Arizona Archives – Page 10 of 32 – GlassMountains Trip Reports

Santa Rita Peak 6280+, Arizona, January 2022

February 10, 2022 by Paul McClellan 1 Comment

On Thursday, January 27, I visited the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. Specifically I explored the northern extension of the Santa Rita Mountains that leads towards Mount Fagan. Here a ridge of little peaks has over 1000 feet of topographic prominence. However, it is not obvious from maps which peak is the highest and therefore gets the coveted prominence.

Left to right: Peak 6290, Peak 6280+, Weigles Butte, Helvetia BM, and Harts Butte from AZ Hwy 83 north of Sonoita

There seemed to be three candidate peaks. On the latest topographic map Weigles Butte has a surveyed elevation of 6284 feet. An unnamed peak about a mile south of Weigles Butte has a surveyed elevation of 6290 feet (“Santa Rita Peak 6290”). Between these two is another unnamed peak, without a surveyed elevation, but with a contour interval indicating it has at least 6280 feet (“Santa Rita Peak 6280+”). The current consensus amongst peakbaggers is that Peak 6280+ is the highest. Matthias had recently climbed this peak and thought the same. This ridge is quite visible from our bicycling routes on the east side of Tucson. So I decided to visit these peaks to decide for myself.

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Harquahala Peak 4489, Arizona, January 2022

January 30, 2022 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Sunday, January 16, I left the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct below Big Horn Peak and followed the Salome and Eagle Eye Roads north to climb an unnamed peak at the northern end of the Harquahala Mountains. This peak, Harquahala Peak 4489, has 1689 feet of prominence, making it the 110th most prominent peak in Arizona.

Harquahala Peak 4489 from Eagle Eye Road, the east ridge rises from right to left

As I approached Harquahala Peak 4489 from the south I got good views of its long east ridge, my planned route to the summit. I expected a straightforward and scenic climb.

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Big Horn Peak, Arizona, January 2022

January 29, 2022 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

Last Saturday, January 15, I left Tucson and drove to the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct between Phoenix and Quartzsite, Arizona, just north of Interstate Highway 10. My goal was to climb Big Horn Peak, the 180th more prominent peak in Arizona with 1400 feet of topographic prominence. Though Big Horn Peak is way down on the Arizona prominence list, it has a very distinctive appearance and offers a complex route with significant rock scrambling around and above cliffs.

My view of Big Horn Peak from my drive in towards the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct.

I arrived at the aqueduct and began my hike in at noon. I crossed a footbridge just below a water drop that sounded like a river rapid. The water was running strongly. Once across I followed dirt roads and crossed a locked gate and a barbed wire fence. Then I began hiking directly across the desert towards Big Horn Peak.

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Sitgreaves and Bill Williams Mountains, Arizona, November 2021

December 5, 2021 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

In November I finally returned to Northern Arizona to hike Sitgreaves and Bill Williams Mountains, two prominence peaks, that I had left unclimbed on my last visit two years ago. I needed to return before the winter snow arrived, as it might linger into the late spring.

Sitgreaves Mountain

On Sunday, November 21, I drove from Tucson north to Flagstaff, west a few miles, then turned north and drove through the Pitman Valley and into the Kaibab National Forest. I followed forest roads to a small trailhead below the north slopes of Sitgreaves Mountain and parked.

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