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| Saddle Mountain Galiuros, AZ | |
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| | Saddle Mountain Galiuros, AZ | | | |
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Saddle Mountain Galiuros, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.39 Miles |
1,501 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.39 Miles | 4 Hrs 29 Mns | | 1.55 mph |
| 1,501 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | | | |
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| no partners | | First of all, I need to thank Francisco M. and the Simpson family for hosting me at their amazing ranch property off of Sunset loop road. The property is truly amazing and has a lot of historic importance.
Francisco and I originally planned on starting this hike a bit earlier in the day, but the driving time was longer than expected. Plus, we had a late lunch and didn't want to hike immediately after eating. The drive from the ranch property to our starting point took a real long time. We took the same road that you would take to go to Reiley in the Winchester Mountain range, but didn't go quite as far.
We arrived at the trailhead around 5.30 pm. It was warm but the sun was going down and we knew it would just be getting more comfortable as time went on. We were unsure of the terrain in this area and we were hoping for a good use trail beyond the 4x4 road on the topo map. After walking the 4x4 road for about 400 feet we saw a campsite and the road seemed to end, however we saw a fairly clear trail continuing from the campsite area. The trail lowered us down into the wash a few times but there always seemed to be some kind of trail exiting the wash and following the wash going in the direction of Saddle peak. After hiking about 0.3 miles we saw a cairn in the wash and a good trail exited the wash to the left.
After about 3/4 mile, the trail starting climbing the hill on the left (South) side of the wash and by the time we reached 1 mile we were way above the wash and it was still a good trail. We continued and a bit past 1 mile we noticed that we were hiking straight toward a barbed wire fence that was in front us. Once we got to the fence, we turned left and noticed that the fence led directly to the saddle where we wanted to be. We decided it would be fine to follow the fence line. There were a few dips and it got a bit steep right below the saddle but we kept moving and made it up to a another barbed wire fence at the saddle that was were able to step over. We turned right and found a primitive gate that we walked through to get to the middle of the saddle.
We took a short break at the saddle and looked around. Here we found an old metal trough that was mostly empty and a small horned toad. There were signs of cattle in this area as well as all along the trail we were on from the bottom to this point. We always are glad to see evidence of cattle because they eat the grass, blaze a good trail and make it easier to see the ground so we can avoid walking into rattlesnakes. For the entire hike up to this point we were able to see our footing well and the ground around us.
From the saddle, we had a good look at Saddle Mtn, or at least the Northern part of the 'double summit', which was all we could see from this angle. There were a few ways to proceed from this point, but we decided to hike around peak 5745, staying relatively high and aiming for the center of a high saddle / land bridge to take us closer to Saddle Mtn. This high saddle was a unique area because it connected 5745 with Saddle mtn, and on the left and right sides there were deep canyons. After crossing the saddle, we had another 600 feet to get to the summit, but it didn't look like much from this point. We followed some cattle trails and had to zig-zag a bit to get higher. As we got near the top, the terrain got rockier and there were fewer cattle trails. My guess is the cows could make it all the way to the top and they would be interested in getting up there on a warmer day. We didn't see any cattle for our entire hike this time. When we got to the Northern peak, we realized that we still had another 1/3 mile to go to get to the Southern peak. There was some shin dagger here and the terrain was rocky. The cows probably avoided this area for that reason. We were losing light at this point and pushed forward to make it the summit.
There was a huge summit monument at the top which I was able to get a photo of before darkness. At the summit, we also found a memorial stone for Lester P Stewart who was born March 16th, 1912 and died on the same day in 1991. He apparently died on his 79th birthday. The stone said he was a father and sportsman and 'rest in peace on your beloved mountains'. At the summit, we also found a registry which we were able to sign and photograph. There were only a handful of names with the earliest being in 2013. Amy P, I found your business card at the top! I knew you had been here because we talked about this peak earlier in the week. We both had some concerns about rattlesnakes this time of the year, but it was a non-issue for us on this day. The cattle grazed the grass well and we didn't feel in danger during any part of the hike. Maybe only a little cautious on the hike down the steep rocky slope at night but we had good light from our headlamps. By the way, according to my GPS device, the Southern part of the double summit was 3 feet higher than the Northern part.
On the way down, we tried to follow basically the same route. But, because of the darkness, we had a little bit of trouble finding the high saddle. We ended up hiking down too low on the Southeast side of the bridge, but ended up finding a decent trail that took us right back up to the saddle from the SE side. Once on the saddle, we crossed it and started seeing more pieces of trail leading back to the saddle East of 5745. Once there, we went through the primitive gate, and thought it was strange to see only 1 gate in this area. We searched around and found a 2nd gate further to the East and went through it. At this location, we found a different trail heading East and then Northeast. We took this trail for at least 1/4 mile, then realized it may not be leading us where we wanted to go. We found use trails/animal trails heading North and our plan was to intersect the same trail we were on earlier before dark. But, because of the darkness, we ended up crossing the original trail at some point, not seeing it. We got turned around in a few confusing areas and ended up having to check the GPS many times. We needed to do an open Country hike to get back to the main trail. Because of the darkness, we ended up getting off trail a few more times on the way down. Had it not been dark we would have been perfectly fine.
We took the trail back down to our starting point, then started the 4x4 drive on the rocky road back out. I believe it took us about 1 hour to drive from our starting point to the Forest Service boundary near Ash Creek road and Sunset Loop road. We saw a few campers along the final 1 mile of road before exiting the National Forest area.
All in all it was a great hike, but the drive is quite long and requires a lot of determination and patience!
Stats:
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5.39 miles round trip
1501 feet AEG
Strava moving time: 3 hrs 15 mins
Strava elapsed time: 4 hrs 29 mins
Directions:
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(4x4 required!)
**Driving directions: Take I-10 East toward Willcox.
Take exit 340 for AZ-186 E/Rex Allen Dr/Fort Grant Rd
0.3 mi
Turn left onto AZ-186 W/Fort Grant Rd/W Rex Allen Dr
Continue to follow Fort Grant Rd for 14.9 mi
Continue onto S Brookerson Rd for 3.0 mi
Turn left onto W Ash Creek Rd for 17.2 mi
Turn left to stay on Ash creek Rd, also known as FSR 660. Note: Sunset loop continues North from this point.
Zero your odometer at this junction.
0.0 miles: go west on FSR 660
0.65 miles: turn left onto FSR 659. There will be a few road junctions along the way, but there are signs at most of the junctions indicating which way FSR 659 goes.
Follow FSR 659 for about 5.3 miles.
You will see a junction where you will turn right and then within about 200 feet you will cross a wash.
Park off the side of the road just past the wash crossing.
There is a campsite area another 400 feet up the road.
See route for more info... |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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