[Fletcher]

Baboquivari Peak at sunrise

The last peak of my 3 day climbing trip down to the desert, Baboquivari was one of my most wanted peaks outside of Washington. After Weavers Needle, Josh and I parted ways with Adam and drove SE to Tuscon. After a stop for some groceries in town, we drove west on highway 86 and then south on 286 towards Mexico. The more standard western approach to Baboquivari is accessed within the Tohono O'odham Nation which has been closed to outsiders since the beginning of the pandemic. This required us to use the eastern approach, which entails some very rough 4WD roads getting close to the peak. I was thankful that Josh was willing to be very ballsy and risk the health of his beloved Rav4 to get us nearly to roads end. Being so close to the border, we saw a lot of Border Patrol activity on the drive out. We got a good nights sleep at the trailhead before setting out at 7:30am. Having not arrived in the area well after dark the night before, our first views of Babo upon waking at sunrise were something to behold. What a good looking mountain!

sunrise in the Arizona desert

whoa

I couldnt stop taking pictures

Clemente Windmill

Shortly after leaving the car we came to a gate, stating we were passing through private property but hikers were permitted. Shortly thereafter, we arrived at Baboquivari Peak Ranch. We were surprised at how good of shape some of the buildings were in. I am not sure what kind of use the place gets today, although it looks like no one has driven that far back there in quite some time. After passing through the ranch, we followed decent trail up the upper Thomas Canyon as the impressively sheer eastern face of Babo got closer and closer.

entering the ranch property

Baboquivari Ranch

trailside cactus

getting closer

damn

We made good time up the trail to Babo's broad NE saddle. From here, we identified the obvious notch several hundred feet above us that marked the beginning of the pitched climbing. The trail sort of petered in and out between the saddle and the notch. This was the most unpleasant section of the route with some minor bushwacking and travel up steep chossy terrain. The loose terrain eventually gave way to fun and solid scrambling to below a chockstone where the first pitch begins. We roped up here and I went out on lead. This pitch goes at about 5.4 with very limited pro. Thankfully I found a decent placement for a BD .75 right at the crux moves. I came to a bolted anchor shortly thereafter.

the notch

scrambling towards the notch

Pitch 1

looking back down the pitch

After pitch 1, there is a brief scramble up around a corner to a very large bench area. To our left we identified the second pitch, which is low 5th up a low angle slab. The pro is very runout and lackluster and there are enough real rock climbing moves that this pitch felt a little spicy.

pitch 2 on the left

Once we were both up pitch 2, we scrambled upward to the right and around another corner where we had to descent slightly. This is where the eastern and western variations of the Forbes Route converge and is also at the base of our 3rd pitch. Pitch 3 is also low 5th but steeper than pitch 2. Natural pro doesnt really exist on this pitch, but I did clip a few rusty old bolts on the way up. I highly doubt either of them would have held in the event of a fall. Another solid bolted anchor was located at the top of this pitch where I locked in and brought Josh up.

pitch 3

looking back down pitch 3

From the top of pitch 3, there is another 300 feet of scramble terrain to the summit. The route is kind of convoluted, and I can see why people often epic up here, trying to descend this route blind after climbing the SE arete. Stoke was high as we approached the summit. The Tohono O'odham people believe that their mischievous creator god, I'itoi, resides in a cave below the summit. This felt like a spiritually powerful place.

scrambling above pitch 3

trail that skirts between cliffs and oaks below the summit

Josh right below the summit

summit

looking into Mexico

Mount Wrightson to the east

Kitt Peak to the north

Baboquivari summit shot

summit offerings to I'itoi

After a lengthy summit stay we scrambling back down to the first rappel, taking care not to get off-route. The descent route from here was straighforward with two more pleasant rappels off of wonderful chained anchors. The hike back down from the saddle was quick and pleasant and we were back to the car before 5pm. Baboquivari exceeded expectations!

Baboquivari Canyon

back at the windmill

~8.5 miles ~3400 ft of gain ~9 hours ~DPS 10/95

[puzzlr]

Looks like a fun peak. Interesting to have those iron straps bolted in near the top -- pre rock-climbing aids? The name of this peak alone makes it worth doing

[Fletcher]

Those are relics of the ladder that use to scale that pitch. There used to be a lookout on the summit. Those old ladder rungs, and some other old debris scattered around the peak is all that remains.

[Matt Lemke]

Sweet dude I'm glad you were able to drive to the gate. Seems like you had a fun climb. This was one Josh and I enjoyed very much. Was the summit register still there?

[Gimpilator]

It's really interesting for me to see this other route, which I've read about. I liked the standard, which is a lot easier but still has some easy climbing. Your video is incredible. Really awe inspiring and worth watching more than once. Very exciting sh*t guys. Those 3 peaks in 3 days is ambitious and ballsy, and you did it. Well done.