On April 3 Arizona Peakbaggers Meetup members Eric Kassan, Richard Hensley, Kay Komuro, Maymay Au, Fan, and I attempted to climb Pinnacle Ridge. Pinnacle Ridge is rarely visible for those who stick to highway travel across Arizona, but has 7550 feet of elevation and 2470 feet of prominence, making it the 40th most prominent peak in Arizona. We encountered much more brush than we had expected which slowed our progress considerably and with member time constraints we eventually had to turn around well short of the summit.
Pinnacle Ridge from the summit of Mount Turnbull
My first view of Pinnacle Ridge was on the previous day from the summit of Mount Turnbull. Pinnacle Ridge is hidden from highway views except for possibly a short section of US 70 west of Safford, AZ. From Mount Turnbull it appears to be a remote, compact, and rocky mountain range to the south.
Pinnacle Ridge from our roadside campsite
We had arrived and made camp in the previous moonless dark night just south of Pinnacle Ridge and in the morning we had our first view of Pinnacle Ridge from the south. We at first thought the summit might be the rounded peak on the left in the above photo, but eventually learned that the rock pinnacle on the right is the actual summit.
Pinnacle Ridge from below Point 6440
From our campsite we drove to the start of the Cottonwood Mountain Trail #66 near Sand Tank. After a short distance along this trail we turned left and followed a drainage towards Pinnacle Ridge, climbing part way up and traversing below Point 6440. It became clear as we approached Pinnacle Ridge that the actual summit was the rock pinnacle on the right.
Our ascent route across the rock and brush-covered plateau
We reached a forested plateau with many large boulders and continued as best we could across it towards a saddle to the right of the summit of Pinnacle Ridge.
Looking back at our route
Our progress across the plateau was extremely slow, with poor visibility of our route, dense trees and brush, and weaving around and over rocks. We eventually stopped to review our situation on a large rock slab providing better views. We were surprised how little progress we seemed to have made in the previous hour.
The summit of Pinnacle Ridge from out turnaround point
The slope ahead lead more steeply up towards the saddle on the ridge above us and appeared quite rocky and brushy as well and would likely require a lot of time to travel. The summit itself, visible in the left in the above photo, promised to be a lengthy and steep challenge. It would likely take us much time to work out the ascent route up to the summit which we supposed would include climbing the brushy gully splitting the pinnacle followed by some exposed face climbing. We decided to turn around and carefully descend our route.
Team photo on “Manzanita Peak”
As a consolation we climbed Point 6440 on our way out, which we unofficially named “Manzanita Peak”. Here Richard noticed some swarming bees below us as we prepared to descend but we were able to bypass them and not risk a possible “africanized bee” attack.
We learned much about how to access Pinnacle Ridge, the likely best route to take up it, and the time and commitment required to summit. We expect to return another time to try again.
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