The Mountains of Arizona
www.surgent.net |
|
Peak 3463 • Apache Peak I was driving once again Phoenix-ward on a Tuesday, passing through Tucson. I left Bisbee early, before dawn, to beat the heat. That meant I had a couple hours to lay-over in Tucson and hike a couple peaks, a Tuesday Tucson Two-fer. I settled on two small bumps that by themselves, would not be worth the effort, but as a pair, then yes, worth the effort. The first peak was Peak 3463, a ridge-peak that parallels Gates Pass Road near the Tucson Mountains Park entrance. The second was Apache Peak, which lies within Saguaro National Park about fifteen miles to the northwest. The heat was picking back up again, the last (probably) big heat wave of the summer. Or, being technical since it's now been fall for two days, the first big heat wave of fall. In any case, temperatures in the deserts would exceed 110° for the next few days. This would set records for latest date(s) in the year in which the high temperature has exceeded 110°. To be honest, I was getting tired of the couple weeks of nice weather we'd had. A change like this would be welcome. I was out my door at 5 a.m. and in Tucson a couple hours later, after a stop in Benson. Traffic was light. As I descended Interstate-10 toward Tucson, the outside temperature crept up into the high 70s. Nice for now. My window of tolerable temperatures would be limited.
Date: September 24, 2024
• Elevation: 3,463 feet (Lidar)
• Prominence: 443 feet (Lidar)
• Distance: 1 mile
• Time: 45 minutes
• Gain: 560 feet
• Conditions: Sunny, warm
Arizona
•
Main
•
PB
•
LoJ
In Tucson, I exited onto Speedway Boulevard, then west to where it merges with Gates Pass Road. I followed it up into the hills and parked in a pullout near the welcome signs for the Tucson Mountains Park, which adjoins Saguaro National Park.
I got dressed in long pants and sleeves and started walking immediately. Peak 3643 rises above, less than a half mile away. Past reports suggested a fast and uncomplicated hike. I was moving a little after 7 a.m..
I found a footpath through the brush alongside the road and headed in. The brush was light and scattered, and for now, I was in the shade, the sun being blocked by the hill itself. Conditions were comfortable.
I followed paths and open lanes, angling right (southwest) and gaining about 200 feet to a ridge up ahead. Then I went left and continued upward.
Paths would come and go, some looking solid and well-trod-upon. It was about this time the sun rose above the hill, just the right angle to be right in my eyes. The temperature seemed to ramp up 5 degrees too.
I got onto a path that angled right of the rocky prow of the ridge. Thinking it may go, I stayed on it, but this placed me on severely-sloping terrain beside and below the ridge's rocky spine.
I tried to gain the rocky spine directly but backed off immediately. A couple of weak attempts, and I realized this was too steep and dicey. So I eased back down to that path and returned to the main ridge, where I should have been. This cost me 15 minutes.
The best strategy is to tackle this rocky prow head on. It looks steep but paths and chutes revealed themselves as I moved upward. I used hands in a couple spots to ease up through the rocks and chutes, but it was Class 2, nothing severe.
Now on the spine, I walked atop it directly, at times the spine narrowing to just a couple feet wide. But the rocks were solid with good footing and this was a lot of fun. The cliffs to either side were about 20-30 feet high.
More toward the top, I went below and to the left of the spine, following a path and cairns. This fed me onto a chute that in turn led right to the top.
The summit was flat and open with excellent views. Lighting was good since the sun was still low. I snapped a few images and signed into the register. This was a momentous peak for me, my 900th ranked peak climbed within Arizona.
I did not stay too long. It was warming and I figured I should keep moving. The downhill hike went very well, no trouble at all. I was back to my car quickly. Even with my detour, I was only gone 45 minutes. It was warm but not uncomfortable, in the low 80s for now.
Elevation: 3,076 feet
• Prominence: 316 feet
• Distance: 1 mile
• Time: 35 minutes
• Gain: 410 feet
• Conditions: Sunny and very warm
PB
•
LoJ
I drove westbound on Gates Pass Road up and then down through Gates Pass. I stayed on the main road a few miles, pulling into the Saguaro National Park Visitor's Center. I wanted to keep it legal so I paid my day fee there, and enjoyed te few moments of air conditioning.
Moments later, I was on Sandario Road, which is the western boundary of the National Park. And a few more moments later, I turned onto Golden Gate Road, going northeast. This is a dirt loop road that leads to some petroglyph sites and a few trailheads.
I stayed on this road for a couple miles. Apache Peak is easily seen ahead, a symmetrical hump with a rocky crown. I parked in a pullout north of the peak. I was already outfitted from my last hike, so I was moving immediately. It was warmer now. My car's temperature gauge bounced between 84° and 87°. Warm, but manageable for this short hike.
I walked south through a sandy arroyo then up onto the gentle slopes of a ridge emanating from the peak. The terrain was open with moderate brush, mainly creosote, grasses, palo verde, staghorn cholla and big saguaro.
About halfway up I came upon a trail. So I followed it, but then it would peter out. I'd then resume a direct uphill bearing and come upon another trail (or maybe the continuation of the earlier one). There was a definite trail here once. It looked like a maintained trail which, for unknown reasons, was left to wither away.
The trail was useful but whenever I lost it, I just aimed upward and that worked too. Without a trail, this would have been an easy hike. The top fifty feet is up rock tiers with good footing. And before I knew it, I was on top, my 901st Arizona ranked peak.
Views were good too, the air being so clear. I could see Baboquivari way off to the west, Panther and Safford to the north and Wasson Peak to the east. But like before, I kept moving and started right back down.
The downhill hike went well and my round trip hike was just over a half hour. It was nearing 10 a.m. now and definitely warming. I was very pleased to get these two easy peaks done and into the record. They were fun and together made for a decent outing.
I followed Sandario Road north through scattered homes and subdivisions, eventually connecting to Avra Valley Road, which I followed east to Interstate-10. This allowed me to bypass Tucson entirely. I was in Tempe by noon where tonight I would discuss tangent planes and linear approximations. It got hot, too. The news said it was 113° this afternoon on the Phoenix area.
Peak 3463 does not have a listed elavation on the map so I accessed the 1-meter Lidar dataset "USGS 1 Meter 12 x49y357 AZ_PimaCounty_2021_B21" which gives 3,463 feet for its summit elevation, and a prominence of 443 feet. I did not check the figures for Apache Peak.
|
|