Climbing Reports

Travel using both feet and hands, whether scrambling unroped or technical climbing using rope and anchors.

Date Creek Mountains Highpoint, Arizona, April 2020

April 19, 2020 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, April 4, I left Tucson for a few days to visit three Arizona prominence peaks. After climbing Buckskin Benchmark on Sunday I drove Sunday afternoon north towards the town of Congress. My goal for Monday was to climb the highpoint of the Date Creek Mountains. This highpoint has 1560 feet of topographic prominence and 4920 feet of elevation. Richard Hensley, one of my Arizona peakbagger friends, climbed this peak in November 2018 and provided good road access and route information.

The Date Creek Mountains Highpoint from the SE Canyon road

Richard’s report included some emphatic cautions about his experience driving his Jeep on the access road all the way to his climbing route and suggested others consider a parking spot before the worse of it. I was ready to watch for road trouble as I drove in Sunday afternoon to find my evening campsite and tomorrow’s starting point.

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Buckskin Benchmark, Buckskin Mountains, Arizona, April 2020

April 18, 2020 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

About two weeks ago, Saturday April 4, I left Tucson for a few days to visit three Arizona prominence peaks. Two of the peaks had been on my “Wish List” for a few years and I hoped to finally visit their summits. My first goal was to climb Buckskin Benchmark, the highpoint of the Buckskin Mountains just south of Arizona’s Alamo Lake State Park.

Buckskin Benchmark and the Buckskin Mountains in early morning light from my campsite

Buckskin Benchmark is the 86th most prominent peak in Arizona with 1887 feet of topographic prominence and 3927 feet of elevation. Three friends of mine, Matthias Stender, Michael Berry, and Scott Peavy climbed it on December 17,2017. With their trip report and given my pace I expected a long day, but not any route difficulties.

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Como Benchmark, South Comobabi Mountains, Arizona, March 2020

March 30, 2020 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Thursday, March 26, I visited Como Benchmark, the highpoint of the South Comobabi Mountains west of Tucson. The day was overcast with a low chance of showers but the schedule was open and I was eager to get back to working through my peak goals for this winter season.

The South Comobabi Mountains from the desert slopes.

I had previously scouted two road options. This day I selected the one that got me closer to the base of the mountains but required a bit more cross country travel. I parked beside a primitive road soon before it ended in a discrete spot.

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Vekol Mountains Highpoint, Arizona, February 2020

February 15, 2020 by Paul McClellan 2 Comments

The Vekol Mountains are a small and rarely visited Sonoran Desert mountain range about 30 miles southwest of Casa Grande, Arizona. I have had distant glimpses of the Vekol Mountains from other mountain summits in recent years, but my best view of them was from Jack Benchmark, the highpoint of the Tat Momoli Mountains, in January.

Lake Saint Clair and the Vekol Mountains from the Tat Momoli Mountains

My peakbagging friends and I have wanted to climb the highpoint of the Vekol Mountains, but the range remoteness, lack of information about road access, and mystery discouraged any solo attempts. I had been unable to join my friends on climbs earlier this winter season. So when I heard they planned an attempt on the highpoint of the Vekol Mountains when I was available I eagerly joined them.

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