Date: December 31, 2024 • Elevation: 5,137 feet ✳ • Prominence: 385 feet ✳ • Distance: 4.2 miles • Time: 2 hours • Gain: 580 feet • Conditions: Sunny and pleasant, few clouds

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ • Lidar

This peak is in the southwestern foothills of the Mule Mountains. The Sierra Vista Shooting Range is located here, at the northern base of the peak. The road in is called Sharpshooters Road.

Today being the last day of 2024, and the end of the first 25 years of the 2000s, I wanted to end the year on a high note and a bang. I figured I could achieve both here, getting naturally high, and hearing bangs.

This peak does not attract much attention. Lists of John shows just two previous visitors, the last in January 1995. Am I the first person in 30 years to climb this peak? Probably not, but it's safe to assume not many people have been here overall.

I left my home at 9, and a half hour later, was rolling in on Sharpshooters Road. I parked amid a clump of large rock outcrops alongside the road, about a half mile north of the shooting range entrance. I would be on State Trust and BLM land the entire way, so access was not a concern.

I started hiking a few moments later, the day sunny and cool, in the low 60s with a steady breeze. I walked on a diagonal southwesterly, walking amid thorny brush about waist high. I tried to keep to lanes but often found myself being poked, stabbed, pricked and held back by the plants. It was the usual: acacia, ocotillo, mesquite and cactus.

About ten minutes into the hike, I came upon an arroyo, this one with walls 15 feet high! I was not expecting such a dramatic arroyo. I had to walk alongside it to find a place to drop in, then walk within it to find a place to exit. Then, moments later, I came upon another arroyo, this one about 3 feet wide and ten feet deep. Had I not been paying attention, I could have easily fallen in.

In about twenty minutes since leaving the car, I came upon the shooting range's boundary fence. There is a lovely dirt track on the inside, but the fence had "no trespassing, shooting range" signs every few yards. I stepped over the fence anyway, the nice open track too much to resist. I walked it west to where the fence then turns south, then hopped over the fence, now off the shooting range property. There is a track that I could follow from here.

I followed the track roughly a half mile south. The track then veered southwest, and I followed it until it seemed right to leave it and start up the slopes.

The slopes were pitched gently, but were covered in brush, the same as below. The rocky terrain mostly behaved, the rocks rolling but not that often. Lanes were hard to come by and I spent about half the time just pushing through the flora.

In time, I had gained the main ridge. I hung a left and walked up another slope to a false summit. The true summit was just another hundred yards to the east, and I was soon upon it, one hour after starting.

The top is narrow with cliffs facing south. A fence runs across the top, but it did not bar me from tagging the highest rocks. I found no register nor hints of previous visitors such as a cairn. Obviously, whoever installed the fence were up here once.

The views were good, with the day being sunny and mild. I snapped a couple images. The Huachuca Mountains looked impressive, the sun creating shadows on its ridges.

I did not spend much time up here at all. I turned around and retraced my steps, getting myself back to the road. I even hopped the fences at the same places, then did my best to find a way through the arroyo channels. I was back to my car at 11:35, meaning a two hour hike.

From here, I just drove home and showered. I was happy to get this peak done. It wasn't one I had been particularly anxious to do, but since I wanted to stay close to home and just wanted a short hike, it worked perfectly. It may very well be in 2050 before the next person logs an ascent.

This year had gone well for me overall. In terms of peaks, I climbed 184 ranked peaks nationwide, with 155 in Arizona. I currently stand at 950 ranked peaks in Arizona, with 1,000 in my sights, but it still may be a few months before I get there. I am also grateful I remained generally healthy, still have a job and have been on good terms with those close to me.