Date: December 10, 2024 • Elevation: 3,210 feet • Prominence: 410 feet • Distance: 2.8 miles • Time: 90 minutes • Gain: 630 feet (gross) • Conditions: Clear, blue skies, pleasant

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ

Striped Hill is another rocky peak in the Tucson Mountains, notable for its rocky summit crown, which has vertical fluted sides giving it a striped appearance. I was on my way to Tempe and stopped for a couple hours to climb this little peak.

I left Bisbee about 7:30 a.m. and was in Tucson a couple hours later, traffic not too bad. I exited the interstate at Grant Road, went west, now called Ironwood Road. I followed this to its terminus at Camino del Oeste, going south a half mile, then west again on Trails End Road.

Striped Hill appears early on because it is one of the lower eastern foothills of the Tucson Mountains, with not many foothills in front of it. Its summit is a knob of rock, with no obvious "easy" way to the top.

On Trails End Road, I parked in one pullout with a sign saying "No Parking, no selling cars, advertising or selling goods". I got suited up and started walking, but got in about a hundred feet and decided I didn't want to chance my car where it was. I found another pullout with no sign and backed in, blocking an ancient metal gate that was probably last opened decades ago.

I started walking again, the time now about 10:15 a.m.. The weather was spectacular, with clear blue skies, no clouds, very low humidity, and cool temperatures in the high 50s. I followed a path through the desert scrub then down into a sandy arroyo.

This arroyo trended northeast and dropped about 120 feet in a little over a half mile. The arroyo was about 20 feet wide, with coarse sand that made walking easy. Others come here regularly, judging by the footprints. The area is surrounded by homes, so the locals probably use this as a workout trail.

I then turned left into a secondary arroyo, this one going west, now at the base of the peak. From this angle, the summit knob was much more apparent. It lies at the west tip of the mountain's massif. I was hoping to see some easy ramp that was hidden at first, but no such luck.

The slopes here were covered in saguaro. I found a slope that was mostly free of the lower grabbier brush and started uphill. This put me on the main ridge a little west of the easternmost subsummit. The slope was solid, but sometimes rubbly.

Now on the ridge, I marched toward the peak, following a weak path. This segment was easy, being mostly level. The grade steepened slightly as it approached the base of the knob.

Once at the base, I would need to figure out what to do. Even from 50 feet away, it all looked like one uniform pile of rocks. The knob is about 90 feet high. No one way looked best.

I picked a line, the only one that seemed feasible, and followed it up about fifteen feet. This "line" then made a right turn and now I could see a viable way up, a steep but protected ramp that seemed to go up most of the way. It curled behind some higher rocks so I could not be sure, but there was just one way to find out.

I stashed my hiking poles here as I would be needing my hands for much of what was ahead of me. The ramp was steep and messy, but it worked very well. I gained about 40 feet. It then ended, but a steep chute opened to my left. This chute was short but would require some thinking. The holds were good but awkward, and there was some exposure. This was the only spot where a fall could have been bad news.

The chute then fed me onto a ledge with a steep runout. I sidled by one big rock and then into another chute. Once above that, the top was just feet away. I somehow had got up the darn thing.

The summit was a simple flat platform about fifteen feet to a side. There were no cairns or registers. The views were excellent and I snapped a couple of images. I was pleased, and a little surprised, to be here. But I started back down immediately, while I remembered what to do.

Descending the chites and ledges took a little time because I was going very slowly. The rock itself was almost always solid and dependable. It was the loose gravel and rubble stuff that took time to manage. A couple runouts looked imposing. But I had no problems, being super careful. I was soon off the knob, back on more horizontal terrain.

The ramp I took up and down was not clear to me until I was literally on the rock itself. It seemed to be the only viable way up. I found small cairns in a couple places suggesting others have felt the same. I'd rate the climbing to be sustained Class 2+, with a couple Class 3 spots. To me, the trickiest maneuver was that first chute at the top of the ramp.

Back on the ridge, I retraced my route down off the hill and back into the arroyos, and back out to my car. The round trip took 90 minutes and covered just under 3 miles. I was happy to be successful on this peak, and happy to get some more scrambling practice to keep the skills sharp.

It was near noon. I changed into more comfortable driving clothes and drove to Tempe with a stop in Eloy for gas and snacks. Tonight was my final exam night so I'd be on campus until late. Not wanting to drive all the way back to Bisbee and arrive home at 2 a.m., I found a camping spot at the West Pinal County Park near Stanfield for some easy peakbagging for tomorrow.