Exploring the backcountry and wilderness of the Western USA.
Travel using both feet and hands, whether scrambling unroped or technical climbing using rope and anchors.
I first saw North Star Peak from the summit of Forest Hill, the highpoint of the Little Rincon Mountains, last March. It appeared to be an interesting peak and worth a visit. So I was eager to join other Southern Arizona Hiking Club members early December to climb it.
[Read more…] about North Star Peak, Arizona, December 2019On Saturday, September 21, I drove to Mickey Hot Springs, just north of the Alvord Desert east of Steens Mountain. Mickey Butte has only 6294 feet of elevation, but is the 80th most prominent peak in Oregon with 1934 feet of clean topographic prominence.
Saturday afternoon I met Michael and John for a climb of Mickey Butte the next day. This is a rather remote area and I was glad to have a couple of experienced and capable peakbaggers with me.
[Read more…] about Mickey Butte, Oregon, September 2019On Sunday, August 4, I hiked and scrambled up Broken Top South Peak in Central Oregon’s Cascade Range. This is the obvious, but not officially named peak 0.34 mile south of the actual summit of Broken Top. It has 454 feet of clean prominence and 9094 feet of elevation. It is most easily accessible from the Broken Top Trailhead which requires a high clearance vehicle to reach.
The Broken Top Trailhead is very popular since it provides access to the scenic “No Name Lake” below the east face of Broken Top. The parking spaces at the trailhead were full when I arrived, but I found parking beside the road nearby.
[Read more…] about Broken Top South Peak, Oregon, August 2019On Thursday, April 18, Linda and I and our dogs parked our trailer beside the Barnhardt Trailhead road and camped below the crest of the Mazatzal Mountains south of Payson, Arizona. We were boondocking, which meant we had no hookups but did have a lot of room for ourselves, dark nights, and little vehicle noise from AZ Highway 87 about a mile away. Our nearest neighbors were about half a mile away. We spent two nights camped there. Linda spent Friday morning mountain biking from our campsite up to the Barnhardt Trailhead. I spent Friday climbing nearby Mazatzal Peak.
From our campsite Mazatzal Peak rose directly to the west. Its summit was visible high on the left side of the peak. Suicide Ridge gently descended from it to the right then dropped steeply down towards the Barnhardt Trailhead further right.
[Read more…] about Mazatzal Peak, Arizona, April 2019