picacho peak climbing route
February 3, 2007 - Joel and I hiked Picacho Peak in Picacho Peak State Park, which is a tall and pointed that sits adjacent to I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix. It was an easy walk to the summit of this peak which dominates the entire north end of the range. See the 2 steep peaks in the middle of the photo? Picacho Benchmark sits a mere 425 feet outside the park to the west of the other peaks. Tucson, AZ. An arrow-shaped stone atop the peak of Huayna Picchu appears to point due south, directly through the famous Intihuatana Stone, to Mount Salcantay, one of … No matter your route, this is a great after work, sunset hike. We enjoyed the hike and the flowers. Here’s a look to the north to Peak Benchmark. Hunter Trail is the other one and is 2 miles of steep switchbacks. It is tough on senior hikers. My round-trip was about 4 hours. It presents an imposing 1,400-foot wall to the park’s visitor center below. If we follow McClellan southwards, we find 5 check dams in the first 7 miles, as well as 4 man-made tanks to water cattle. Picacho del Diablo is located deep in one of Mexico's national parks and is a much sought after peak. Once it leaves Phoenix, it heads south across the desert towards Tucson, and on its journey it passes along the western edge of the Picacho Mountains. A challenging ascent of Picacho del Diablo, Baja California's elusive highest peak. Even so, it was almost 2 more years before I was able to get back in there to visit more of the peaks. Something that looks un-climbable to the masses has been tamed. From there, continue 0.2 miles to the Barrett Loop, turn … We were in Arizona to enjoy some warm weather and do some hiking. During our climb the clouds had dispersed and the wind had increased. I decided to descend a different way, opting for the long valley to the west of the summit. Thanks to John Kirk for the use of the 2 previous photos. One more sits at the north end of the ridge, a double summit shown on the map as Peak 2702. The sharp spur soars above the desert and provided early travelers a useful navigational aid. Interstate 10, railroad tracks, and the Central Arizona Project canal pass through the opening. The biggest, meanest and famousest of them is Picacho Peak. That’s certainly the case for the Picacho Mountains, which approach to within 23 air miles of my home. The north Atalaya ridge to the east, summit at right: The route is tucked up under and overhanging cliff on smooth rock and descends about 150 feet, with cables assisting your descent in the trickier sections. It lies about a mile off Interstate 10 directly between Phoenix and Tuscon, and thousands of people gaze up at its distinct, blocky summit every day. After a few days in Phoenix, we headed to Tucson. It was an uneventful climb, if you don’t count the bees. La … This allowed us to drive up behind Peak 2740, where we parked and climbed it in just over an hour. Here’s a view of it from the south. It’s the small bump all in sun to the right of and behind the cliff. It seemed like a good idea to see how quickly I could polish this one off, so I set off quickly up the northeast side. It … Trailhead: Little Picacho Wash A trail was built to the top, but it was no ordinary trail – in places, it had to scale near-vertical rock, so they had to drill into the rock to place metal posts and run cables. Once through the park gate, follow signs for Hunter Trail. Picacho Peak is located just west of I-10 about 60 miles south of Phoenix (40 miles north of Tuscon). As the only guide service to offer Picacho del Diablo, we have extensive experience on the peak and many successful summits. Select Picacho Location Map Detail: … It’s the bump sticking up in the back on the right side. Looking east to the Granite Hills – Treadway is the higher bump on the right. As is, I’d call it Class 2+ or so. The high point of the Granites has its own name, Treadway Benchmark, and it barely rises 300 feet above the surrounding desert. This one is called the Central Main Canal, and it runs for 20 miles to reach agricultural lands to the west of the Picacho Mountains on the western side of Interstate 10. Picacho del Diablo is located deep in one of Mexico's national parks and is a much sought after peak. Hiking time: 5.5 hours Estimated hiking distance: 1 mile Elevation gain: 1120 feet USGS Topo Map: Picacho Peak Difficulties: Some navigation in the desert with no water available; some technical rock climbing, including climbs up to the … They took about twice as long to summit and descend. Once you make it beyond the halfway saddle, it’s a rollercoaster of a mountain and emotion. We eventually made it to the top. The ridge had been so annoying that we opted to drop the 400 feet down the east side to the desert floor, which we walked northeast, then up and over a ridge and down to the truck. Second Water Trail. Driving back to the north a short distance, I parked for my last one of the day. Perhaps the most popular trail at Picacho Peak, the Hunter Trail gives the shortest route to the top. Before finding our hotel in Tucson, we drove the spectacular road to Mount Lemmon. I set out from a point a couple of miles to the east and followed a series of ridges all the way to the summit, passing over Point 2433 en route. Picacho Peak is where the most western battle took place in the Civil war. This is one of two trails in Picacho Peak State Park that takes you to the peak and it is a must do in spring due to the abundance of wildflowers. It is 3.1 miles and circles around the backside of the mountain then comes up and connects to the Hunter trail avoiding a lot of the difficulties. The initial portion of the trail is just hiking. There are two routes to Picacho Peak. Drive or walk to the short baserock waterfall (waypoint PICWTH) marking the start of the hiking route. Picacho Peak. From its saddle with Picacho, it … Back near the freeway sits Peak 2540, a steep one whose summit lies only 2,750 feet from the nearby interchange. Paul had freed up some time and agreed to return with me to finish off the southern end of the range. There, it is pumped uphill for about 170 