pines, oaks, etc. There are definitely many ways to go and you'll find some use trails, whether made by hikers or animals. If you stay near the center of the ridgeline you should be OK for the most part. When the brush gets too thick, just go around it.
At the summit, I found a rock pile with a glass jar registry inside. There were a lot of ladybugs around, which seems to be typical at many summits around here. I took photos of all of the registry pages and the oldest I remember seeing was from around 1991. The older registry pages were sun damaged. This is why I typically like to put a few rocks around and above the jar to block any sunlight from coming in. I had part of my lunch, took some photos and a video and decided head toward to Peak 7344, which was my 2nd planned peak of the day.
It took me roughly 30 minutes to travel 1,000 feet from the East end to the West end of Cottonwood peak. The brush was thick, I didn't see any cairns and no real trail. From the West end of Cottonwood peak, I looked across at Peak 7344. It was a pretty long distance down a messy ridgeline. The route going UP appeared to be better but I could see myself wasting too much time going down through the messy brush. I decided it wasn't worth it. I was already looking at a 10-11 mile roundtrip it I turned around from this point and went back the way I came.
There must be a better route to get to Peak 7344. I can't imagine anyone wanting to hike that from Cottonwood peak. Even the wild animals, except the birds, probably look at that route and say "screw it!". I'm not sure if I will ever have the motivation to attempt Peak 7344, unless there is some hidden trail or a better way to go. These Whetstone mountains have some rugged terrain for sure!!
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 11.54 miles
AEG: 3,047 feet
Strava moving time: 6 hrs 0 mins, but I didn't take 3 hrs in breaks!
Strava elapsed time: 8 hrs 49 mins
Driving Directions:
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Take I-10 East from Tucson or Phoenix toward Benson, AZ.
Follow I-10 E to AZ-90 S in Benson.
Take exit 302 from I-10 E.
Use the right 2 lanes to take exit 302 for AZ-90 E toward Ft Huachuca/Sierra Vista.
Follow AZ-90 S to your destination, continue for 9 miles.
Turn right when you see the entrance for Kartchner Caverns State Park.
The day use fee was $7 ($3.50 with military discount) which does not include access to the cave.
Continue to trailhead parking for Guindani trail
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If anyone is interested in East peak, you're welcome to message me! |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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