Arizona Archives – Page 25 of 29 – GlassMountains Trip Reports

Pinnacle Ridge, Arizona, April 2016

April 8, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

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.

Bicycling Mount Lemmon, Winter 2016

April 7, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

Our winter home in Tucson has a view of Mount Lemmon, the high point of the Santa Catalina Mountains to our north. Mount Lemmon has an elevation of 9157 feet, has 5157 feet of prominence, and rises about 6300 feet above our home. The General Hitchcock Highway (aka Catalina Highway) climbs from near its base in Tucson to Summerhaven. Near Summerhaven a side road climbs through Ski Valley and past a gate to the gated and fenced Sky Center. The General Hitchcock highway is a very popular bicycling route for local and visiting bicyclists. It is a great bicycling resource providing good workouts, fun descents, and excellent views of the Tucson Basin and surrounding mountains to the south.

Mount Lemmon from near home

Linda and I have bicycled up and down the highway to various destinations many times over recent years. We decided we should see how high we could ride this winter season as well and perhaps make it an annual winter project for us.

Mount Turnbull, Arizona, April 2016

April 5, 2016 by Paul McClellan 1 Comment

On the morning of April 2 I met Arizona Peakbaggers Meetup members Eric Kassan, Richard Hensley, Kay Komuro, Maymay Au, and Fan in Peridot, Arizona, where we purchased San Carlos Apache Tribal Recreation Permits for our planned climb of Mount Turnbull. Mount Turnbull is the high point of the Santa Teresa Mountains of Southeast Arizona with 8282 feet of elevation and 3562 feet of prominence, the 15th most prominent peak in Arizona.

Mount Turnbull from US 70 north of Peridot, Arizona

This was the fourth weekend I had joined Eric in his explorations of Arizona prominence peaks, an unexpected and fortuitous opportunity this winter season. This day’s adventure included long drives on primitive roads, climbing across and up steep, brushy, and rocky slopes, and climbing exposed rock slabs to reach a very scenic summit.

Mae West Peaks, Arizona, March 2016

March 23, 2016 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

After climbing Swisshelm mountain on March 19, Eric Kassan, Rich Hensley, and I drove north late that afternoon from Swisshelm Mountain to find our campsite for the evening and night. We hoped to get close to Mae West Peaks in the Little Dragoon Mountains, our goal for Sunday. Eric wanted to explore an access option he had researched via Google Earth that would put us close to the east side of the peaks. We succeeded in getting near where we wanted to be, but we were unsure whether we were trespassing or not. We decided to camp out of view of any homes and take our chances that we would not be rounded up by landowners.

Mae West Peaks from near our campsite at sunrise

It was a very pleasant evening and night and we were ready to leave our cars by 6:45am Sunday. It was going to be much more pleasant to get an earlier start hiking this day than the previous day.

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