Climbing Reports

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

USA State Highpoints, July 2018

September 3, 2018 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

This past July I took a long road trip to visit 22 USA State Highpoints, the highest natural point of each of those states. This was part of my long-term project to visit the highpoint of every USA State.

Pamola Peak from Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin

I began visiting USA State Highpoints in 1977 with my first climb of Mount Hood, the highpoint of Oregon. In 1979 I climbed Granite Peak in Montana, and in 1980 I climbed Mount Rainier in Washington. Perhaps I accepted the challenge of visiting all the Western USA State Highpoints in 1986 when I climbed Gannett Peak in Utah, Boundary Peak in Nevada, and Mount Whitney in California. The states east of Colorado did not have any interest to me then, and the western state highpoints provided me plenty of challenge.

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Huachuca Mountains, Arizona, March 2018

April 7, 2018 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, March 31, I led a hike of three peaks in the Huachuca Mountains for the Southern Arizona Hiking Club. The Huachuca Mountains are prominent range lying immediately west of Sierra Vista, Arizona. Our goals were to summit Huachuca, Lyle, and Peterson Peaks.

The southern Huachuca Mountains from Huachuca Peak summit

June Meyer, Bill and Jane Hiscox, and Jeff Brucker rendezvoused with me early in the morning and loaded into my Jeep. We drove south through Sonoita and past Parker Canyon Lake to follow forest roads to the trailhead. On the drive towards Parker Canyon Lake we spotted pronghorn, deer, and turkeys. With that start to the day I wondered if we might encounter a jaguar later on the hike.

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Mustang Mountains, Arizona, March 2018

April 4, 2018 by Paul McClellan 1 Comment

On Wednesday, March 28, I joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club on climbs of two peaks in the Mustang Mountains of Arizona. The Mustang Mountains are a small range lying east of Sonoita and between the Whetstone Mountains to the north and the Huachuca Mountains to the south. These peaks have only moderate prominence with short climbs but their slopes are steep. Their location provides views of many surrounding ranges.

Hiking through open country low on the north slopes of Peak 6469

John Ohm led the trip and drove us into the range just a few miles off highway 82. Our party included Bill Hiscox, June Meyer, and John Perillo, with whom I have shared many other trips this winter season. Our parking spot provided a base from which we climbed each peak in succession.

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Whetstone Mountains, Arizona, March 2018

March 14, 2018 by Paul McClellan 2 Comments

On Wednesday, March 7, I joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club on a climb of Apache Peak and French Joe Peak in the Whetstone Mountains southeast of Tucson. Apache Peak is the 29th most prominent peak in Arizona with 2886 feet of topographic prominence and 7711 feet of elevation. French Joe Peak lies nearby to the south of Apache Peak.

I last attempted Apache Peak in December 2016. Then I drove in by myself until the road erosion and steep grade convinced me to park several miles short of the end of the road. I hiked from there to near the end of the road and climbed up the WSW ridge through knee-high grass to a rocky point to consider my situation. By then it was late afternoon, I was running low on energy, and I thought that the risks were too high to continue. After returning to my Jeep I drove out in the dark. I noted on the road hike how the brush closed in on the road and one quite steep drop into and out of a wash promised some excitement when I returned someday.

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