Date: January 15, 2025 • Elevation: 4,018 feet • Prominence: 538 feet • Distance: 7.8 miles • Time: 4 hours • Gain: 2,540 feet • Conditions: Clear, cold at first, breezy higher up, very nice overall

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ

Today I would be hiking to the "Radio Towers" peak in the White Tank Mountains. This is the summit that has about a dozen towers on it, visible from below. This peak is just 65 feet lower in height than the range highpoint, Barry Goldwater Peak. Normally, from the east side, Goldwater Peak itself is not visible. This Radio Towers Peak stands out and appears to be the highest point.

I was in the Phoenix area, teaching my class at ASU. After class ended, I got on the road and aimed west for the White Tank Mountain County Park, where I had a campsite reserved at the Willow Campground. I arrived after 9 p.m. and was able to find my spot without any problem.

My site was a "walk in" site, so I parked, but I didn't have to walk far, about a hundred feet, to my site. I set up my cot in the open. It was going to be a full moon night with no clouds, so everything was lit up nicely. The weather was mild, temperatures for now in the 50s, with lows overnight in the 40s.

I had a dinner on the nearby picnic table, wandered around briefly, then got under my covers and had a decent night's sleep. I was up at dawn the next morning (today), but did not rush things. I let the sun come up a little more before taking down camp and driving to the trailhead.

From camp, I drove about two miles to the Goat Trail trailhead, the third car in the small lot. The sun was up enough to light up the mountain in the soft orangish tint, and the setting full moon was just now "touching" the range crest. It was cold but not uncomfortable, about 45°.

I realized that I haven't been to these parts of the White Tank Mountains in possibly 20 years. I used to come here often in the 1990s when I first moved here. I've hiked a number of peaks in the range that lie on the Buckeye Park property, at the south end of the range, and also climbed a couple peaks on the north tip a couple years ago. But this main eastern entrance, with the development, I don't think I've been here since 2006, when I climbed Goldwater Peak. I was here once in 2002 for a body recovery while with the Maricopa Sheriff's Mountain Rescue team.

The Goat Trail would be my primary route. From the trailhead, I could see the towers way up there. I'd be climbing essentially the entire mountain, just 65 feet shy of the highest point. I was looking at about 4 miles and over 2,500 feet of gain. I started at 8 a.m. almost on the dot.

The first mile of the trail is wide with a good tread, being mostly within the lower canyon. Memorial benches line the route, about a dozen of them. Slowly, the trail narrows, gains elevation, and becomes rockier. I passed mile-marker "1" here. There was actually a mile-marker stick along the trail. I met a hiker on his way down. He'd started at 6 a.m. and had got to the high ridge. He looked about 80 years old and fit.

The next mile would be the steepest and rockiest portion of the hike. By now, the trail is high within this canyon, hewn into the steep hillsides. It aims for a big notch up ahead. The tread is uneven and sometimes requires high-stepping and easy clambering. It was steep but not difficult. I noticed there weren't any memorial benches this high up. I could have used one or two in this section.

I was soon at the notch, then beyond it, now in an elevated "hanging" canyon. The towers could be seen again. This third mile was not as steep and with a better tread, I made better time.

The trail then makes a hard right and gains steeply up the face of a ridge, much rockier than before. Mile-marker "3" is here ... which prompted me to think about mile-marker "2", which I never saw. About two hundred feet beyond the third mile marker, I stopped at the apex of the trail, where it surmounts a ridge. I took a short break near some good sitting rocks.

The Goat Trail continues straight, while an unnamed trail branches left and aims for the towers, now less than a mile away, about 800 feet higher. This trail was well-beaten and easy to follow.

I followed this trail upward, at times the trail would lose distinction in the rocks, but it was always easy to stay on course. While not an official trail, it is nearly the quality of the other trails in the park. When I was just a couple hundred feet below the top, two fighter jets from nearby Luke Air Force Base buzzed the range, creating an impressive roar. I caught one in an image.

I was soon at the lowest building, a brown-colored shack. I walked past it and up to the main towers, to the rock outcrop near the fencing. This is the probable highest point, and I did not see anything inside the fence that looked obviously higher.

It had taken me exactly two hours to get here. It was much colder and breezier up here so I put on my fleece jacket. I found a register/geocache on a rock, within a large coffee tin. The register container contained an unbelievable amount of crap. There was the booklet, which I signed. Then there were about thirty business cards and other scraps of paper, an uneaten Clif Bar, and three of those fireball vodka shooter bottles, all empty. I took them, the Clif Bar, and a handful of the most rotted paper scraps and stuffed it into my pack, to be properly disposed of when I got back down. I despise people who drink like this on the trail and leave their bottles behind. I have zero patience for these walking drunks.

I also walked the road to inspect the rest of the towers and to ensure there weren't any other higher points. I came upon a mound that looked natural which may have been as high, it was easily scaled and tagged. The towers themselves and their little buildings below all made noises, some on automated timed motors. No one was up here. I had no interest in the towers, and once I felt I'd exhausted all possible highest points, I turned around for the walk out. I was up top about fifteen minutes total.

Going down went fast now that I had gravity assisting me. I did not move too fast, still needing to watch myself on the rockier portions. I met a hiker, a guy about my age, near the mile-marker "3". As I descended, I met up with a few more hikers, but not very many overall, maybe a dozen total.

The walk out took about an hour and a half. The sun was higher and the temperature was warming into the high 60s. I was back to my car at just shy of noon, a four-hour hike. This had been a hefty hike with 8 miles and over 2,500 feet of elevation gain. I felt tired but good. I tossed the garbage into a nearby receptacle.

The hike had gone well and I had a great time. The weather was lovely with clear skies and moderate temperatures. I had never hiked on the Goat Trail (or maybe I had, I just don't remember), and I enjoyed it very much too. It is well maintained and an easy trail to follow, albeit steep.

Back at the car, I relaxed for almost thirty minutes. I had no plans now. I got onto my device and answered a few emails, actually "working" a little bit. I also looked for something else to hike since I had a couple of hours to use up. I decided to go look at Prince Benchmark, about fifteen miles north of here.