Date: January 10, 2025 • Elevation: 4,060 feet • Prominence: 480 feet • Distance: 2.4 miles • Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes • Gain: 690 • Conditions: Clear, very chilly

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ

Diablito Mountain is an outlier peak, the northernmost peak of the Tumacacori Mountains, about thirty miles north of Nogales. This peak rises a couple miles north of Diablo (Devil) Mountain, the name "Diablito" being a diminutive form of Diablo, thus "Little Devil" Mountain. I had just finished hiking two peaks over in the Devils Cash Box Ridge, and I was feeling motivated to keep up with the devil theme.

I was finished with the Devils Cash Box peaks at noon. I exited there, got on Interstate-19 briefly, exited at the Chavez Siding exit, went right (west) and then north on the frontage briefly, hanging a left (west again) onto a dirt track with a "Hunters Access Road" sign on it.

I was going by a trip report that Amy had posted on HikeArizona from 2018. She described this road being good for about a mile and a half, to where it crests a low ridge, where she parked in a clearing, saying the road thereafter would need a stronger vehicle. I followed this road and it was a good road. I got to the ridge and pulled into the same clearing. Diablito Mountain rose in the distance all by itself.

It was a little after 12 p.m. and I was looking at a three-mile road hike just to get close to the peak, so this was looking to be a 3 or 4 hour hike. Since it gets dark early this time of year, I did not waste time. I got my pack on, the sticks together, locked the car and started walking.

A steep and boulder-filled track drops off this clearing, so I followed it down. I noticed a better looking road just a few yards nearby. I walked over and inspected it. This was the continuation of the road I was just on, and it looked like an excellent road. So I walked back to my car, intending to drive in farther and cut off the walking distance. This road may not have been here back in 2018.

I had no idea how far in I would get. Even a half mile in would cut off a mile of total walking, and I would have been happy with that. The road was a fine road. It passed through an arroyo early on, then another one a few minutes later, but the tread was always smooth and free of large rocks and ruts. I saw no reason to stop so I kept driving.

Much to my surprise, I drove in the full three miles! The road never got bad at all. It got rough in a couple spots and in one place, I had to get out to move aside a large rock. But my Subaru Forester handled it well. I just took it slow, covering the three miles in about twenty minutes. On the drive in I had passed a couple Border Patrol vehicles early on, and I suspect that this road is maintained for their needs.

When the road started to veer away from the peak, I found a cleared space to pull off and park, slightly elevated on a bluff overlooking the main arroyo, this being near Chivas Well. I wanted my car to be somewhere higher so I could see it on my return. I was directly east of the peak, a little over a mile away.

The peak itself has an obvious rocky summit block with cliffs that encircle it, and a messy-looking east-facing slope that looked like the best bet to get up the thing. I was concerned if I aimed for a lower saddle, the summit cliffs would block me. So I went for the eastern slope option.

I started my hike at 12:40 p.m., the day sunny and clear, but still very chilly. The morning lows had been in the low 20s, two days after a small snow storm blew through. But the snow had all melted. It felt like the mid 40s at the moment.

I had to drop about 40 feet immediately, down into the arroyo. I kept an eye out for border crossers hidden herein. There are a lot of mesquite trees here and it would be easy to hide. I did not see anyone, saw no trash or discarded clothing, and saw no footprints. Once out of the arroyo, I was on elevated land again, much more open and an unlikely place to meet a random border crosser, although I never let my guard down.

I was on a sloping bluff covered in ocotillo and cholla cactus, some about seven feet tall. The slope was lenient and I walked up it quickly, crossing into and out of a tiny side arroyo to get onto another ridge that came directly off the east slope of the mountain. I had to gain up a steeper slope here, about a hundred-foot gain, before things leveled off again.

Soon, I was closing in on the east slope, and the gradient steepened suddenly, from lenient to steep. Looking up, the rocks formed into cliffs and heaps, all in one big chaotic mess, interspersed with grassy slopes. It looked like it would work, but I had no idea exactly what I would do until I was on it.

The rock here is volcanic tuff and pumice, so it behaves differently than the limestone stuff I was battling this morning on the Devils Cash Box peaks. It generally stays put rather than rolling, and it's not nearly as sharp to the touch. Lower down, I had to walk up some talus slopes, and as long as I tested each step, the rocks behaved. I was now on the lower margin of the lowest cliffs.

Now close to these rocks, I suddenly saw a bunch of attractive options. I found a ledge that ran about thirty feet, angling upward to my right, that helped me bypass one band of cliffs. I then just marched up the slope in front of me, rock to rock, utilizing whatever was at hand. Random large rocks allowed me to step up onto them, and I could hop rock to rock a few times.

At yet another cliff band, I found a ledge that angled up again, this time to my left. It was messy but safe, and I sensed an opening through the brush which I think might be the result of a few border crossers being up here acting as sentries.

This ledge put me near the end of the cliff band, where it circled around with the slope. And I could see the top, now much much closer! I was still about 150 feet below it, but from me to there it looked like easy climbing.

I angled right and hoofed up another slope, now on a small flat perch directly below the rocky summit. I stopped to watch the summit a few moments, to see if there were people up there already. I saw nothing, so I continued forward. Nevertheless, I mentally practiced a couple of Spanish phrases just in case. Seriously, I have a few at the ready just in case I meet a crosser.

Nearing the top, I scrambled for the only time of the climb, about fifteen feet of easy Class-2 boulders, to get onto the top. Maybe there was a walk-around option but I was so close, I went for the scramble option. The top was flat with a few rock outcrops. I tagged the ones that seemed highest, looked for a register, but found none. It had taken me about 45 minutes to get here.

The views were magnificent, the day being so clear and dry. I could see the Cerro Colorado Range to the west and way in back, Baboquivari Peak. Looking east I could see the Santa Rita Mountains and to the southeast, San Cayetano Mountain. I studied big Diablo Mountain but all approaches from this side and from the east looked like they were blocked by cliffs.

I spent about five minutes up top, snapping a few photos. I found one piece of cloth, probably from a border crosser, but it looked old and I could not tell what it had been. I saw no other evidence of crossers up here, no food tins, batteries, sleeping rolls or abandoned sneakers.

Going down, I followed my route as best I could. All was well, but at the lower cliff band, I could not replicate what I had done coming up, and found myself above some small cliffs, about ten to twenty feet tall. I was able to find some friendlier slopes that I could scamper down, using the hands and butt to assist. I was then onto the lower talus, then off the steep slope altogether.

The remaining hike out went very well and with my car parked where I could easily see it, I made a beeline to it, a 90-minute round trip hike. It was just shy of 2 p.m. now and I felt very pleased. The hike and climb was fun and challenging, and I was still tickled that I had been able to chop off three miles of hiking each way. It occurred to me that if I had started walking when I was back at the earlier parking spot, I'd just now be arriving at the mountain.

The drive out went well. I took the road slow and had no problems. The road does not need 4-wheel drive but high clearance would be necessary. It crosses a number of arroyos, so in wet weather, it may not be passable. I was back to the Interstate about 2:30 p.m.. I was done for the day, with three devilish peaks to my credit, and feeling pretty good overall.

For the drive home, I drove the interstate to Nogales, then followed roads to get onto state route AZ-82. I took that about 50 miles to Whetstone, then went into Sierra Vista for groceries, arriving home in Bisbee about 5 p.m..