[Gimpilator]

First, I met up with my friend Sara from the Vegas area, for some more technical objectives. She says she not as good at climbing as she used to be, but her nerve on steep terrain is 10x what mine is. Also when it comes to potentially dangerous situations, she has a lot of experience, whether it’s flying cargo planes for the military, guiding river rafting expeditions, leading multi-pitch trad, or riding motorcycles. 11-14 Courthouse Butte – 5451’ Courthouse Butte is a lovely mountain in the Sedona area. Like most of the peaks in this area, there are numerous ruins on the exposed ledges.

Courthouse

The first crux is a 4th class rock step, and Sara belayed me there. There’s one pitch of real 5.6 climbing. Either it’s sandbagged or I just haven’t been climbing much in recent years.

We went to Montezuma Castle after the climb.

walking stick

11-15 Pine Mountain – 6814’ This was the final day of an unseasonable heatwave. We did a high desert hike before driving on towards our low desert climbs. The highlights were seeing several tarantulas and eating apples from the tree just a few minutes from the trailhead.

We made sure to visit all 3 summits, since it remains undetermined which is highest. 11-16 Pinnacle Peak – 3167’ This peak has been on Sara’s tick-list for some time. 3 pitches of chimney climbing 5.5 (sandbagged).

Pinnacle

1st pitch

2nd pitch

There were two teams of novice climbers ahead of us, so we waited patiently for an hour. They were kind enough to allow us to rappel on their rope, since ours wasn’t long enough to go directly down the back side.

3rd pitch

Black Mountain – 3398’ Bonus peak near burrito joint.

happiness is a warm tongue

11-17 Tom's Thumb – 3960’ It rained during the night, and when I was putting my wet tent away, I found I wasn't the only one to seek shelter.

this was under my tent

Another granitic formation on the edge of Phoenix. 2 pitches 5.4 and 3 miles approach hike. Near the end of the 2nd pitch, you climb under a roof onto a slippery slab. The slab was lick slick-rock inside caves, kind of unnerving.

Tom's Thumb

1st pitch

2nd pitch

East End – 4067’ This adjacent peak is higher and more prominent than Tom’s Thumb.

11-18 High Peak (Attempt) On this morning we tried to drive to Eagletail but it had rained badly during the night and several trucks were already stuck in the mud on the road. Matthias and I had a failed in our attempt of High Peak over in the Castle Dome Mountains, so we pitched that to Sara as an alternative for the day. We had been trying to reproduce an east side route that had worked for Andy Bates, but ultimately never found his specific dryfall. Most people climb from the west and absolutely hate that route. Guidebook author Courtney Purcell calls this peak a mega-classic. It’s very hard to comprehend that description when you personally experience how loose and exposed the peak is.

High Peak south face

canyon

typical ledges

We went back to the east route we had been exploring, thinking and hoping that the peak would relent above the crux dryfall which stymied us before. With Sara’s confident lead on the very loose and steep rock, we made it past the dryfall and much much higher.

Sara getting after it

Matthias near the top of the dryfall

Unfortunately the route let into a small amphitheater with headwalls all around. As we explored the options to climb out of it, there were only a few possibilities. A crumbly 4th class ridge with bad exposure or a narrow down-sloping ledge traverse covered in loose kitty litter. The wall next to the ledge looked like it was ready to exfoliate with any minor provocation.

It was late in the evening, and I made the call to bail. I believe Sara and Matthias could have continued the climb without me, or perhaps if we had started earlier in the day... With some 30 feet of paracord on catclaw, and a new 50 meter rope, we were able to rappel single-line, back to the bottom of the dryfall. This was our safest option to get down before dark. There’s enough loose rock in this dryfall/corner that I don’t suggest anyone try that route again. This was my 2nd attempt and Matthias’ 3rd.

bailing

11-19 Spire 3581 A new day and a new peak. This tower had been on my mind for some years. The Kofa Mountains. Perhaps no other desert range has such a wealth of spires and towers. Sara says the area is “a turd pile”. This lack of appreciation can be attributed to the typical rock climber mentality. If the rock is rotten, the place is no good. I just like the Kofa for the look of it.

