Climbing Reports

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

Superstition Ridge, Arizona, February 2018

March 6, 2018 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

During the last week of February Linda and I camped at Lost Dutchman State Park, northeast of Apache Junction. We spent three nights camped there. On our second day, Tuesday February 27, I hiked Superstition Benchmark (Peak 5057), the highpoint of Superstition Ridge. Superstition Benchmark is the 90th most prominent peak in Arizona with 1817 feet of topographic prominence.

Evening view of Superstition Mountain from Lost Dutchman State Park

Superstition Benchmark is accessible from the State Park. But I chose to access it from the Carney Springs Trailhead. The route would be shorter and I would be more likely to reach the summit my first time in the area.

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Southwestern Arizona Peaks, February 2018

February 24, 2018 by Paul McClellan 1 Comment

On February 17-19 I hiked three Southwestern Arizona peaks with old and new peakbagging friends. These peaks are located south of I-8 east of Yuma in the Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR) West, a military bombing range, and the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (CPNWR). This was my first time in this region of Arizona and I enjoyed exploring these steep and rugged peaks.

Friday evening, February 16, I camped just north of the BMGR south of Wellton, Arizona. I enjoyed the clear, dark, and starry sky above my solitary campsite. Overnight Eric Kassan arrived from Las Vegas, Adam Humphreys arrived from Phoenix, and Keith Christensen, Greg Gerlach, and Laura Newman arrived from Los Angeles.

We had obtained permits to travel through the BMGR and the CPNWR to climb three prominence peaks over the next three days. I had climbed with Eric and Adam in the past but this was the first time I was to meet Keith, Greg, and Laura. They had just climbed a peak on Friday. I was to learn that they are very active peakbaggers and enjoyable companions in the mountains.

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Sawtooth Mountains, Arizona, February 2018

February 6, 2018 by Paul McClellan 2 Comments

Last Saturday, February 3, I joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club in the Sawtooth Mountains southwest of Arizona City. This is a small range of steep peaks, visible to the west from I-10 between Picacho and Casa Grande north of Tucson.

Peak 2614 from our parking spot. The route followed the cliffs around the right side.

Our goal was to climb two peaks, Peak 2614 and Peak 2630, both within the Ironwood Forest National Monument. Peak 2630 is the highpoint of the Sawtooth Mountains with 1020 feet of topographic prominence. We drove in on a dusty road and parked at an elevation of only 1740 feet, nearly 1200 feet lower than Linda’s and my home in Tucson.

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Prominence Peaks West of Phoenix, January 2018

January 22, 2018 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On January 15-18 Linda and I camped at the White Tank Mountain Regional Park, located on the west side of Phoenix. The campsites were spacious. Linda enjoyed gravel bike riding and hiking locally and I hiked prominence peaks west of Phoenix.

Barry Goldwater Peak

One of the white tanks below the Mesquite Canyon Trail

The White Tank Mountains consist of a series of numerous rocky fault ridges and deep canyons. During heavy rainfall water has scoured out a number of depressions or “tanks” in the white granite in canyons near the base of the mountains. These white tanks are the source of the name of this range.

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