GlassMountains Trip Reports

Atascosa Peak, Arizona, December 2015

January 3, 2016 by Paul McClellan 1 Comment

On New Years Eve I hiked Atascosa Peak, the highpoint of the Atascosa Mountains of Southern Arizona. Atascosa Peak is one of the “Coronado 12” peaks, the highpoints of the 12 units of the Coronado National Forest. With 1976 feet of topographical prominence it is the 78th most prominent peak in Arizona.

There was a nice trail leading to the Atascosa Lookout site. From there I descended to the saddle north of the lookout site and up to the summit of Atascosa Peak. This required cross country travel with some scrambling over class 2-3 rock and through some brush. The weather was ideal and I had the traverse out to the summit and back all to myself.

Atascosa Peak from above Peña Blanca Lake

The above photo is of Atascosa Peak looking west from above Peña Blanca Lake near the end of Arizona highway 289. The Lookout site is located on the high point on the left. The summit of Atascosa Peak is the high point on the right, about 1 mile north of the lookout site.

[Read more…]

Table Top Mountain, Arizona, December 2015

December 23, 2015 by Paul McClellan 1 Comment

Sunday, December 13, I hiked Table Top Mountain, the highest point of the Table Top Mountains west of Casa Grande, Arizona. Table Top Mountain has 2339 feet of prominence, making it the 48th most prominent peak in Arizona.

Table Top Trail is a maintained trail leading to the SW (false) summit of Table Top Mountain. From there, an unmaintained trail leads to the true summit to the northeast. I enjoyed hiking the trails and viewing the surrounding mountains and valleys in clear skies and pleasant temperatures.

For many visitors, the challenge of visiting Table Top Mountain is the drive. The drive starts with 11.2 miles of dirt/gravel Vekol Valley Road. Then it concludes with 4.5 miles of dirt/rock access road to the Table Top Trailhead.

There were several ruts where washes crossed the roads which required high clearance. The last few miles to the trailhead was on a rocky road with narrow passages through spiny vegetation and over an occasional cholla stem. I had no issues driving these roads with my Jeep with its excellence clearance and 10-ply tires. However, I did add “Arizona pin stripes” to the sides of my Jeep.

[Read more…]

Sierra Estrella, Arizona, December 2015

December 13, 2015 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, December 12, I joined climbers from Las Vegas and Phoenix to climb the high point of the Sierra Estrella, just west of Phoenix. I mostly hike/climb solo anymore, but I was glad to be part of a competent group on this peak to help with routefinding and motivation on a long off-trail ascent over rock and through cactus. There were many opportunities to make a mistake ascending and descending a rocky ridge and dry waterfalls in a wash. It was also helpful to follow others on a primitive jeep trail to get to the start of the climb.

Sierra Estrella from the end of the Jeep trail

The Sierra Estrella high point is just beyond the rock pinnacle visible left of center on the far ridge in the photo above. We ascended the rock ridge in the center of the photo. On our descent we followed the ridge a short distance down, then descended left into the gully/wash to the right of the ridge from this view.

[Read more…]

El Tour de Tucson 2015

November 28, 2015 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On November 21st Linda and I rode in the El Tour de Tucson 2015 event. There were four event routes of 104, 75, 55, and 40 miles. We had last participated in El Tour de Tucson ten years earlier but this time we were spending the winter in Tucson and wanted to ride the longer 104-mile route. It had been 6.5 years since I last rode 100+ miles in a day, so I expected a challenging day. Of the 5365 riders finishing a route 2431 riders completed the 104-mile route, including Linda and me.

The 104-mile ride started at 7:00 am. We had been advised to start lining up by 6:00 am so we got up at 4:00 am, fed the dogs, stopped for coffee and a scone, drove to downtown Tucson, and found parking. We found the “Silver” assembly area for those expecting to finish between 7 and 9 hours and joined the crowd. It was a cool morning so I wore most of my warm bicycling clothes.

[Read more…]

« Previous Page