The Mountains of Arizona
www.surgent.net |
|
Peak 2461 • Peak 2585 The Samaniego Hills are a handful of volcanic mounds in the Ironwood National Monument, about thirty miles northwest of Tucson. These are not to be confused with Samaniego Peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The name "Samaniego" is a surname, from Mariano Samaniego, a prominent Tucson businessman and politician in the late 1800s. These hills can be accessed via Sasco Road, by taking the Red Rocks exit from Interstate-10. However, that route entails a ford of the Santa Cruz River at the Los Robles Wash. The water level can vary. I've been there when it was bone dry and other times when it's two feet deep, and it's never weather-dependent. Going that way is a gamble. I've hiked two peaks nearby, Cerro Prieto and Pan Quemado, from that side. They were close enough so that I could walk them from the ford. These peaks are better accessed via Silverbell Road out of Marana. I was looking at a clump of four peaks all nearby one another, and thought I may be able to hike all four in one outing. As circumstances ended up dictating, I got two of the four and was happy to get the two.
Date: January 14, 2025
• Elevation: 2,461 feet
• Prominence: 301 feet ✳
• Distance: 0.3 mile ascent, 0.3 mile descent
• Time: 90 minutes for both peaks
• Gain: 346 feet
• Conditions: Sunny and very pleasant
Arizona
•
Main
•
PB
•
LoJ
•
Lidar
I left Bisbee at 7:20 a.m., heading to Tempe. Today was the first day of instruction for the Spring semester on the ASU's main campus and my class was at 6 p.m, so I had all day to get there. Like I did during the Fall term last year, I looked for a peak or two in the Tucson area to tag to break up the drive.
It was very cold when I left, into the high teens in Benson, slowly warming into the 30s once in Tucson. It was a clear and calm day with no clouds. I had no issues driving through Tucson. I exited at Marana, following Marana Road west a few miles to where it merges with Silverbell Road. It was there I saw the "Road Closed" and the "Bridge Out" signs.
I parked and figured out what I could do. There were some detour signs and I saw on the map a few roads that looked like bypasses. I followed the detour signs, south on Trico Road, west on El Tiro, and north on Crico Road, which put me back on Silverbell Road, west of the closure. This added about ten miles and twenty minutes but I was still doing good on time.
Silverbell Road goes west through the deserts, entering the National Monument, and passing through one last tiny parcel of homes. Past this, the road loses its pavement, now a wide and graded dirt road.
I was on this road another two or three miles, until I found BLM Road 6645, which goes northeast. This road was narrower but in decent shape. I followed it a couple miles, the last part through a corral with some cattle standing around. Past the corral, I drove a lesser track, then parked in the open, just a short walk from Peak 2461. I did not track mileage and that detour would have thrown off my figures, but it was about 25 miles from the interstate to get here.
It was about 10:30 when I killed the engine and got a pack together. These two peaks are the two eastern peaks of the quartet and looked like they could be done in a single loop hike. By now, the temperature had risen into the comfortable range, high 40s and low 50s.
From my car, I followed the track to an earthen tank, then up through scattered volcanic rocks onto the lower slopes of Peak 2641. The first half was a moderately steep push upward about 150 feet on large talus, some of the rocks teetering under my weight. Other than that, it was an easy matter to scale this slope, the brush not being too thick and in the way. This put me on a flat ridge below the top.
I angled left and up to a saddle, then up the remaining hundred feet to the top. Here, the rocks were big and jumbled and I used hands a couple times to ease up the rocks. Once on the top ridge, I walked up the easy slopes to the very top, arriving 19 minutes after starting.
Views up here were good. I especially liked the juxtaposition of Picacho Peak with Newman Peak to the north. To the west was the rocky Ragged Top, and the bigger Silverbell Peaks. I found a register and signed in, snapped a few images, then started down.
I retraced my route for the most part, but angled a little more to the right to descend to the saddle connecting Peak 2461 with Peak 2585, now my next objective.
Elevation: 2,585 feet
• Prominence: 305 feet
• Distance: 0.4 mile ascent, 0.5 mile descent
• Gain: 515 feet
• Conditions: Same as before
PB
•
LoJ
Once at the saddle, I just started up the slopes of Peak 2585. I could not tell which peak was highest from this vantage, so I picked a line and started uphill, figuring I would get to the ridge and go from there.
The slopes were steep and full of rocks, and like on Peak 2461, not all firmly set. But the gradient wasn't too steep, and I was able to get onto the top ridge in about fifteen minutes. I immediately marched up the nearest bump on the ridge, knowing full well it wasn't the highpoint. But once on top, I could see what I needed to do.
The highpoint was another couple of bumps over to the southwest. I descended and then got to the next main bump, this one much rockier with small cliffs that were easily scaled. I planned to go up and over, but on the opposite side, the drops were a little too much, so I backtracked and took a different line down, dropping about 80 feet to a saddle.
Now I was below the actual highpoint hill. I walked up its rocky slopes, just going slowly and carefully, and was soon on top the peak. This took about a half hour from the lower saddle.
The top was rocky with good views. I found a register and signed in again, snapped some images and looked around. I was happy to get two peaks done, but figured I needed to get moving.
The exit hike went quick as I could take a direct bearing back to my car. I was back by noon, a 90-minute hike covering about 1.5 miles. The temperature had risen some more, now balmy, in the low 60s. The other two peaks would have to wait another time.
I retraced the road route out back to Interstate-10, then aimed for Phoenix. I stopped in Eloy for gas and snacks. Last semester, I had generally good luck with traffic into Phoenix. Not today.
Now north of Casa Grande, I saw one of those electronic signs that tells you how many minutes to a particular exit up ahead. It had over an hour for an exit I knew was just twenty or so miles up ahead. Traffic was moving well where I was, so I continued and hoped for the best.
I passed the exit for Sacaton, the AZ-187/387 exit that offers a backway into Chandler. Then not one mile later, traffic halted. I was pissed at myself for not taking that exit. I was stuck now, with no idea what had happened or how long this would take.
I sat there for about fifteen minutes. Then we moved, ever so slowly. Then we moved a little more, now averaging about 10 miles per hour. At least we were moving. This went on for many miles and almost an hour. Finally, we came upon what had happened. It looked like a truck went onto its side. They had righted it by now but it was thrashed, whole sections peeled away and laying about. I assume the driver was okay because I didn't hear anything about it on the local news.
This put me back an hour, but I was still making good time. Leaving early as I did was deliberate because I need that buffer. I was in Tempe at the ASU campus by 3 p.m., time enough for a workout and a shower, and to get my head right for another semester of teaching, my 62nd semester at ASU.
Things worked out well, and after class, I camped for the night at the White Tank Mountains County Park for tomorrow's climb of Radio Towers Peak. It would be a full moon tonight and the lows in town were only in the 40s, so I looked forward to another night under the stars.
|
|