vertical feet through a huge underground tunnel to emerge once again as an open canal, continuing on its way to Tucson. It then parallels the east side of the freeway for another 9 miles, passing by the community of Picacho. See the trailhead page for driving directions and waypoints that match the maps below. And then there’s the last one of all. Climbing the Ladder on Picacho Peak The pointy cap of Picacho: Picacho is one of two high trails remaining open during the current trail closures, the other being Atalaya. Tucson, AZ. Picacho Peak via Hunter Trail is a 3.2 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Picacho, Arizona that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as difficult. The route to the summit is steep and airy in places, but if you're careful, there's not much risk of a fall. It seems I couldn’t stay away – I was having such a good time, Christmas Eve saw my return. Almost immediately after the saddle, the route got spicy. I know of 4 people who have died on this peak, but none of them fell – they all died of dehydration in the heat. The trailhead for the Hunter Hiking Trail to Picacho Peak is located approximately 1.5 miles further into the park, at the top of the Barrett Loop (see downloadable trail map). This link will show you where to find Peak. Geologists have no clue what volcano made it. Picacho Peak (c) ABR 2016 hiking and climbing, because they help you scale some nearly vertical sections of the path. There are 2 more things of note in this group of peaks. It’s derived from the work pico, which means “peak”. The canal cost 4 billion dollars to construct, and it took 20 years to complete. It’s defined as the vertical distance between a peak and the lowest contour line surrounding that peak and no higher peak. Picacho Peak Trail is a 3.3 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Santa Fe, New Mexico that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. It presents an imposing 1,400-foot wall to the park’s visitor center below. Unfortunately, I ended up crossing over the bump to the north at 2915 feet, but still made it to the top of Peak 2957 in 41 minutes for a total gain of 950 feet – not too bad for an old guy in his mid-60s. This landmark can be seen for many miles in every direction, and has been used by travelers as a guidepost for hundreds of years. The trail is primarily used for hiking, nature trips, and bird watching and is best used from September until May. This is a big peak with lots of relief, and that’s what draws a lot of people to climb it – the fact that it’s the range high point doesn’t hurt either. Due to the uneven topography of Arizona, there are places where the water must be pumped uphill, and this is done by means of large pumping stations. Picacho Peak is composed of basalt and andesite volcanic rocks. We left the freeway a couple of miles north of Picacho Pass and made our way by seldom-used dirt roads to the east, more-or-less paralleling the path of McClellan Wash. https://listsofjohn.com/qmap?lat=32.8534&lon=-111.3632&z=12&t=c&P=300&M=Desert+Mountaineer. One mile before this pumping station, another aqueduct branches off of the CAP and heads west. Starting out early in the day, before the heat added another layer of … Peak 4209 sits about a mile and a half south along the ridge from Newman Peak, but that’s not how I went in. Along the ridge which bears Picacho Peak can also be found another steep one called Peak 3161. It is 2.7 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2090 ft! The hiking Difficulty calculator rates it as extreme! Florence, AZ. This is the easier of the two peak hikes. Picacho Peak is a large lava flow. The UTM coordinate grid is defined by the blue tick marks spaced one kilometer apart along the edges of the older maps It was muggy and hot with little wind, so I was drenched by the time we reached the saddle. Though appearing to be the remnant of a volcanic neck, it is now believed to be … I felt the traversing sections that contained the cables were easy, but one vertical sections of cable was a little tricky to descend. Here’s a peek through the fence at the canal itself. Sunset Vista Trail takes you on a pleasant and colorful 3.1 miles on the south side of Picacho to the peak. Take the right (W) branch, following it about 2.0 miles to a point 0.4 miles SSE of the peak. Four hours out from the truck, I found Blue Bottle Wash, a major wash strewn with white boulders to the northeast of Blue Bottle Peak. The summit rises to 3,374 feet (1,028 m) above mean sea level. We encountered several more steep sections where fixed … So we hydrated and I dried off in the sun and wind. Three of the usual suspects had been there before us, but we duly signed in to the register. addressone. We headed up the trail. Picacho Climbing Notes. We had heards that the flowers had been opened. Click here to submit your own climbing note for Picacho. There was one other car in the parking lot, but I saw no one on my ascent. The climb was quick work, and we soon moved on. Looking north to Newman Peak – the line is the intervening freeway. It’s all by itself out there, ignored and rarely visited. The eastern Picacho Peak trailhead was a bit confusing, but 'hwstock' cleared it up for me. This is a 5.5 mile out-and-back hike with 1900 cumulative feet of elevation gain that takes about 4-6 hours to complete. It falls well short of being a peak in its own right, but it’s a pretty thing. Little can grow natuarally in this arid land where the Colorado River struggles to avoid complete evaporation before entering Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. APPROACH/ROUTE A: From the parking area walk 0.2 miles SW up Little Picacho Wash to a fork. I can confirm this since a friend and I were out in the foothills early Saturday morning sewing up the switchbacks. King Canyon Trail. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash. So I’ve shown you something very ancient on the west side of the range, and now I’ll show you something very modern. 1700′ Crux: Class 4 with aid climbing, Class 5 there are many routes to Picacho! 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