Date: November 6, 2024 • Elevation: 3,219 feet • Prominence: 859 feet • Distance: 7 miles • Time: 3 hours and 30 minutes • Gain: 1,495 feet (gross) • Conditions: Sunny, clear skies and chilly

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ

This Apache Peak rises in New River, north of Phoenix and barely west of the Cave Creek city limits. It's the highest peak in its immediate region with a noticeable pointed summit and is best seen from the south driving along the Carefree Highway. It sits in a swath of State Trust land with easy access from the west via the Andy Kunasek Trailhead.

I spent last night camped north of here, at the Little Pan OHV Staging and Camping area, northwest of the Table Mesa exit off Interstate-17. I climbed Little Pan Peak which took less than an hour. I had planned to stay up there and look at a couple other peaks, but it was cloudy, windy and very cold. Looking south, things looked clearer, so I decided to bail and head back into town.

This strange work-commute schedule I have going on now leaves Wednesdays open for me. It's too far for me to drive back home so I usually camp somewhere and hike a peak or two in the morning. If I go onto campus at all, it's usually in the late afternoon. I've been taking advantage of this arrangement to finish off a few peaks I had intended to do before I moved out of the area a year ago. Last week, I climbed Peak 3060 in the Cave Creek Regional Park. This week, I had a map prepared for Apache Peak.

I drove to the Carefree Highway exit, then east on it to 7th Street, and north on that a couple miles to the Kunasek Trailhead at the old Spear S Ranch. This is a tiny trailhead with spots for about three vehicles. The Maricopa Trail runs through here and this is one ingress point. I was already dressed and was moving within moments.

The clouds were not as thick down here and appeared to be moving out quickly. It was chilly, in the 50s, but calm. Apache Peak's pointed summit could be seen from the trailhead, poking above the lower foreground hills. I started the hike at roughly 9 a.m..

The trail runs east and within a few minutes, I was at a junction so I went left. This dropped me onto Linda Lane, a "dirt" road that runs through here to some homes in the area. It's covered over in what appears to be crushed asphalt. Rather than backtrack, I followed the road as far as seemed sensible. When it bent toward the homes, I found a track that led into the brush and a draw. A few minutes later, I was back on the official Maricopa Trail.

The trail gains gently to an apex, the saddle between Apache Peak to the east, and Sage's Peak to the west. By now, the sky above me was clear, but the clouds were still hanging around to the south, just enough to mute the sun. Temperatures stayed steady, in the 50s.

The trail then dropped about 150 feet over a half mile, trending southeast. The trail then makes a hard left at a sign and some rocks. It drops into a drainage, then up the other side, heading east now, parallelling a fence marking the boundary of a couple private lots to the south.

The spur to Apache Peak begins here somewhere. I found a faint trail, almost imperceptible, but a plastic trail marker was embedded here so this had to be it. This trail made a 90-degree turn to the left (north). So I followed it.

The trail was never very well defined down low. Brush grew heavy on its sides and sometimes shrouded it. More than once I simply walked off of it, backtracking to find it again. Small cairns helped keep me on track. The trail goes up and generally angles to the right, going northeast.

Higher up, the trail becomes more distinct. It drops into and out of a drainage, then gains steeply up a slope to a ridge southeast of the peak, elevation about 2,570 feet. There is another trail junction here. I followed the one going north, aiming for the higher ground between Apache Peak and its eastern subsummit (Peak 2926).

This trail was also easy to stay on, and it gained about a hundred feet, then angled toward Apache Peak itself. The peak is a dome of volcanic rock and it was not at all clear how or where a trail could be knocked in higher up. I figured I would stay on the trail until I couldn't any more.

The trail steeply gains the slopes, switchbacking in some places, or just barging straight up. Surprisingly, it stayed a good trail, the footing usually solid, only a couple times did the rocks move or slide from under me.

Then the trail just ends. It comes to the base of the rocks, a dead saguaro cactus being a useful reference. I was less than a hundred vertical feet from the top. Trip reports online mentioned the last bit being "true climbing" or "being a trail". The answer is ... yes.

At the base of the rocks, I picked a spot and clambered up about five feet of rock, now placing me on a messy slope of large rocks and a jumble of small cliffs. But I saw a cairn and went to it, and saw another one and went to it. Soon, I found the barest sense of a trail which led up the final couple dozen feet and presto, just like that, I was on top of the peak!

The top is airy with outstanding views in all directions. By now, all the clouds were long gone and I had sunny conditions. I could see peaks on horizons 60 miles away with distinction. I was very pleased to be here, happy and grateful it all went well.

The top features a flagpole and rockpile. The log was relatively new, inside a baggie placed inside a mailbox that is damaged. Someone was here two days ago, and the peak sees a steady stream of visitors when it's cool. I signed in, then tried to position the mailbox so that it would keep the moisture out.

I spent about ten minutes up here enjoying the views and taking a break to rest and have something to drink. It had taken me a little over two hours to get here and it was still just the mid-morning. I had no pressing concerns to be down anytime soon.

Going down, I followed the exact same route down off the rocks as I had coming up. The scrambling was just Class-2 but it was very steep. One spot took some thinking through and it helped I have long legs. But once back on the trail, I made much better time.

The outbound hike went much faster. Once off the steeper sections, I fast-walked much of the lower trails. I met up with the only people I saw all day, a couple with their little baby in a backpack holder. The hike out took me just 90 minutes, and the round trip just under four hours. And it was not even 1 p.m. yet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this hike. The views were fantastic and the route mostly easy to follow. I had put this peak off while living here in the Phoenix area, and I am glad I finally got it done, and regret not doing so sooner.

I was bushed from the hike, so I drove back to ASU and went to my office for a couple hours. I had just a few emails to handle and not much else. I had planned to camp again but decided to "splurge" and take a hotel in Scottsdale. It wasn't expensive but it wasn't bad for the price. I splurged once again and had a dinner of shrimp and grits from Lolo's nearby. We used to eat there often. This was my first time back in over 4 years.