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| Mine Mountain via FR #1521, AZ | |
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| | Mine Mountain via FR #1521, AZ | | | |
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Mine Mountain via FR #1521, AZ
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| Hiking | 6.70 Miles |
1,520 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.70 Miles | 3 Hrs 31 Mns | | 1.95 mph |
| 1,520 ft AEG | 5 Mns Break | 12 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | While scrolling across the map looking for ideas for a hike on-trail (mostly anyway) yet either new to us or not in some time, Mine Mountain in the Four Peaks Wilderness caught my eye.
For various reasons, only two of the seven previous hikes out Forest Road #1521 between 2013 & 2021 did I reach the summit. The first, in March 2013 was more-or-less a straight out-and-back to the summit. The last time, in July 2016 I did a CCW loop first to the summit of Peak 4731, then to the overlook of the Malpais Cliffs before heading over to the summit of Mine Mountain.
Only two times was Tracey with me, but neither time did we reach the summit. The closest Tracey had been was in late December 2014, when we turned back about 1500' & 850' of elevation from the summit due to deep snow.
Since then, the last three attempts weren't really expected to reach the summit because I no longer had the Cherokee, which being easily capable of driving out to the end of FR 1521 made for shorter hikes.
Although it turned out the 4Runner would have been capable of going well over halfway, albeit probably crawling through a few sketchy areas, due to what I remembered in 2021 we decided to hoof it from within a few hundred yards of the start of FR 1521. And so again, with the long road walk the plan is to take our time and see how it goes. If we reach the summit, great, if not, oh well.
Ok, let's get hiking.
Although Forest Road #1521 winds a lot with plenty of ups & downs for plenty of variety, it's still a road-walk so it could be boring... if one didn't take in all the cool geology along the way.
The temps ranged from mid-50's to just topping 70° at the end, so with a slight breeze it was just right. The first part has an easy but steady rise in elevation, but once past the end of the Forest Road (remnants of an old mining road comes next) things get a bit interesting as for a 1/4 mile or so the erosion is so bad it's hard to tell where the 'road' was. There were a few spots we wound around thick and thorny vegetation, which I would have cut and continued through... if only I had my shears along, which I hadn't expected a need for.
Now back 'on track' the slope angle rises, along with the respiration and heart rate. After a steady climb on various switchbacks we reached a deep washout in the mining road where we had turned back 3-1/2 years ago. It took a few minutes before deciding to cross it and continue, as it didn't seem as bad as previously, probably due to use by various game, notably coyote.
Once across we continued along the by-now almost obliterated mining road. When we reached an intersection of sorts, it was decision time. I/we had always ascended toward the North but when I had reached the summit, I had only descended from the NE. So do we try going up my earlier descent route, or continue as we had in the past?
Neither... although it was far from lunchtime, Tracey spotted a group of nice big flat boulders, and decided it was break/nap? time. After taking in the scenic views along with a quick snack, it was agreed, "no summit today", and we'd take a short side-trip on the return.
While descending the switchbacks I looked down at the thick vegetation route we had followed on the way up, and by noting where the actual old route was, we were able to make it back along an easier route... with but one spot where a quick few snips with my hand trimmer, we were through without so much as a scratch.
Shortly after reaching Forest Road 1521 we took a short detour to the East to the spot where I had parked the Jeep for my Peak 4731/Mine Mountain loop back in July 2016. The slope looks every bit as steep as back then, when I had written "STEEP climb almost right away" and to which, today, Tracey quipped (or likely thought) something like "a lot of effort and for what", but then again, when I have a solid goal in mind, it's just taken one-step-at-a-time.
I pretty much thought the return road-walk would be boring, but again geology came to the rescue... as well as spotting something shiny... or at least metallic. Yup it was off-trail through thorny vegetation, but here was a concrete water tank I had not seen in all the times I driven or hiked FR 1521. Sure, it was at the top of a rise above the road, but now knowing it is there, it's easy t spot when headed to the East. I noticed it from the West only because the sun hit the sheet metal just right. Weirdly enough, although there were two galvanized pipes coming out of the ground and through the concrete tank wall, we were unable to determine if they fed the tank, as we could not find any pipes farther away, and the metal sheet was covering the inside of the tank so we could see if the pipes actually brought water in. On the day, we saw no water at all... not even the drainage near Mine Mountain Spring, so where did the water come from?
Back to the car we could now see who the shooters were that we had heard for almost the whole hike... the only time we didn't was when we were in the 'shadow' of the reports. Of the different groups, the closest to us was a group of 4 late-teens and maybe a 13 year old? boy who had the unenviable job of running out to reset the targets... when and IF they were hit. Seemed like they had some very small handguns (.22?) and at least one shotgun, 10 or 12 gauge by the look/sound/kick of it.
Just before reaching the car we heard one zing of ricochet coming from some distance in the opposite direction, so we wasted little time hitting the road. As much traffic of ATV's UTV's (most being rentals) in the area, it was the full-size vehicles who had the hardest time staying on their side of the road.
Although there was plenty of traffic just after 11 am when back on Bush Highway, things seemed relatively chill... of course it's usually around noon before the late risers are out and in a hurry to get to the lake, Butcher Jones or The Rolls.
Close... but no summit today (~1100' elevation short), but another great day to be out hiking. |
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