Pima County Archives – GlassMountains Trip Reports

Mesquite Benchmark, Arizona, March 2019

March 12, 2019 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, March 2, I joined Matthias Stender, Scott Peavy, and Michael Vincent on a climb of Mesquite Benchmark, the highpoint of the Mesquite Mountains of Pima County southwest of Sells, Arizona. Mesquite Benchmark has 3789 feet of elevation and 1769 feet of topographic prominence, tying it as the 98th most prominent peak in Arizona.

Saguaro cactus are joined by organ pipe cactus as we enter the canyon below Mesquite Benchmark.

I met the others where Indian Road 21 heads south off AZ 86 Saturday morning. From there we drove south through the village of Pisinimo and by a few isolated residences. We encountered very little traffic south of Pisinimo except for several Border Patrol vehicles heading in both directions. The paved road deteriorated quickly.

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South Mountain (Pima), Arizona, February 2019

February 23, 2019 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, February 16, Eric Kassan, Stacey Samuels, Adam Humphreys, and I hiked up South Mountain of Pima County west of Sells, Arizona. South Mountain has about 4160 feet of elevation and 2020 feet of topographic prominence, making it the 70th most prominent peak in Arizona. This was my second visit to South Mountain.

South Mountain from Arizona Highway 86 northeast of Sells

We met on Arizona Highway 86 and I led our drive in on primitive roads through a lush and green desert. On the way I spooked four jackrabbits at different points. I had last visited South Mountain in November 2017 and had driving notes from that drive. But I was surprised how a recently graded road then had become eroded in only two years.

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South Mountain (Pima), Arizona, February 2017

February 21, 2017 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On February 11 Michael Berry, Matthias Stender, and I hiked up South Mountain of Pima County west of Sells, Arizona. South Mountain is the 70th most prominent peak in Arizona, with 2020 feet of prominence and 4160 feet of elevation. It is therefore an important peak for those pursuing Arizona Prominence Peaks.

The east face of South Mountain from the trailhead

I had read in a previous report by Scott Surgent that a miner’s trail led up the east face of the mountain. Matthias had a road GPS track accessing the east side of South Mountain from his friend Scott Peavy. This track helped us navigate the primitive roads off Arizona Highway 86 to reach the trailhead. The east face of South Mountain, lined with cliffs, rose above us.

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