After breakfast Sunday morning, April 21, I said goodbye to Eric and Stacey Kassan as they left our campsite to climb nearby Iron Mountain. The slopes of Iron Mountain above seemed steep and I expected they would have a memorable day. I then left our campsite and drove further south to Ray Place, a remote and apparently abandoned homestead in the Iron Spring Wash below the Grand Wash Cliffs.
My goal was to climb Duncan Benchmark, the highpoint of the Grand Wash Cliffs. Duncan Benchmark has 2209 feet of topographic prominence, making it the 54th most prominent peak in Arizona. I understood it had a reputation for being brushy, but from reports the brush was manageable and I was not expecting it to be a particular problem.
Greg Gerlach had encountered minimal brush in May 2018 by following a wash and creek bed, then up steep slopes to a saddle, and finally up the south ridge to the summit. So I decided to try to follow his route as well. This route started out well and I made good early progress along the wash and through open forest.
However, as the wash led into a steep canyon the narrow creek bed was intermittently choked with brush. For a while I was able to find passages on one side of the creek bed or the other. Eventually, I decided that if I was going to summit I had to find another route. Perhaps six years of growth had made this route less usable.
In March of 2021 Wade Luther had followed the Northwest Ridge to my right to gain the South Ridge. It seemed best to try joining his route. I left the creek bed and climbed to the top of the Northwest Ridge without trouble. This ridge was pleasingly open and I climbed efficiently to the South Ridge. I quietly thanked Wade for his choice of route.
Once on the South Ridge I decided it was most efficient and pleasant to follow the left margin of the ridge. The slope to my left dropped steeply. At one point I climbed on slabs above cliffs but the footing was excellent and the climbing was easy.
The finish of the climb was through forest to a broad summit with a well-protected summit registry, DUNCAN Benchmark, comfortable seating, and nice views. I texted Eric to let him know my progress, as I had not heard from him yet. I added my name to the summit registry and had a relaxed lunch.
After lunch, I scanned the views to try to identify the peaks around me. To the far south I recognized Peacock Peak, which I climbed in January of 2021. To the right of it rose the Hualapai Mountains and Hualapai Peak, which I visited in October 2019.
Closer to the southwest I spotted Mount Tipton between trees. I hope to climb Mount Tipton next year. To the WSW I recognized Mount Perkins, which I had climbed the day before, and Table Mountain Plateau, a possible summit for the next day.
It was tempting to linger, but I expected a slow descent and started down after about 45 minutes.
On my descent I approximately followed Wade’s route. The upper descent down the South Ridge and the upper NW Ridge went well.
Lower I encountered stretches of hip-high thick brush. I bashed through the brush impatiently as I was getting a bit tired. Finally I traversed back to the lower wash where forest openings helped my travel back to Ray Place and my Jeep.
Eric and I had been exchanging texts and I knew he and Stacey had summitted Iron Mountain and returned to their car. I texted him back to report I had returned as well. We texted our congratulations and goodbyes.
After rinsing myself off, rehydrating, and resting I felt refreshed. I drove back down along the Iron Spring Wash to the highway, continued west and south towards Dolan Springs, but turned north and drove up the southern slopes of Table Mountain Plateau to find my last campsite.
Duncan Benchmark was my 69th Arizona 2000-foot prominence peak, leaving only four AZ P2Ks yet to visit. It had been a pretty, scenic, and successful day. I was happy with my visit to the Grand Wash Cliffs and Duncan Benchmark, but like so many of my climbing friends I have no interest in returning.
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