The Mountains of New Mexico
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Peak 5258 • Granite Gap Mountain These two peaks rise near where highway NM-80 crosses the Peloncillo Mountains at Granite Gap, about 25 miles south of Interstate-10. There are a handful of peaks clumped here, and up to this point, I had climbed just one, Preacher Mountain, back in October. Heading back to Bisbee from Silver City, I was in the area about 9:30 a.m., the day sunny and clear, temperatures in the mid 50s. I had maps for three of the peaks but would see how things went, not thinking I would do all three. I was looking at Peak 5258, which rises about a mile north of Preacher Mountain, and Granite Gap Mountain, which rises immediately south of the highway at the eponymous pass. A third peak rises north of the highway and if things went well with the first two, I'd give this one a look too.
Date: December 29, 2024
• Elevation: 5,258 feet
• Prominence: 518 feet
• Distance: 2.4 miles
• Time: 90 minutes
• Gain: 680 feet
• Conditions: Sunny and pleasant
New Mexico
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Main
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PB
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LoJ
Access to this peak is via Hidalgo County Road 78, which is opposite the highway from signed McCarty Road. CR-78 is a dirt and gravel track, gated at the highway, but open to the public. I went in and drove a little over a mile, parking at the Richardson Windmill. Peak 5258 was visible the whole way in, a whitish rocky dome surrounded by peaks of a similar height, but obviously not as high.
I got dressed properly and started the short hike at 10 a.m., walking north on another track. Someone was parked nearby on another branch of the road and I wanted to give them a wide berth. All I saw was a van, but nothing else.
I walked the road to a rise, then cut left and started up and down through a series of rises and arroyos, on a bearing toward the peak. The arroyos and ridges got more pronounced as I approached the main bulk of the mountain. The terrain down low was mostly open, with gravelly soils, creosote, ocotillo and clumps of grass.
Now hard up against the mountain itself, I needed to get onto the "right" slope, which meant crossing into and out of a couple steep-cut arroyos. The brush was much thicker as expected, much more ocotillo and more staghorn and prickly-pear cactus.
On the slope up to the high saddle, the ground was much rockier, more limestone tiers and rubble slopes. Footing was usually secure, but the rubble would slip out from under me if I wasn't careful. Getting up this slope wasn't too bad. I was now in the saddle below the peak.
I got onto its ridge, and walked up the slope. The ridge gets rockier, with a couple long outcrops along its spine which made travel a little easier since I could walk on the rock directly.
The top 50 feet is a bare dome of rock. Fortunately, the rock was very grippy with excellent traction. There were some scree slopes but most of the time, I could step directly on the embedded rocks. Other than the steepness, it wasn't difficult at all. I used my hands in one spot to ease up a three-foot cliff blocked by an ocotillo.
The one-way hike had taken me about 45 minutes. The top was open and bare, not surprisingly. I found a cairn and a register placed here earlier this year. I was the second to sign in. Views were very good, especially that of massive Granite Peak to the west. I spent about ten minutes up here.
Going down, I followed my ascent route, with minor variations, mainly trying to avoid cactus and ocotillo and following lanes as I found them. I walked around the van, and wondered if it had been abandoned. I saw nothing else that would suggest someone was camping here, and I saw nor heard not a soul.
I was back to my car at 11:25 a.m.. This hike had gone well, so I felt energetic enough to go take a look at Granite Gap Mountain.
Elevation: 4,927 feet
• Prominence: 492 feet
• Distance: 1.6 miles
• Time: 75 minutes
• Gain: 597 feet
• Conditions: Same
PB
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LoJ
I did not drive far, a mile or two. I descended down the highway through the gap, and on the left as I faced south, got a good look at Granite Gap Mountain. This peak has a rocky ridge, with cliffs facing east, and steep slopes facing west.
There is a small batch of old wooden structures behind the fence here, likely dating from when this area was being actively mined. The map cites these digs as the Montgomery Mine. Tailings mounds and slopes can be seen on the side of the mountain.
I pulled into a clearing near a big green ranch-style gate. It was padlocked shut, but on its hinge side, it was completely detached. I got out and manhandled the gate open. The damn thing must have weighed a few hundred pounds, being a big metal thing about 15 feet in length. I fulcrumed its far end and was able to get it partly open. I also dragged it and just brute-forced it open. I drove in and parked, then closed the gate, getting a good workout.
I only parked a few feet inside the gate. I don't like parking alongside a highway. At least where I was, I was partially hidden by brush, and any ne'er-do-wells who wanted to break into my car would have to get past that gate. Anyway, this just gave me a little peace of mind.
I headed south, wrapping around a smaller hill on its west, coming to a track that I followed in toward the peak, aiming for a tailings pile toward the peak's south end. I was here quickly. My plan was to hike up a slope from here to the high ridge, then turn left and walk the ridge to the top.
This slope was steep and brushy with a few rock outcrops, but it behaved and I was able to gain this slope, about 450 feet, fairly quickly. Now I was on the top ridge. Creosote, agave, ocotillo and prickly-pear were the most common plants encountered, and I encountered a couple a little too closely.
From where I stood on the high ridge, I saw a rounded rocky dome directly ahead, then a cliff about 20 feet high, then a narrow ridge to the top. The cliff can be seen from below and it was the one part that concerned me the most. Even from where I stood, it looked like it could be trouble.
Getting the rocky dome was easy. Then I was at the cliff itself. Now feet from it, suddenly I could see one very attractive option. I angled slightly left and walked up a rocky chute. I turned right and hoisted myself up one rock, then another hard left and up another chute, and just like that, I was above the cliff! It was that easy, and I wouldn't rate any move higher than Class 2.
The summit was about 50 feet higher, and 200 feet farther along the ridge. The ridge was much narrower than it looked from below. I could see the cliffs that faced east, some about 60 feet high. On the west, the slope dropped steeply, mainly rock slabs and talus, with very long runouts in some places.
I stuck to the exact ridge itself, sometimes dropping slightly to the west side if there was good and safe footing. But more often than not, I was on the ridge, which ranged from maybe three feet wide to less than a foot, a true catwalk.
This was one of those situations where the actual scrambling and walking was not difficult. Most of it was boring Class-2 with one or two spots where I had to use all four limbs, maybe Class-3, to get up a barrier. But the drops to both sides were intimidating, and I could feel the adrenaline in me. Where the catwalk narrowed, I sat and scootched along the rock, sometimes au cheval. It wasn't pretty but it worked. I was soon on top, glad to be here.
The top was a small flat platform about 5 feet to a side. I found a solar panel and an antenna, and left those alone. I also found a register in a cairn. I was the second to sign in for 2024. Gerry and Jennifer Roach had placed the register here. Jennifer was my tentmate on our 2002 Granite Peak (Montana) climb, so it's always amusing to see her name on these remote southwestern peaks.
I did not stick around, desiring to be off this narrow rocky spine as soon as possible. I basically repeated all of my moves, elegant or not, until I was down off the spine and below that cliff. Once below, the walk down off the mountain and back to my car went well. I had been gone 75 minutes.
This peak gave me more than I was expecting. I was very happy to have climbed it and even happier to be done. After all this, I was feeling like I got a good day's workout and decided two peaks was good, and it was time to head home. I'll save the peak on the north side for another day. I come through here about once a month anyway.
I was back in Bisbee about two hours later, after a gas stop in Douglas. I had been gone for four days in New Mexico and Texas and had a good time. I was successful on seven new New Mexico peaks, and one repeat of a peak in Texas, plus a good visit with my Silver City pal.
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