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| Hiking | 3.00 Miles |
500 AEG |
| | Hiking | 3.00 Miles | | | |
| 500 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | | Decided to try an approach to Black Point from the east. Driving access was easy enough by taking Silver King Rd. to Apache Land Drive (unmarked but shown on topo maps) and then heading north about 1.5 miles onto and across State Trust Lands. At this point [33.30789N, 111.30437W] there was adequate parking for a number of vehicles and a trail heading due west. I had passed 2 additional likely access points before parking [33.30399N, 111.30618W and 33.30555N, 111.30572W] but wasn't certain if they were private lands. I headed due west from the parking area and simply bushwhacked downhill and then over the southerly end of peak 2191 until I reached Whitlow Canyon at a point on the northerly extreme of section 34 [33.20864N, 111.31187W]. I continued heading west across the canyon and into the drainage coming down from the southerly extreme of Black Point. Heading up the drainage was a relatively simple matter of tracking cow paths until I reached a point that seemed ripe for an assault on the cliffs above. The climb was not nearly as difficult as it had first appeared and I tracked the remnants of what had been small waterways created by rains descending from the mesa. Footing was fairly solid and there was relatively little confrontation with catclaw and palo verde. Upon reaching the top I immediately turned south in order to have a better view of the valley below. Contrary to Joe's earlier experience, this section of the mesa was a veritable cholla farm and impossible to negotiate without picking up at least a few of the thorns. After carefully navigating to the southerly tip and enjoying the views, I made my way north to the higher elevations of Black Point and more friendly terrain. After exploring to my heart's content I descended back into the drainage, but elected an easier return path to the jeep by following cow paths all the way back to Apache Land Drive. Joe, I've included the GPS route for the return trek but realize that you may not wish to post same- definitely not an area for beginning hikers. |
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