The Mountains of Arizona
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Aubrey Peak • Trout Benchmark These two peaks lie near the town of Wikieup, which straddles highway US-93 between Wickenburg and Kingman. It is the only town along a 120-mile stretch between Wickenburg and Interstate-40. I was heading to Henderson, Nevada, to handle a personal matter. From Bisbee to Henderson, it is a 520-mile drive. I did not want to do the whole drive in one day. Furthermore, the personal matter would not last more than an hour. So I worked in a few peaks to help break up the long drive. I left New Years Day at about 2 p.m., knowing full well it would be dark when I arrived in or around Wikieup. I made it to Benson when my oil light went on. I stopped at a Walmart to get some oil and a few groceries for the drive. The drive through Tucson went well, traffic being light. It was dark by the time I was in the Casa Grande area. I wanted nothing to do with Phoenix, so I used that "Phoenix Bypass" the signs always mention. I followed Interstate-8 to Gila Bend, where I topped the gas, then AZ-85 to Interstate-10, officially having bypassed Phoenix. I was on Interstate-10 briefly, exiting at 339th Avenue, then following local routes to the Aguila-Wickenburg Road into Wickenburg, where I stopped again for some basic snacks and an excuse to stretch my legs. Now on US-93, I motored north on it. That thirty-mile stretch where it's just one lane both ways was awful, as usual. Traffic was light, but still heavy with trucks, and the road itself is very bumpy and uneven. When it split into a divided four lane highway, things relaxed a bit. The highway narrows again to just one lane each way as it enters Wikieup. People were flicking their brights at me for some reason. My brights weren't on, so I was confused. I pulled into a gas station for a snack and discovered one of my headlights was out. I did not realize that as I was driving. I was lucky that a cop never pulled me over, but then I remembered there never are any cops on US-93. By now, it was about 9 p.m. and I had covered over 350 miles and I was tired of driving. I had planned to camp somewhere, and decided that the road up toward the mountains to the west would do. This road is called Chicken Springs Road, and branches off US-93 north of the Mobil station. The road is wide and graded gravel, but being dark, I took it slowly. My brights worked fine so I had them on, no need to worry about anyone coming the other way. I got in a couple miles and pulled into a flat clearing. This would be my camp for tonight. It was a little before 10 p.m. when I finally killed the engine. I was tired, and I was going to sleep in the front passenger seat. I got that all set up and slept decently, the night being mild and very starry. The moon was just starting its waxing crescent stage, so it set almost immediately and offered no light. There were no clouds. I enjoyed staring at the stars.
Date: January 2, 2025
• Elevation: 5,078 feet
• Prominence: 838 feet
• Distance: 2.2 miles
• Time: 45 minutes
• Gain: 880 feet
• Conditions: Cold, clear skies
• Historic Name: Grooms Peak
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USGS BM Datasheet
Aubrey Peak is a summit in the southern spine of the Hualapai Mountains, minorly important because it hosts a couple communications towers. I realized that when I had three bars on my phone during my camp, being seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
(It should be mentioned there is another Aubrey Peak about ten miles to the southwest, in a batch of hills contained within the Aubrey Peak Wilderness. This Aubrey Peak is obviously not part of that batch of hills.)
When the sun started rising, I was up, getting myself ready for the day. I waited until there was enough light to get moving, which here was about 7 a.m.. The sky was mostly clear, a few scattered high clouds at most. I drove another five miles or so until I was at the road's apex in the saddle north of Aubrey Peak.
A service road branches off from here to the summit, about 750 feet higher. A sign said "private property, no trespassing" but there were no fences or other barriers. These usually refer strictly to the towers, which are always fenced anyway.
I parked in a clearing slightly downhill on the opposite side of the pass. I followed what appeared to be a very old access road that met up with the service road. Once on the service road, I just followed it up toward the peak.
The road is rough, but there were plenty of tire tracks and boot prints, not to mention animal prints and occasional scat piles. It was also a little trashy, too. The road actually drops about 50 feet before resuming its upward climb.
From the lowpoint, it is a very steep climb to the top. They didn't mess around blasting in this road. It is narrow with outward leans and a loose tread, and at times, about a 30% gradient. I could see an ATV handling this road, but I would never drive a vehicle on it myself.
The walk wasn't difficult, but the loose sandy tread made it laborious. But it was short, and I was nearing the top towers after a couple of bends. There's one big tower slightly lower, and a smaller one at the very top.
The highest point is outside the tower fencing, some big rock outcrops off to the side. I tagged the topmost rocks, then located the benchmark in a lower rock flush to the ground. It is stamped "Grooms Peak". In the old days, this peak was known as Grooms Peak, but now that name applies to a peak more to the southeast, and this peak is now known as Aubrey Peak.
