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| Hiking | 8.60 Miles |
2,169 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.60 Miles | 6 Hrs 30 Mns | | 1.32 mph |
| 2,169 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Note: I did this hike in conjunction with Non-Persondatory Peak, a peak that I have hiked before.
I arrived at the trailhead at 11 am and thought I had plenty of time to finish this hike before dark. I followed the well-maintained Orcut trail for the first 2.3 miles. The trail was in excellent shape. After 2.3 miles, I decided I needed to get off trail and head in the direction of Trail's End peak. My friend Brian did this hike 2 years ago and recommended heading for the low saddle just North of the summit. The place where I got off trail was right near the park boundary (see GPS file).
Within a few minutes I came across a deep canyon that looked like a slot canyon. Some of the walls were steep and rocky. Luckily, I found an area where I could enter the canyon safely. From this location, I was able to walk South to a canyon junction and then climb up out of the canyon. The canyon was too deep and narrow to follow and at times very brushy. My goal was to get to higher ground where I could see what direction I was going.
I continued going in the direction of the antennas for about 1/3 of a mile. It seemed that I had to cross 3 or 4 canyons in that 1/3 mile section. The first canyon was the steepest. After that, the canyons that followed weren't too bad. After hiking 1/3 mile, I got to a wide ridge that seemed to go up pretty high and in the right direction so I followed it. I noticed that to the right was a very deep and wide canyon. I thought I would probably have to cross it at some point, but better to cross it up higher where the canyons were not so deep. I continued for roughly another 1/3 of a mile and saw a saddle just up ahead. There was a huge boulder before the saddle which was a great place to stop to get shade, water, and a snack. Yes, shade in late December! The high temp was supposed to be 79 today. After taking a break, I continued to the saddle. There was a shallow canyon heading South from here. There was a use trail leading along the East side of the canyon which I followed for a while. I kept heading South and East which was the way the canyon was heading. Up ahead I saw power lines in the distance and noticed they went directly up to Trail's End peak. From where I was, I thought it might be possible to follow those power lines up and looking at the slope it didn't look too bad. Getting to the saddle North of Trail's End peak appeared to be more difficult because of the many canyons in the way. Also, I was trying to avoid side-hilling.
I finally got the to the canyon where the power lines went up. I found a way to get on the ridge just South of where the power lines were. This ridge appeared to get me to the base of a huge rock formation and then I would just need to curve left and go for the summit. From where I was, the angle of incline really didn't look too bad, and it wasn't until I was about 500 feet from the summit. The final 500 feet was insanely steep. It was probably Class 3 climbing as I had to use my hands often. I tried to step on the larger rocks because the gravelly areas were very slippery. I kept moving up and made it to the summit. I didn't see a US survey marker or registry anywhere. The high point appeared to the West edge of the fence. The towers and radio equipment were all surrounded by fence. I walked around and took some photos and video. There wasn't much else to see so I left the summit.
Instead of taking the insanely steep route down, I decided to follow the ridgeline North toward Non-Persondatory peak and then down from there. This ridgeline was much worse than I expected. It was extremely rugged in some areas and there were cliffs. It would be nearly impossible to follow the top of the ridgeline all the way over. It is necessary to drop down below the ridgeline in many area. For me, it was sometimes the left side and sometimes the right side. At times I felt like there must have been better ways. I believe it took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get from Trail's End peak to Non-Persondatory peak, which was only 0.7 miles.
When I got to Non-Persondatory peak I found a plastic jar stuffed with several old registries and 1 relatively new one. I think this peak needs a 2nd jar or larger jar. I signed my name and saw our names from 2022 when we were there before. The last time was in May and the temp in Tucson that day was supposed to be 97. We started hiking early in the morning, and got to the peak around 10 am. I remember it being very hot. May is definitely not a good time to be hiking at that low elevation. December is much nicer and I would recommend December, if you decide to do this hike. This hike is quite difficult and you really need to be a bit crazy to want to attempt this off-trail loop. It will be a very good workout for anyone.
After getting to Non-Persondatory, I followed our previous route down. The route is not obvious in some places and there are some cliffs to go around. Again, sometimes it's better to go left of the ridgeline and sometimes right. I remember one or two class 3 climbing areas on this route. One is the chute near the very top, and the 2nd is going down an 8 foot wall which seems to have 2 major weaknesses near the middle. I kept working my way down the ridgeline and saw the familiar dam in the canyon to my right. I walked down to get a photo, then exited the canyon, and picked up a use trail that continued South. About 500 feet South of the dam was the old foundation which looked the same as it did in 2022. From here the trail continues South and you'll see some park boundary markers just up ahead. From the boundary, it was 2.3 miles on pretty good trail to get back to the Ringtail trailhead and end of the Orcut trail.
If you attempt this hike, better to get there early, bring a lot of water, and a GPS track which will save you time trying to figure out which side of the ridge to be on.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip) : 8.63
AEG : 2,169 feet
Strava moving time : 4 hrs 18 mins
Strava elapsed time : 7 hrs 25 mins |
| _____________________
Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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