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| Hiking | 8.52 Miles |
1,596 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.52 Miles | 5 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.55 mph |
| 1,596 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: Our hike also included the summit of Peak 4497 which had about 80 feet of prominence but was a fun hike because it had a cliff band similar to Tam O'Shanter that was easier in comparison to hike up.
Brian and I parked near an old shed and started walking up the road. After walking for 0.6 miles, mostly uphill, we checked our GPS and realized we took the wrong road! So, we needed to back track down to the parking area, and pay more attention to the route. We had Jesse Johnson's route loaded and planned to follow that in general.
From where we parked, we took the 4x4 road for 2.7 miles until we got to the exit point below the saddle. After getting off the road, we found a use trail going up in the direction of the saddle. It looked like this trail was used by both animals and hikers. It was quite windy just about all day. After getting to the saddle, we noticed it was already close to 1 pm and decided to stop and have our lunch. We ended up hiking up to the base of the rocky cliffs and found a good spot that was mostly out of the wind. While up there, I noticed that we had good cell reception and I was able to get on HikeArizona dot com and download a GPS route from @Flying_Fliver. I noticed that his route climbed up a different area, which was around the corner on the West side of the cliff band. So, now we had 2 known routes to choose from and maybe we'd even find something else along the way.
After having our lunch, mostly out of the wind, we walked about 75 feet West and saw where Jesse's route went up. It was about 10 feet high and pretty vertical. Brian went to check it out and felt some loose rocks. I was curious what the other @Flying_Fliver route looked like. We hiked around to the West side of the cliff band and found a slot that was about 30 feet up and nearly vertical but seemed to have some good hand and foot holds all the way up. From the bottom, I could see a way up that was a bit challenging. I carefully climbed up and made it to the top. From there, I looked North and could see the summit not far away. This climb was by far the hardest part of the entire hike. I believe this was one of the hardest climb of any SAHC peaks I've done. I believe it was a harder climb than Thumb Butte, Paint Rock, Valentine Peak, and Table Tooth to name a few that all had some tough climb sections. Brian came up the wall next and then we walked right over to the summit.
At the summit, we found a US survey marker and a registry under a rock pile. The registry had entries going back to 2010 and the paper was quite dry and flakey. There were some great views all around us. We could see the Pinals to the North, and we believed we could see the Superstitions to the Northwest. Looking South we could see the snow covered Mt Lemmon with some other tiny features in the Catalinas which were familiar peaks to us such as Pusch peak, Bighorn peak, Table Mountain, Mt Kimball, Prominent Point, and Cathedral Rock. It was quite windy at the top, so we signed the registry, took our photos/videos and headed down.
At the 30 foot climbing section, I started to go down first. I got halfway down and didn't feel comfortable with the exposure on the next big step, especially carrying my heavy backpack. After a few minutes of analysis, I ended up finding a better safer step going to the North with better places to step and hold onto. Then, I was able to spin around the 5 foot tall boulder in the middle to reach the same channel we came up to the begin with. This climb is definitely not for novices or casual hikers. If you go up this section, remember that you will have to go down and your backpack may get in the way. It may be helpful to use a rope to raise/lower your backpack if necessary. Going down this wall was by FAR the hardest part of the entire hike. I might even call it Class 3+ because of the exposure and depending on the route.
We walked back around and down to the saddle, then decided to summit the nearby Peak 4497, which has no official name but I named it this because 4497 was the highest elevation that I was able to record. We built a rockpile on the top which will probably last for 1,000 years! From there, we hiked back down to the saddle and down the way we came, getting back to the trailhead well before dark. We had some time to get a few more photos and check out some interesting rocks.
Another emblem peak finished and only about 6 more to go!
Stats:
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Distance (round trip): 8.52 miles
AEG: 1,596 feet
Strava moving time: 4 hrs 0 mins
Strava elapsed time: 7 hrs 12 mins
Driving Directions:
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From Tucson, take Oracle road / AZ-77 North for roughly 58.0 mi.
When you get to the town of Winkelman, turn left onto AZ-177 N, and continue for 3.6 mi.
Turn right onto unmarked gravel road.
Continue for 2.3 miles and turn left.
Continue for 1.2 more miles.
Hopefully the gate is open. If so, pass through the gate.
Continue for 1.0 more miles.
You will see an old shed up ahead on the left side of the road
Look for a large open area to the right and park here.
Note: We made it just fine with a RWD high clearance vehicle. The road is a bit rugged in a few places. High clearance is required on this drive. |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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