The sun was up by now, but still hidden by some clouds way to the southeast. Lighting was pretty good, though, and I snapped some images of the surrounding countryside, lit up by the very low-angle lighting. It was chilly but not unpleasant up top. The register was in shambles, the papers rotted, so I left it alone.
I hiked down the same way, of course, and was back to my car a little under an hour. This was a completely trivial hike but a fun one, a good way to start the day. Views from the top were quite good, being an area I rarely get to.
I drove down the road back into Wikieup. My schedule regarding Henderson was fluid. There was no set time for me to handle the personal matter. The busted headlight needed to be attended to also. But now that it was day, I did not have to worry about the light being out.
Trout Benchmark Hill rises about ten miles to the north, but I decided to skip it and save it for the return drive. Instead, I now set my sights on the big catch of the journey, Table Mountain Plateau, about a two-hour drive from Wikieup.
Date: January 3, 2025
• Elevation: 3,322 feet
• Prominence: 362 feet
• Distance: 2 miles
• Time: 1 hour
• Gain: 520 feet
• Conditions: Sunny, some clouds, mild
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USGS BM Datasheet
So now it's about 24 hours later. I attended to my Henderson task, then stayed a night at an old retro-casino called the Hoover Dam Lodge in Boulder City. I was up early this morning, driving back into Arizona and climbing Salt Spring Mountain, which lies about twenty miles north of Table Mountain Plateau.
From there, I drove into Kingman via Stockton Hill Road, then Interstate-40 to the US-93 junction. An electronic sign said US-93 was closed at milepost 160, use an alternate route. Ugh.
I exited onto US-93 anyway then pulled to the side and got out my device. I looked up on the AZ511 site and it just showed a road closure on US-93 due to a crash. This was about 70 miles from here. The alternate route options are limited. I could follow Interstate-40 into Ash Fork and take the highways from there through Prescott, but I really did not want to do that.
I decided to take my chances. First of all, I would be wasting an hour climbing Trout Benchmark. Also, they may have the wreck removed by then. And if not, I had enough stuff to camp again if need be.
Back on the highway, I drove to where Upper Trout Creek Road branches off the highway. Going southbound as I was, I would need to cross the northbound lanes to access it. And this is where the highway temporarily narrows into two lanes again, and there's no pullout well to make the turn.
Naturally, someone is right on my rear bumper, so I actually pulled to the right shoulder and waited until there was a lull in the traffic both ways before crossing the highway onto Upper Trout Creek Road. This was the toughest part of the hike. I parked in a sandy clearing about a hundred feet off the highway, slightly below the grade and hidden by a hill.
This would be a short hike, so I just wore a buttpack. The hill is elongated north-south, so I approached it directly from its west side, and barged up about 300 feet to get to the upper ridge. This segment was moderately brushy with mesquite, palo verde and various cactus to avoid.
Once on the upper ridge, the low mound that is the highest point was visible ahead. The ridge istelf was not as densely choked with brush, and for about half of the walk, I followed a cattle trail with fresh poo in places. The ground is pocked in big granitic boulders, at times I could step from one to the next to help expedite my time.
I arrived to the top about 25 minutes after starting. There is a fence that I had to cross, which was easy. The top itself was brushy with some large boulders. I tagged the highpoint one, then found the benchmark in a lower rock, near the old height-of-light surveyor's stick. It's been lying here probably for over 80 years. Why didn't they take these sticks back down with them? I could not locate a register.
Views weren't bad. I snapped a few images. I was close enough to hear the trucks rumbling on US-93. The return hike went well, and I was back to my car after an hour. This was an easy peak to tag, one to pad my counts.
Getting back on the highway was tricky. Rather than try to cross the northbound lanes to get onto the southbound lanes, especially here where the highway has narrowed into just two lanes, I went north, then found a cross-over about a mile up to make the turn.
I stopped for gas in Wikieup, and check the 511 site. It no longer showed the road closure. I drove into Wickenburg, and topped the gas here (it was about $2 cheaper per gallon here than in Wikieup). I took the same roads in bypassing Phoenix, and by the time I was in Gila Bend, it was dark. I had had a long day already, with over 300 miles driven and two peaks climbed.
I wasn't eager to drive another 220 miles to Bisbee, so I had some ideas of peaks in or around Tucson that I could do tomorrow, camping somewhere for the night. But it was a weak plan. Once I was in Tucson, I decided to just power on home, arriving in Bisbee a little after 11 p.m..
I had a good trip. I tagged two P1K peaks in an area I never get to any more, two more easy bumps, and also took care of the very important person matter. That was the central purpose of this trip, and I am glad it went well. I wanted to do this, a good way to start off the new year, but more importantly, for me and for the person I went to see.
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