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| Eagle Peak - Little Rincons, AZ | |
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| | Eagle Peak - Little Rincons, AZ | | | |
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Eagle Peak - Little Rincons, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.55 Miles |
1,330 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.55 Miles | 4 Hrs | | 1.39 mph |
| 1,330 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I arrived in the early afternoon and decided that I had time to hike Eagle peak on my first day of a 3 day hiking camping trip. Looking back, I'm glad I decided to hike Eagle peak on the first day, and save Bald Mt + Forest Hill for day 2. Doing all 3 in one day would make for a very long and tiring day.
I set up my tent first and started hiking around 2:30 pm. I knew I had plenty of time to finish this hike since much of it was road. I started walking on the 4x4 road going toward Eagle peak. Along this walk I crossed a small stream which had some flowing water and saw an area further up ahead with dense packed saguaros. I could see Eagle peak off to my left. After walking about 1.8 miles of 4x4 road I decided it looked like a good place to get off the road and start heading toward the base of Eagle peak.
The South face had some steep cliffs and I thought the best approach would be to hike to the saddle East of the peak and then up from there. After I got off the road, I needed to climb up a hill so I could get a better view. There was a lot of brush in this area, and some of it had thorns. This part of the hike was slow going. I also had to carefully cross a barbed wire fence that ran North South. I believe this fence was the boundary between Forest Service land and AZ State Trust land. I got some scrapes along the way from the brush but kept working my way toward the steep ridgeline. When I got closer to the uphill portion, the brush thinned out a bit and I was able to dodge the brush easier and focus more on getting up the incline. By the way, my route going down was much better in terms of avoiding brush, so I'd recommend taking my down route both ways.
Pretty soon, I found myself at the saddle. The middle of the saddle was messy with a lot of brush but there were enough gaps to weave around. I started climbing up toward Eagle peak which was only another 250 vertical feet or so. I noticed a lot of large limestone rock with jagged surfaces and holes on the way up. There was also a lot of ocotillo in bloom with the orange/red flowers. I had to zig-zag a bit to avoid the jagged rocks and brush.
At the summit, I found a large rock pile with a registry. The oldest entries were from 1989. I took photos of most of the old registry entries. Some of the pages were worn and hard to read. A new registry was started in 2021. There was a slight breeze and the temps felt great.
I hiked back to the saddle going roughly the same way down. When I got to the Western side of the saddle I noticed a use trail heading Southwest so I decided to try it. Right in this area was a saguaro with a new tiny arm forming. This is a good marker from far away on where you want to aim for when coming up this use trail. The trail turned out to be better than what I took coming up originally. Again, I had to cross a barbed wire fence after traveling another 750 feet or so. At a certain point, the use trail faded and I ended up choosing a ridgeline to walk down. There were a few options and I took the one that looked easiest. I kept heading South knowing the road was out there somewhere but couldn't see the road because it was hidden below the hills. When I got close to the road, the brush got thicker. I was able to make a sharp left and curve around to get down to the road. Where I entered the road was about 0.1 miles East of where I left the road on my ascent. From here, I had 1.9 miles of relatively easy 4x4 road to walk to get back to my starting point.
By the time I got back it was already starting to get dark. I was ready for dinner and was relieved that my campsite was all situated.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 5.55 miles
AEG: 1,330 feet
Strava moving time: 3 hrs 9 mins
Strava elapsed time: 4 hrs 59 mins
Driving Directions:
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High clearance required to get to where I parked.
*Note: You'll need 4x4 to get any further
From the Tucson area, take I-10 East toward Benson.
Before getting to Benson, take exit 297 for J-Six Ranch Rd toward Mescal Rd
After exiting, at the stop sign, set your odometer to zero.
Turn left onto S J 6 Ranch Rd, continue for 384 ft.
Continue North onto N Mescal Rd for 16.1 mi.
N Mescal Rd turns right and becomes E Happy Valley Rd. Continue for 2.0 mi.
Take a slight right and continue for roughly 0.4 miles.
There's a nice open area on the North side of the road which I camped at.
Your odometer should be at 18.5 miles.
After this point, the road gets worse and 4x4 is required.
I decided to park and set up camp before the road got really bad. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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