Hiking Reports

Travel using primarily feet only. Hands might be used with hiking poles for balance or uphill travel.

Patagonia Mountains, Arizona, April 2018

April 14, 2018 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

Last Wednesday, April 11, I led a hike of Veterans Peak and Mount Washington in the Patagonia Mountains for the Southern Arizona Hiking Club. The Patagonia Mountains lie just north of Mexico east of Nogales. Mount Washington is the highpoint of the Patagonia Mountains with 7221 feet of elevation. It is also the 104th most prominent peak in Arizona with 1709 feet of topographic prominence.

Veterans Peak appears high on the left from Forest Road 61

Tucson was predicted to be at record temperatures Wednesday. I met June, Bill, Jane, John, and Roxanna early in the morning. We drove south through Sonoita to the town of Patagonia. From there we followed forest roads south into the Patagonia Mountains. We parked at about 6000 feet elevation and climbed a steep unmaintained but obvious trail south towards Veterans Peak.

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Turtle Mountain, Arizona, February 2018

February 9, 2018 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On February 7 I joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club on a climb of Turtle Mountain Highpoint northeast of Safford. Turtle Mountain is the 73rd most prominent peak in Arizona with 2004 feet of topographic prominence and 7004 feet of elevation. There were a total of 8 hikers on this outing and it was my second co-lead for the Southern Arizona Hiking Club.

Turtle Mountain from our parking spot below the west side

The Drive In

The drive into the Turtle Springs trailhead was long and challenging, requiring a capable vehicle with high clearance, 4WD, and lockers. I led the way in my Jeep Rubicon with the outing leader, Gary Fabiano, riding in John Ohm’s 4-Runner. They were to flash their lights if I did not correctly make the turns at junctions.

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Reiley Peak, Arizona, January 2018

February 2, 2018 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

January 31 I joined the Southern Arizona Hiking Club on a climb of Reiley Peak in the Winchester Mountains northwest of Willcox. Reiley Peak is the 50th most prominent peak in Arizona with 2320 feet of topographic prominence and 7640 feet of elevation.

View of Reiley Peak from low on the northwest ridge

Eric Kassan and I attempted to drive in to the “trailhead” for Reiley Peak last February, but we were stopped by very poor road conditions. Eric and I expected that on our next attempt we might have to park several miles short of the trailhead and backpack in to a base camp for the climb. We hoped to time the attempt when treatable water was available.

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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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