Spire 3581

Spire 3581

Spire 3581

There was one registered ascent of this spire and a vague reference to a class 4 chimney. Having studied maps and satellite images, I suggested a different approach gully. This gully has two smaller towers on either side of it, which makes for a regal reception.

near the base of the climb

We explored the north side based on the description, but the chimneys there looked too comitting. On the northeast side we saw several better options. Sara climbed up carrying the rope. She reported a bolt! This must be the route. Matthias scrambled up to an exposed notch and then took a belay while I went to explore one other chimney. What I found there was more technical.

Kofa Queen

I returned to the northeast corner and scrambled up to the notch. Sara threw down the rope and I climbed up to her, probably class 4, although Matthias says 5. From the bolt we all scrambled class 2 and 3 to the summit. This is a very nice peak, with intimate views of the western Kofa. Signal Peak on one side and Kofa Queen on the other. A beautiful pigeon with a leg tag, joined us briefly on the summit, and we were surprised to see it.

summit bliss

Signal

Can you spot Sara and Matthias?

Spire 3581

11-20 Peak 3680 This being Sara’s first time in the Kofa, she went to hike Signal Peak, a fairly straightforward affair. Matthias and I went deeper into the interior to hike up some seldom visited peaks behind Squaw (recently renamed Hoodoo, asinine choice considering there’s another peak named Hoodoo nearby) and Old Smokey.

The first peak was steep but without obstacle. We ascended the south rib.

Kofa Queen

Peak 3588

our next two peaks with Squaw in between

Peak 4063 The second peak we ascended the north ridge, skirting around some cliffs on loose terrain.

Squaw and Old Smokey

Peak 4160 The third peak we ascended a southeast drainage. Some nice easy scrambling near the top.

drainage

Old Smokey and Summit Peak

Summit Peak has very few ascents

Squaw has one known ascent

Peak 3588 We didn’t know if there would be time for the fourth peak, since it is an outlier. As it turned out, there was. We crossed our tracks and walked a wash into the middle of the Kofa for this little peak. From afar it looks craggy, but the west ridge can be kept to class 2.

Spire 3581

last look at our prized Spire 3581

11-21 Peak 2620 Matthias and Sara wanted to try High again. Matthias was adamant about getting this peak and Sara understandably wanted to retrieve her new rope. I wasn’t convinced it would be a success so I decided to climb the peak next to it and watch them from that summit. As it turned out, I reached the top at the exact moment Sara reached the summit of High.

High Peak

I called across to her but she misunderstood and thought I was Matthias way down below her. I wondered why he wasn’t up there with her. Had he turned around? No, I saw him waving at me. Then I understood Sara was scouting all possibilities, to find the best one, before bringing him up. I called to Sara a few more times and eventually she saw me. There were 4 more peaks in the vicinity. I went to explore them solo. Peak 2434 The first one was the most interesting. I ascended from the southwest, eventually gaining a narrow west ridge top. Then I went up a narrow chute full of cholla to reach the summit slope. Descending the upper south face I zigzagged on ledges of volcanic conglomerate before entering the lower drainage.

Castle Dome Mountains foreground, Kofa background

Peak 2327 A fairly unremarkable desert peak, but I followed a long ridge system to keep it fun.

John Morrow

Peak 2100 This peak and the next one sort of resemble volcanic cinder cones in shape, but I think they are not.

Peak 2001 The smallest and least interesting peak of the trip. I did it again the next morning with Sara. One repeat for one repeat was the deal.

Peak 2001

11-22 Peak 2001 To my astonishment, Sara offered to repeat High Peak for my benefit. Having spent 3 days on the mountain, she was now an expert of that east side route. I couldn’t turn down such a generous offer. We did the little cinder cone looking peak first. I searched more closely for a register this time, but didn’t find one.

[Gimpilator]

High Peak - 2716' Thinking that we might find Andy’s dryfall, we climbed out of the canyon more directly than the approach Matthias discovered. We still didn’t find it. Below the dryfall we climbed two days prior, we scrambled along a narrow exposed ledge to a cholla.

key shaded approach ledge at center (not the ledge which leads to a cholla)

Above the cholla was very exposed and very loose class 4. I opted for the belay, no question. Sarah basically walked up and across the wall like a bighorn sheep. She spent some minutes setting up the anchor on 2 catclaw bushes higher up.

Sara's belay

Above the crux climb, we scrambled class 2 and 3 to a notch in the main southeast ridge. We passed through the notch and then down slightly to more scrambling around an impasse in the ridge. Coming back to the ridge crest higher up, there is admittedly some very ascetic scrambling on this upper portion of the mountain. I bet Sara will be the only person ever to do this peak two days in a row. I am grateful.

