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| Hiking | 6.63 Miles |
1,727 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.63 Miles | 5 Hrs 10 Mns | | 1.81 mph |
| 1,727 ft AEG | 1 Hour 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | When I arrived at my parking area, it was already around 2 pm. I took a quick late lunch and felt I had enough time to finish this hike before dark. I started off on the road and hiked about 1.74 miles in 45 minutes. The road was fast moving and well-maintained. 80% of the road was nice soft dirt, and the other 20% was rocky. I probably could have driven down some/all of this road but I didn't bother trying. After several hours being stuck in the truck, I was ready to walk.
Thanks to Wade Luther for posting the only known GPS route for this hike. I ended up following his route up with a few minor variations and then I took another route down because of the terrible wind! Once I left the road, there was some brush but in following Wade's route, there were good ways to get around it all. The slope up ahead looked very steep but as I got higher up it wasn't too bad. I found some cattle trails in the lower part of the slope which helped. It seems like I only got off track once on the way up. Near the top it got a bit steeper but there seemed to be deer trails or perhaps hiker trails leading up.
Once on the ridgeline, I felt the wind getting stronger. The ridgeline was a bit rocky in some places and therefore slow going. There were times I needed to stay up high and times I needed to drop down to get around some of the rock formations. I kept moving and saw a few false summits along the way. Eventually I could see what I thought was the high point. But, there were actually 3 rocky high points near the very end. I ended up climbing up and over the first rocky section which involved a class 3 climb on the way up and class 2 on the way down. For the second section, it was possible to hike around it to the left, dropping down a bit, and on the 3rd section, it was possible to walk right up the rocks. All in all it was a fun hike and easy climb near the end. But, the wind which felt like 40-50 MPH gusts were the worst part of this hike.
At the summit, I found and old registry in a snapple bottle. The paper was soaked and there was even some water inside the jar. Luckily I had a jar, so I created a new registry writing in known names from this website. I kept the new and old jars separate because I didn't want to risk getting the new registry wet. It was very windy at the summit but by sitting down I was able to get partially out of the wind. I was not looking forward to fighting the wind on the way down. I looked at the topo map and decided that I would try going down from the summit down to the road without going back the same way on the ridgeline. The were some cliffs to the North and East of the summit but luckily I was able to skirt my way around them and find a SAFE route down.
From the summit, I got down to the road in 1 hr 20 mins which I felt was a good solid time given the unknown terrain, route finding, etc. I was glad to be out of the wind when I got down lower. Once on the road, I had about 2.4 miles of road to get back to my starting point. It was just getting dark by the time I got to my truck but I didn't need any headlamps.
Timeline:
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1.74 mi , 45 mins - from parking area to road junction (all road)
2.45 mi , 45 mins - from road junction to top of ridgeline (steep)
3.03 mi , 45 mins - from ridgeline to summit with some class 3
4.23 mi , 1 hr 20 mins - from summit using alt route down to road (step in some places)
6.63 mi , 1 hr 10 mins - from far road junction to parking area (all road)
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 6.63 miles
AEG: 1,727 feet
Strava moving time: 3 hrs 35 mins
Strava elapsed time: 5 hrs 10 mins
Driving directions:
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From Phoenix/Tucson, take I-10 East toward Willcox, AZ.
About 11 miles East of Willcox...
Take exit 352 for US-191 toward Safford
Turn left onto US-191 N, continue for 17.0 mi
Turn left onto AZ-266 W (Stockton pass), continue for 11.0 mi
Turn left onto FSR 665 which may be unmarked.
You will probably see campers in this area. If you have high clearance you can drive up the road and there should be some private areas to park & camp if needed.
Another nice place to camp is Stockton pass campground which is only 1 mile West on AZ-266 and on the North side of the road. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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