GlassMountains Trip Reports

Grand Wash Cliffs, Arizona, April 2024

May 23, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

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.

Duncan Benchmark appears above cliffs from Ray Place

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.

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Mount Perkins, Arizona, April 2024

May 18, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Friday, April 19, I drove from Tucson, Arizona, northwest through Kingman, then north on US Hwy 93. I turned to the west on a dirt road. After a few miles I found a secluded campsite and settled in for the night. My plan was to hike Mount Perkins on Saturday with Las Vegas Mountaineers Club members Eric and Stacey Kassan. I have climbed many Arizona peaks with Eric and Stacey. I looked forward to sharing another peak with them on this trip.

Mount Perkins lies to the southwest from my campsite

Mount Perkins is the highpoint of the Black Mountains northwest of Kingman (there are other Black Mountains to the southeast of Kingman). It has 2036 feet of prominence, making it the 67th most prominent peak in Arizona. There were several other prominent peaks visible from my campsite. I hope to visit the most prominent ones over the next year.

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Dunn Springs Mountain, Arizona, April 2024

April 27, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Sunday afternoon, April 7, Matthias Stender and I left Orange Butte and drove south and east towards the Chiricahua Mountains. We joined Andy Martin at a primitive campsite in Wood Canyon.

Our campsite below Dunn Springs Mountain

Here I first met Andy, a prolific peakbagger with decades of experience in and knowledge of the mountains. Recently Andy pointed out to Matthias that Matthias has been the most active hiker in Arizona in recent years according to how peakbaggers track these things. Andy and Matthias are much more serious peakbaggers than me. The three of us spent an enjoyable evening together and a pleasant night beneath Dunn Springs Mountain, our next day’s goal.

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Orange Butte, Arizona, April 2024

April 27, 2024 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Sunday, April 7, Matthias Stender, Wade Luther, and I climbed Orange Butte northeast of Bowie, Arizona. Orange Butte has 1040 feet of topographic prominence, placing it well down on the list of Arizona Prominence peaks. But it is quite visible to the north from Interstate Highway 10 between Willcox and the New Mexico state line. I was glad to have an opportunity climb Orange Butte with Matthias and looked forward to meeting Wade.

Orange Butte rises steeply to the east from our access road.

The three of us rendezvoused Sunday morning in the town of Bowie. From Bowie we caravanned north and east across the desert on good dirt roads.

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