High summit

best part of the chossy route

Sara just walks where I need a belay

Peak 2120 After our descent, Sara headed back to Vegas and I headed around the corner to another peak. Just northwest of High is a smaller peak which looks equally craggy. I suspected that the southwest drainage was the key to the summit, but some white-ish rock was so attractive from a scrambling perspective, that it lured me up indirectly.

white rock left of drainage

On the map, the upper west ridge is the most low-angle slope on the mountain. What I found there instead was nearly vertical loose 4th class. In my life I can think of only a handfull of times USGS got it badly wrong in their map drawing. Of these, the northwest Castle Dome Mountains is the most extreme abberation. For instance, High Peak is shown to have gentle south ridges. The cliffs all around the base are not shown. Generally speaking, the maps in this area should be taken with a salt-shaker full of salt. They are fanciful imaginary representations of what is truly there. Good enough to tell you a peak is nearby, but not what shape it is or where the summit might be.

narrow section

I backed off the west ridge and followed ledges into the drainage, my original plan. I scrambled up to a notch between two summit contenders. It was late in the day and I had forgotten to pack a headlamp, with several miles back to the car. The southeast summit looked much easier, but the northwest one is what peakbagger indicated. From my vantage it looked technical. I scrambled across a narrow ridge towards the summit and found a class 3 way up and around the backside.

High Peak

summit sillies

11-23 Twin Benchmark – 2822’ I had a couple of solo days to spend before Matthias could come join again. It’s sort of a long walk to get to Twin, but once there, I enjoyed the puzzle of class 3 route-finding to reach the summit.

Twin

Twin

11-24 Peak 2651 Feeling ambitious, I went for a longer 6 peak loop in the Castle Dome Mountains. None of these peaks had any beta and a couple looked formidable, so I did not expect to get them all. The first one I have observed a number of times from the highway. It took a lot of map study to figure out exactly which one I was enamored with.

Peak 2651

I ascended a west drainage and then contoured around, between the summit block cliffs and a large terrace below. Traversing the south side was steep, loose and choked with cholla. What had looked like a weakness on the east side on the satellite maps was indeed the easy key.

west drainage

the peaks shadow

Peak 2680

Stagecoach

Stagecoach Butte – 2380’ Another incredible example of USGS error. Could maps ever be more wrong? I learned the shape of this peak through experience. The map is useless. On satellite image, it appeared that there might be a good drainage on the north side, to access the upper peak. Chalk up another win for modern tech.

Stagecoach

The class 3 drainage put me up near where the summit should be, except it was not there. There are 3 summits separated by deep notches. The furthest west one is highest. I scrambled into the first notch and descended a narrow gully to reach the 2nd peak. Getting into the 2nd notch was not possible directly, but I found a work-around ramp on the south side.

summit far right, 2 hidden notches out of view

1st notch

looking back at Peak 2651

Passing through the 2nd notch I descended again in a narrow gully until I could work around and back up. I didn’t know if I could actually get this peak until I did. On the day of, there were no ascents registered online. I was only slightly disappointed to find a register, but not surprised to see who it was.

Little Knoll – 2240’ Easy ascent from the south, class 3.

Summit, Old Smokey, Squaw

Stagecoach and Peak 2651

Peak 2680

the shadow of Stagecoach exposes the hidden deep notches

Peak 2680 Ascending the northeast ridge of Peak 2680 was fairly straightforward, but descending to the northwest was not. First I encountered a cliff band spanning most of the northwest ridge, fortunately with a work around. Then I suspected a dryfall could be present in my chosen drainage and sure enough there was a big one near the bottom. I could not climb down, so I went up and over a small ridge and followed a ledge into another brush-choked gully. In hindsight, some slopes west of these gullies would have been better.

Peak 2651

Little Stagecoach Peak – 2371’ Both the Stagecoach peaks appear improbable. This smaller one seemed to have only one option on the south side. A broad ramp leading to the upper south face. I scrambled up a dryfall and then chute, at the base of the south face. From the dryall to the top of the face it’s about 150 vertical feet of hands-on steep class 3, mostly solid. Best pay attention. I was absolutely delighted! Super fun.

looking back at Peak 2680

Descending the northern drainage was less pleasant.

descended this side

Peak 2116 The final peak was the easiest and closest to the car. I followed the spine, to make it more interesting. All 6 peaks are scrambles and this is a very interesting loop through classic desert terrain.

