On an clear day from just about anywhere in the metro-Phoenix area, one can see a large mountain looming out in the East. This single mountain features four distinct summits, and from a distance, the summits give the mountaintop a neat, serrated appearance. This mountain is known as Four Peaks, and the northernmost (left-most, as viewed from Phoenix) peak is known as Browns Peak, the highest of the four, although just 13 feet higher than its nearest neighbor to the south. Browns Peak serves as a waypoint on the Maricopa-Gila county border, thus making it the highest point in Maricopa county. The other three summits are completely inside Maricopa county.

I have been up on this mountain in one place or another, for one reason for another, a total of eight times now. Four visits were with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Mountain Rescue team, and four other visits have been for personal fun, each time giving the summit an attempt. I moved to Arizona in 1992 but had not been on or near the mountain until a snowy December day in late 1997, responding to a call-out with MR. On that visit, I had a Saturn sedan, a nice car but entirely unsuited for those kinds of roads in those kinds of conditions. I was forced to park early and ride in with someone else. That mission went fine (the lost hikers were found), and I gained some very valuable knowledge about the road into the range. Number one: get a better vehicle. I should note that on that mission we were based at Mud Springs, a camping/staging area about five road miles below the trailhead, and well below the peak.

First Successful Ascent, September 1999: Ken Akerman suggested this hike to me about three weeks earlier. We only met for the first time a week earlier, going over the maps. He seemed like an okay person, at least at the time, and I was interested in the peak, so I accepted his invitation to go climb it. The summer weather had just turned from muggy monsoony humidity to drier, still-plenty hot weather. At least it would be nice up higher. I picked him up at his apartment in Scottsdale and off we went.

We went up the Browns Peak Road (FR-143) from the Beeline Highway. The road to the Lone Pine trailhead covers just under 18 miles and took us an hour. From the trailhead we hiked up a newer trail to the main saddle just below Browns Peak, a 1,100-foot gain in about 1.7 miles and an hour of effort. The massive 'Lone' Fire of 1996 still was evidenced by the horrendous burn scars everywhere on the mountain. Anyway, at the saddle we climbed up a steep path to a rock cleft at the base of the main chute to the summit, where immediately I lost interest. We decided to contour across the north slopes of the peak to a brushy gully, where we found a scant use-path that led fairly high up on the mountain's north face. Eventually we worked our way up some rocky bits, with one area of potential exposure concern. Sooner than I expected we topped over a rise and there stood the summit, just a few feet up. And that was that - we had the peak. We took photos and visited with a family of four, including a ten-year old girl. They were going down the chute so we asked if we could follow them, and they agreed. The dad helped his daughter with the hand and foot placement but she did all the moves herself. We all took it slowly. The chute is mainly a bunch of ledges, maybe 2-4 feet wide, none of which are particularly bad, but the exposure can be daunting. The worst bits, in my opinion, were the big boulders at the base of the chute that groaned and moved under our meager weights. I was quite happy to be on firmer ground back at the saddle, where we had our lunch.

The hike out when fine and we decided to drive out the east road (Los Osos Road) to Highway AZ-188 along the Roosevelt Reservoir. We followed highways through Globe and back into the Phoenix area, where I dropped Kenny off. He had been great company - he slept the entire drive home. Knowing Ken, that was good company. Me, I was pretty stoked to have climbed this peak after hearing so many horror stories about it. Given that I can see this peak most days from my home, it was a treat to finally surmount it.

Mountain Rescue Visits: We had two call-outs on Browns in 2001. In April, after a week of 90s in Phoenix, a spring storm blew in and dropped tons of rain on the deserts, and snow up high. No surprise to us, we had a call-out; a couple were missing from the high trails surrounding the peak. I recall driving up in rain and snow to the trailhead, and being scared crapless about the roads, but somehow I got my truck to the trailhead, already under 6 inches of snow. Me and two others suited up and hiked in the darkness to the saddle. Apparently the subjects were way to our south near a mine, and we spent three hours at the saddle trying to find the trail to them. The terrain was utterly treacherous and all three of use took spills and had no luck. We were not equipped for a full technical rescue (we were the so-called 'hasty' team, sent first to access the situation and possible effect a rescue). With great discussion and debate, we were forced to abandon our attempt and we returned to command at 3 a.m. By this time others from our team had arrived and the snow had stopped falling. We sent up a bird and presto, found the two, alive, about two hours later. Man, I was relieved.

In October, in wonderful weather, we had a call out for a father-son duo out after dark. Me and another rescuer were sent in on a bird and as soon as it left, I called out, and much to my surprise, got a response! We radioed back to command and gave the helo guys an approximate search area to shine their lights on, and within minutes they were spotted. We hiked down to them and helped them out. They were fine, other than being out all day, very tired and exhausted. As rescues go, this one went by the book.

In January 2003, I joined a few other Mountain Rescue guys for an overnight on Four Peaks. We hiked to a nose near the Amethyst Mine and set up a simple open camp, then hiked out the next day. This was for our expreince, plus a so-called 'trail guard' program that we ran.

