[Gimpilator]

Earlier this year, I told my friend Matthias that I would like to join him for his list finish of the Arizona P2k’s, on Pinnacle Ridge. There are 73 peaks and roughly a dozen or less people have finished the list so far. Pinnacle Ridge is generally considered to be the toughest one, with route finding difficulty, horribly dense brush, and sketchy exposed scrambling at the end, which requires some technique. Greg and I saw Pinnacle Ridge from Mount Turnbull this last May, and it left an impression on me. Matthias had made an attempt at the peak before and was able to get all the way to the summit pinnacle, but wasn’t sure what to do after that. I told him I wanted to bring a rope and other gear, just in case, to make sure we got it. None of his other hiking friends wanted to do the peak, because of it’s reputation. As it turned out my buddy Greg K was happy to join us, and I knew he would make a strong addition to our team. Greg’s always up for anything.

sunrise

We met a mile from the trailhead and walked the downhill portion of the road, unsure of it’s current condition. We followed an old stretch of road past Sand Tank and then turned left into a split of the drainage. Plenty of water was flowing in the creek from the recent rains. After dodging a bit of mild brush we came to a large dryfall which was not currently dry. A wet-fall so to speak, in Arizona no less.

wet dryfall

We bypassed the falls on the right side and then used old cattle trails and sometimes the creek itself to work further up the wash. At another fork in the drainage, we ascended the divider ridge towards Point 6420. The slope was steep and covered with grass, the seeds of which worked deeply into my socks to stab at my ankles.

pinnacles east of the main peak

the main group of pinnacles

We passed around the south and then west side of Point 6420 without going to the top. The summit pinnacles were now visible and it was hard to tell exactly which one was the highest. Beyond Point 6420, the brush gets serious. In many places dense undergrowth is over your head and there are patches of manzanita interspersed with cactus. With the help of the Richard Hensley track log, we were able to follow long sections of the old use trail which is now easy to lose. More people need to climb this peak! Bring some garden clippers, or maybe a flame thrower.

traverse below the saddle

We worked our way around and over some large boulders that were drowning in brush and then north down into a little basin at 6240 feet. At a convergence of small drainage's we turned northwest and followed a creek bottom to a saddle just above 6400 feet. Then we went north up through the brush and traversed west and onto the east ridge of the peak.

Matthias

Graham

Turnbull

The east ridge had a few rocky sections to scramble over and we were lucky when we were able to follow overgrown sections of that old use trail. There’s all sorts of bushwhacking to enjoy in the peakbagging game. There’s the type that unties your boots, or the type that rips your pants, or the type that empties things out of your pockets. Some brush draws blood. At one point I found myself crawling on my hands and knees in the dirt because it was the only way to proceed. Every time I heard Matthias yell out in a certain tone of voice, I knew he had been awarded a new stab from a yucca or agave. Battle-wounds.

chute entrance left of center

manzanita nirvana

chute

We came to the base of the chute. There’s a left side and a right side and the middle. Matthias told us he sort of remembered that the left side ended badly and we ought to try the right. The middle is where the brush is thickest. I went half way up the right side and then didn’t like the way the end looked, so I waded into the manzanita in the middle. Greg is a better scrambler and he was able to finish on the right side. Matthias followed me.

right side

center

We joined up at the top of the chute. Various towers of rock surrounded us, as well as some slabs which ended in exposure. But Matthias had been here before, and he knew we should look for a gap with a dead tree stump. He and I went through that gap while Greg explored a more direct gap closer to what we thought might be the highest pinnacle. It was completely overhanging and if we were right, then we had just passed underneath the summit. How odd.

Greg directly underneath the actual summit

traverse along the west base

We traversed below the west side of the pinnacle and then scrambled up through tree branches on a slab that has some nice protruding holds right where you want them. On a ledge below a slanting chimney, I suggested we put our harnesses on. I figured this might be the last spot where it was easy to do so. Even if they weren’t needed, its not a bad practice. We went up the chimney and passed through a gap onto the east side. The summit was now south of us. We had to stem down into a gap and then go up through a narrow little chimney to reach the final ledge below the highest point. It’s not exactly a ledge, but a flaked boulder detached from the top rock.

The final move was the most committing. You have to stand on the flaked boulder and pull yourself across and up with bad holds. Greg did it with ease, but I tested the feel and didn’t like it. The exposure is for-real and the holds are just rounded off friction “slopers”. I called for a belay and told Matthias that if he didn’t wanted one, that was totally fine. Greg set up a sling anchor on the far side of the narrow summit and I handed the rope up to him. There’s a deep sandy groove conveniently situated so as to avoid pendulum potential. I found that with a belay, the last move was extremely easy. Immediately I was on top with Greg. He then belayed Matthias up. AZ P2k 73/73! Nice job Matthias! What a special experience to witness such an effort come to fruition. I asked him what’s next and he said AZ Top 100 Prom.

Matthias on the final move

Pinnacle Ridge summit

It was cold and windy on top so we didn’t stay long. Greg belayed us both down the exposed move and then cleaned the gear before coming down himself. We scrambled back to our packs at the lower ledge and then it was time to resume the war on brush. Our round-trip time was 9 hours.

[neek]

In Arizona, bush whacks you! Cool report, and congrats to Matthias.

[awilsondc]

Nice job fellas!

[Jake Robinson]

Sounds like a tricky peak and a fun little routefinding puzzle. Congrats to everyone on the successful climb and to Matthias for the list finish!

[puzzlr]

Nicely detailed report. That looks like a really fun peak. Congrats on the successful summit.

[iron]

looks like gaiter terrain

[Michael Lewis]

congratz