Mount Stocker - 3854’
Got together with Kurt yesterday to do some peaks near the town of Nelson. Was hoping for a 5 peak loop, but knew there might only be time for 3 since we had to get back to town at a decent hour. We hiked across the Bridge Spring flats which aren’t very flat and went through the pass south of “Pigs in Zen Peak”. The west face of Stocker looks tricky, but several gullies break through the extensive upper cliffs. We went up one of these gullies and found the crest of the ridge and east side are much more gentle. Surprisingly, no register.
Stocker
went up the gully to the right
next two peaks
Peak 3510
We descended the east face and followed a canyon north to a bench on it’s west side. South of Peak 5310 we descended rotten rock to the base of a talus filled gully on the south slope. This gully does not appear on the map. Near the top of the gully, we scrambled on mostly solid, but steep volcanic rock to the summit.
3510
talus gully
Stocker on the right
Peak 3861
Peak 3320
The next peak looked very steep, but what looked like a minor gully north of the summit turned out to be much easier than we expected. From where it ended on the north ridge, it was a class 2 walk to the summit.
Peak 3320
Peak 3861
To get back to Bridge Spring flats and the car, we ascended Oak Creek Canyon. Kurt found a dried out scorpion. I felt the magnetic pull of Peak 3861 and pleaded with Kurt that it was right there and only 700 feet of gain, but he reminded me that we had stuff to do in town and limited time, and he was right.
Thank you for this great photo. The distinctive hair on the chela (pincer) makes this an Arizona Desert Hairy Scorpion. Those hairs are thought to be able to detect movement in the soil of a single micron when searching for prey. This scorpion died during the molting process showing the exoskeleton slightly peeled away from the body. I would guess this is a female as the prosoma (first segment of the body) is slightly larger in the female. This perhaps allows for greater internal space. The female remains gravid and the embryos remain in the body until birth. The young then climb onto the back of the female until their first molt in ~2 weeks.
Pigs in Zen>>Nelson>>Lonesome (wilderness HP)>>Stocker>>E. Stocker
Love the Eldorados!
Thanks for the beta, looking forward to 3510' and 3320'. Hope someday to continue to the slot canyons by the River from there.
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“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”
― MLK Jr.
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