As a result I have seen this peak in the best of times, and in the worst of times. It is no peak to be taken lightly, that is for sure!

Second Summit Attempt, May 2004: I drove up with my wife Beth, for my second try at the top and her first. We made good time to the main saddle then climbed as far as the base of the gully. We both were a little reticent, and I was eager to re-produce my ascent in 1999, in which Ken and I had taken an alternative approach directly from the north. We bushwhacked toward this area... and quickly got nowhere. We did manage to climb well high on the mountain, but we got cliffed out still about 150 feet from the top. The brush was thick and awful and the footing never very solid. The irony is that we had equal or greater exposure on this route than we would have on the main gully. So with that, we abandoned the summit on this bid and walked back to my truck, and on home. We'll be back, for sure.

Day Hike and Scouting Mission, November 2005: With a good spell of weather lingering into November, and a desire to scout the Four Peaks for alternative ways to the summit, I took off for a day and hiked the perimeter trail that goes around the north and east flanks of the massif. I had never done this popular hike and lookeed forward to seeing the peaks from these unique vantage points. The drive up to the trailhead went fine and I was on the trails by 10 a.m. in cool, pleasant weather. The Four Peaks Trail goes left at the information sign (the summit trail goes up from here).

The trail is in excellent shape and stays mostly level for the first half-mile (lots of little ups and downs, but a net level gain overall ... mostly). The trail then dropped a good 300 feet down into a drainage, eventually crossing a small creek that had just a scant flow in it this time of year. A little further on I heard some pounding - two forest workers digging a hole for a concrete base for a junction signpost. They were pretty cool, and they were the first people I'd seen for this leg of the hike, covering maybe 1.5 to 2 miles. Right onto the continuation of the Four Peaks Trail, I was now traveling south on a very gentle uphill gradient. Views were mostly occluded by brush and trees, but soon I surmounted a small ridge crest and had unobstructed views of the sheer eastern cliffs of the Four Peaks, and lots of air below me. My map showed the trail continued on, but I couldn't see how they'd hew in a trail here. Nevertheless, I continued on, losing some elevation, and sure enough following a good trail etched into the cliff faces. Some of the trees were turning color for fall, a beautiful sight. The trail then gains some more elevation and eventually wiggles its way sort of southeast of Browns Peak, before losing yet some more elevation down into a drainage. Here, I found the Alder Pass Trail junction, well-signed but the trail itself was way overgrown and obviously sees very little visitation. I barrelled up a sketchy trail choked by brush, and was surprised to come upon another hiker, the first I'd seen on my hike (not counting the forest service guys). We talked for a bit, and I asked him how the trail was up higher, and he said not too good. After a minute or so we went on our ways and I continued up the steepening slopes toward Alder Pass. The trail had sections of downed trees and places where it simply disappeared. I played some guessing games and often re-found the trail for a bit, then lost it again. Eventually I headed into the thick chapparal brush and zig-zagged my way up the slopes a bit northwest of Alder Pass itself. The going was slow and often blocked by brush.

The summit of Browns Peak was just about an air-mile to my northwest, brushy and rocky and cliffy, although it's possible had I been determined enough I could have found a route to the top. But it was close to 2 p.m. when I took a long snack break. I figured at least 3 hours round trip if I headed toward the summit, and the intervening brush was way too thick, so I admitted defeat for this bid, but at least learned that a route from this side is probably not doable without some horrendous bushwhacking and route-finding. After my snack I headed out for the hike back to my truck, taking about 2 hours to egress. The stats for this hike were: about 7-8 miles for the hike, about 1,200 net feet of gain. Although I missed on the summit, I enjoyed the hike and had a good learning experience. I highly recommend this trail for an enjoyable outing.

Second Successful Ascent, December 2006: Fellow hikers Bill Jacobs and Rick Hartman (with whom I hiked Mazatzal Peak in November 2005) were both up to fourteen Arizona county highpoints - needing only Browns to complete the fifteen. I needed only Browns to complete the set of fifteen a second time, so the three of us had much motivation. We were accompanied by Andy Martin and his wife, Sarah. Andy led us up a use path he had mentioned before. It actually was the one Ken and I followed in 1999, but that I could not 'remember' with Beth in 2004. The foliage was gone from the trees, making movement easier, but even so it was slow, tedious going.

In the brushy gullies even Andy got himself up a dead-end once, but in time we had found a very viable route, requiring just a whiff of rock scrambling for the final 30 vertical feet. It was great to be on top again, to complete the state once again, and to congratulate Rick and Bill on their ascents and completions. The weather was tremendous. Beth could not make it as she had had some outpatient neck surgery the day prior, but we gained valuable route knowledge, and we plan to be back, possible very soon, for Beth's fifteenth and final Arizona county highpoint.

I drove down the east side again and home via the Apache Trail. The east side road is far better anyway, and I have decided to take it always for the up and down driving bits. Even though it's a good 60 miles of extra driving each way, it's a far better road overall.