11-25 Coyote Peak – 2300’ Matthias came back to join me for more desert peaks. He’s like a horse when you hold out an apple. He suggested Coyote, which was high on my to-do list. It’s a small peak but rugged and came with no route description. He drove us out there and we guessed at the route based on appearance alone.

Coyote

Wind was pushing us around on this brisk morning. We went up an east drainage, over a false summit and around some gendarmes to reach the main peak. Steep mostly solid class 3. It’s a nice peak, but it was over too quickly.

descending from the false summit

Matthias descending from the summit

Matthias said there were some more peaks to the south, so we drove down to look. Peak 2810 This peak had not been on the agenda, but it looked like the most challenging in the neighborhood. We crossed several miles of open desert. Based on the map, we agreed the north ridge seemed the easiest, but I wanted to see if there was a way up the south side.

Peak 2810

The upper cliff band which spans the entire west face looked bigger and harder the closer we got to it. I started to doubt. We went up a steep slope of talus blocks which were surprisingly stable. There were two options to get through a minor cliff band. I went to explore the right one first although the left looked easier. Behind a bush there were couple 5th class moves. I went up that way, knowing that if the holds broke, I would land on the bush. Matthias scrambled up the other way.

The class 5 step

The upper cliff had no weakness that we liked. We traversed the whole south side, finding only very committing class 4 options. On the southeast ridge we found what we needed, a class 3 weakness. This is a very nice peak, for just a random pick. We descended the easier north ridge.

southeast ridge

north ridge

Peak 2184 Matthias walked back to his car and I went to explore a bonus peak. Obvious gully, between 2 summits. The west one is higher. I got back to the car only 5 minutes after Matthias.

Peak 2184

11-26 Fraser Benchmark – 4618’ I joined Greg and Sarah for a half-day hike in the Superstition Mountains. While scenic, the southwest route on this peak is steep, loose and generally unpleasant. There are two summits of nearly equal height.

Superstitions

11-27 Bryce Mountain – 7298’ It was a tough decision whether to spend my last few days on more low desert scrambles or some higher peaks out east, before the snows and winter storms set in. I opted for a few larger peaks. The standard route on Bryce starts at a corral. The road to get there was just barely within Subaru capability.

Have tasted these cholla fruit a few times. They look good but taste bad.

11-28 Turtle Mountain – 7004’ To drive to Turtle, you have to cross a river. This is only possible after a dry spell. Fingers crossed… and, no problem. Long hike on river stones to reach a saddle between two peaks. I did the highest first.

Peak 6655

Peak 6655 This is the second highest summit.

Turtle

11-29 Maple Peak – 8294’ Near where I camped, while browsing peakbagger reports, I found an entry by Wade Luther. Apparently a non-standard route allows you to drive higher on the peak, so I decided to try that. With my car I was able to reduce the hike from the standard 10 miles to 8, but with a jeep you could make it to a nice camping area and have only 6 miles round-trip. It’s trail the whole way.

frosty bear-cairn

Maple

Maple

bear track

summit ladybug convention

Aside from British Columbia, this area has more bear sign than anywhere else. I passed about a dozen frosty bear-cairns in the trail and observed many tracks as well, but didn’t see one.

6 inch high bear-cairn

Charlie Moore Mountain – 7619’ Nondescript bonus peak. Afterward I was sorely tempted to go for nearby Whitewater Baldy, but rain and snow was forecast to begin in a matter of hours.

[rubywrangler]

Just missed you, was in Sedona 11/16. Thought about seeing how far I could get up courthouse butte, but opted for canyon exploration and ruin hunting instead. Thanks for the ideas for later this winter! I’d like to go back to Kofa… after I replace my cracked rear differential case. Off-roading in the CR-V finally caught up with me

[SeanSullivan86]

Jeeze, endless amount of peaks out there in the desert. Barbara and Gordon really got after it back in the day, didn't they? I always see their names when you make these summary posts from your trips.

[raising3hikers]

Good stuff, Adam. You got my mind on some desert stuff again

[Gimpilator]

Thanks Eric!

[Fletcher]

Just another awesome looking trip in the desert. Jealous once again!