Hiking Reports

Travel using primarily feet only. Hands might be used with hiking poles for balance or uphill travel.

Santa Rita Peak 6280+, Arizona, January 2022

February 10, 2022 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Thursday, January 27, I visited the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. Specifically I explored the northern extension of the Santa Rita Mountains that leads towards Mount Fagan. Here a ridge of little peaks has over 1000 feet of topographic prominence. However, it is not obvious from maps which peak is the highest and therefore gets the coveted prominence.

Left to right: Peak 6290, Peak 6280+, Weigles Butte, Helvetia BM, and Harts Butte from AZ Hwy 83 north of Sonoita

There seemed to be three candidate peaks. On the latest topographic map Weigles Butte has a surveyed elevation of 6284 feet. An unnamed peak about a mile south of Weigles Butte has a surveyed elevation of 6290 feet (“Santa Rita Peak 6290”). Between these two is another unnamed peak, without a surveyed elevation, but with a contour interval indicating it has at least 6280 feet (“Santa Rita Peak 6280+”). The current consensus amongst peakbaggers is that Peak 6280+ is the highest. Matthias had recently climbed this peak and thought the same. This ridge is quite visible from our bicycling routes on the east side of Tucson. So I decided to visit these peaks to decide for myself.

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Harquahala Peak 4489, Arizona, January 2022

January 30, 2022 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Sunday, January 16, I left the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct below Big Horn Peak and followed the Salome and Eagle Eye Roads north to climb an unnamed peak at the northern end of the Harquahala Mountains. This peak, Harquahala Peak 4489, has 1689 feet of prominence, making it the 110th most prominent peak in Arizona.

Harquahala Peak 4489 from Eagle Eye Road, the east ridge rises from right to left

As I approached Harquahala Peak 4489 from the south I got good views of its long east ridge, my planned route to the summit. I expected a straightforward and scenic climb.

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Sitgreaves and Bill Williams Mountains, Arizona, November 2021

December 5, 2021 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

In November I finally returned to Northern Arizona to hike Sitgreaves and Bill Williams Mountains, two prominence peaks, that I had left unclimbed on my last visit two years ago. I needed to return before the winter snow arrived, as it might linger into the late spring.

Sitgreaves Mountain

On Sunday, November 21, I drove from Tucson north to Flagstaff, west a few miles, then turned north and drove through the Pitman Valley and into the Kaibab National Forest. I followed forest roads to a small trailhead below the north slopes of Sitgreaves Mountain and parked.

The use trail climbs through mostly open forest

Sitgreaves Mountain has 1949 feet of prominence, making it the 78th most prominent peak in Arizona. It has 9389 feet of elevation, higher than any peak I had visited since last May. The route started at about 7800 feet of elevation and led up a steep ridge on a primitive and unmaintained trail through open forest. I felt the altitude on the steep lower ridge but I soon warmed up and felt better.

Sitgreaves Mountain summit meadow and cairn

Bill Williams Mountain to the southwest from the Sitgreaves Mountain summit

The trail and ridge were easy to follow and I arrived at a small meadow and summit cairn. I had the hike and the summit to myself. The summit views were mostly obscured by trees but I could see Bill Williams Mountain to the southwest. I found the SITGREAVES benchmark but no summit registry.

Kendrick Peak to the ENE from high on Sitgreaves Mountain's SE Ridge — Kendrick Peak to the ENE from high on Sitgreaves Mountain’s SE Ridge

I descended to the southeast a few hundred yards and got good views of Kendrick Peak and Humphreys Peak, the latter the highest point in Arizona which I had hiked ten years before.

I returned to the summit and descended towards my Jeep. It was a very pleasant day and I enjoyed the forest hike as I casually followed the faint trail. Distracted, I began to descend a ridge off route to the west, but I soon discovered my mistake and traversed across to regain the correct ridge.

My Jeep parked at the trailhead below the north ridge of Sitgreaves Mountain

I returned to my Jeep and drove a few miles through pine forest before parking and camping for the night. It had been a pleasant fall day in the Kaibab National Forest.

Bill Williams Mountain

On Monday morning, November 22, I drove through Williams, Arizona, and parked at the Bill Williams Mountain Trailhead near the Williams Ranger District office. From there I hiked the Bill Williams Mountain Trail and the Bill Williams Mountain Scenic Drive to the summit of Bill Williams Mountain.

The Bill Williams Mountain Trail leads towards the summit visible directly ahead

Bill Williams Mountain has 2296 feet of prominence, making it the 51st most prominent peak in Arizona. The Bill Williams Mountain Trail starts at about 6900 feet of elevation. It starts by climbing up onto a bench, ascends some gentle slopes, and switchbacks up a steep canyon to reach the Bill Williams Mountain Scenic Drive at about 9000 feet. From there I followed this road to the summit at 9256 feet. I had the hike up the trail and road to myself.

A view of the city of Williams from the Bill Williams Mountain Lookout tower

NE from the Lookout tower towards Sitgreaves Mountain, Kendrick Peak, and Humphreys Peak

Many buildings and communication towers surround the lookout tower. I found the WILLIAMS witness mark and the natural highpoint located between two buildings but did not find the WILLIAMS benchmark, itself, or any summit register. To get better views I climbed the lookout tower to just below the locked lookout. Here I tried to identify the many visible distant peaks.

It had been another pleasant fall day in Northern Arizona. after my hike of Sitgreaves Mountain the previous day. I returned to the trailhead, enjoying the well-maintained trail and meeting only three other hikers on my descent. From the trailhead I drove back to Tucson via Prescott eyeing a few more prominence peaks to visit in the future.

Wood Mountain, Arizona, March 2021

March 26, 2021 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Sunday, March 14, Matthias Stender, Scott Peavy, and I climbed Wood Mountain in the Northern Chiricahua Mountains. Wood Mountain has 1446 feet of topographic prominence, making it the 162nd most prominent peak in Arizona. But we climbed 3000 feet from Wood Canyon to reach the twin summits and return. It was a more challenging and interesting climb than we had expected, and it was satisfying to summit this rarely climbed mountain.

Wood Mountain from Wood Canyon Road south of San Simon, Arizona

Wood Canyon lies south of the town of San Simon, Arizona. I scouted access to Wood Mountain two weeks earlier. On my drive I met Eva Morin who with her husband Howard owns the Morin Ranch close by up canyon. She wondered if I was off route to Portal. I explained that my friends and I hoped to visit Wood Mountain in the near future as part of our “peakbagging” activity. I verified with her that we could use a nearby primitive campsite and cross the land from there to the peak.

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