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| Newman Peak |
• Range Highpoint: Picacho Mountains • Central Pinal County |
Date Climbed
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Newman Peak is an impressive peak located north and east of Interstate-10 between Casa Grande and Tucson, and is the highest point of the Picacho Mountains (a slightly redundant phrase, "Peak Mountains"). Picacho Peak (Peak Peak) is the more well-known summit of this range, located on the south and west side of the interstate, with its unique volcano-like profile. Climbing Picacho is a popular outing for hikers, but climbing Newman is rare, for two main reasons: no trail to speak of, and very confusing road access. Although towers are visible atop Newman Peak, they are serviced by helicopter.
I first learned of Newman years ago, since it's hard to miss when driving between Phoenix and Tucson. Given its logistical difficulties, it was never a priority to climb. I have climbed Picacho Peak twice, but my first attempt to access Newman Peak met with failure earlier this year when I (along with Eric Noel visiting from Washington) came up short, made confusing by roads that don't match the topographical maps very well. The Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal cuts across the west and south base of Newman Peak and poses a barrier, there being very few places to actually cross this canal by foot or by car. As consolation we climbed Picacho Peak across the way, which went well. Then, just a week ago, Adam Helman and I teamed up to give it a try and again I ran us into dead ends each time. In retrospect that day may have been a bit hot for a climb as the highs, even in early November, were in the 90s. But this second failure had really bothered me and all of a sudden I had to climb Newman. It had shot to the top of my "must do" list.
There are two possible approaches to Newman Peak. One is from the west via Houser and Brandy Pump Roads, which turns into dirt access roads paralleling the canal. This gets one very close to the summit (air-mileagewise) but requires some way to get over or under the canal. On a previous inspection I had come this way and found a culvert that allows passage underneath the canal. The drawback was the route looked very steep and cliffy. The other option is from the south via Park Link and Pecan Roads. Here, the roads are sandy, rough and confusing. There are some private lands here as well. Most of the rest of the land is state-owned Trust Lands, where access is allowed but requires you buy a recreational permit first. I played by the rules and bought one, although in reality no one checks.
I had Veteran's Day off from teaching, and the weather had cooled very nicely so that the highs were only in the low 70s, and bone dry clear from horizon to horizon. So I came back for my third try. This time I had looked over some satellite maps on the web and saw some roads not on the topographical maps, and decided to give the south route another try. Here is what I did, in excruciating detail. If you want to maintain a sense of adventure, skip over this paragraph.
Road Directions: Exit Interstate-10 at either Picacho Peak Road (if coming from Phoenix) or Red Rocks Road (if coming from Tucson). Get on the frontage road on the north-east side of the freeway, paralleling railroad tracks. Follow the frontage road to Park Link Road. This is about 5 miles south of Picacho Peak exit and three miles north of Red Rocks exit. Take Park Link Road about 0.7 mile up and over the railroad tracks and the canal. After the canal, turn left (north) onto Pecan Road, which is signed. Pecan Road is a dirt road. Go north on Pecan Road. Pass some ranch buildings along the way (Bud Antle Inc.). About two miles in, stay left (straight) at a Y-junction marked by a Picacho Peak Ranch sign. Shortly afterwards there is a wire-stick gate that needs to be crossed. Proceed north about another two miles across open sandy desert plain. At about 4.3 miles from the start of Pecan Road, the road makes a 90-degree jog to the left and becomes extremely sandy. Follow the road as it bends left, then right, eventually resuming its due north bearing. Roughly a mile or so (about 5.4 miles from the Pecan Road turn-off), turn left onto another road, not shown on the topographical maps. Follow this road in a west-southwest bearing. It's sandy and sometimes braids in and out with itself. I stayed on the "path more traveled" judging by tire marks, and had no problem. This road then swings north then west and comes to a substantial iron gate with a "No Trespass - State Lands" sign. Having a permit allows you legal access beyond this gate. The CAP Canal is visible to your left (south). Pass through the gate and stay on the main track. It dips into a broad wash, then doglegs left and up again out of this wash. Stay on this track toward some tamarisk trees. The road then turns left and comes to another gate. This gate marks a private inholding but passage is allowed. The road bends west again, dips into and out of McClellan Wash, and parallels the canal some more, now on the canal's south. Shortly the road rises and comes to a bridge over the canal. Now heading north, pass over the canal (back onto state lands). The road bends east now, but immediately take a left turn at a junction. Follow this road generally north toward Newman Peak. The road is decent, but narrow with plenty of rocks. I drove about a mile north of the canal and parked, 8.2 miles from the Park Link/Pecan junction.
The roads are sandy and some sections are prone to dramatic erosion. High clearance and four-wheel drive is strongly recommended (most stock 4wd vehicles will do). If it has rained, the whole area looked like it could be a nightmare with mud pits and glue-like clay muck. The road north of the canal is pretty good for maybe another mile or two from the canal but it gets very rocky higher up. There are numerous pullouts to camp along this road. The area seems to be more popular with hunters than hikers. I parked in a clearing and started in on the hike at roughly 7:45 a.m. Soon I noted the road improved and thought about going back to my truck and driving some more, but I was in a good walking mode and decided against it (although at the end of the day I really would have appreciated having my truck closer). The walk up this road took me 45 minutes to get into the heart of the range, directly below Newman's summit, flanked on three sides by ridges and subsidiary summits. I figured I walked two miles to get here. Now to decide on a route. Interestingly I found that the best information on climbing this peak came from the geocaching website. Most seem to follow the steep obvious gully directly below Newman Peak's summit on its south face. However, I decided to gamble and try another route, bearing more northeast into a side canyon and trying my luck with the canyons and ridges that way. From a distance it looked doable, and it looked friendlier than the direct gully route. The desert flats leading up to the slopes were thick with beautiful saguaro and pricky-pear cactus. I hiked down and up the main washes and many side washes, hiking by sight toward a rock outcrop I refer to as "knob 2,800" (see the map). I eventually worked my way up on the southeast-facing slopes of the canyon past knob 2,800 and a few hundred more yards northeasterly toward an obvious ridge. The terrain here was heavy with cactus and brush, and lots of rock, but there was always some path or open space to walk through, if not necessarily in a straight line. In time the slope steepened and I was now hiking up to the first main rock clump on my destination ridge. The plan was to hike as far as I could and hope this route would go. It was not unreasonable to assume I might meet some impassable section higher up, so I knew I was gambling. I decided to go from one rock outcrop to the next, usually gains of 50-100 feet at a time, and check out what came next. Almost always, what looked like cliffs from below was more stair-steppy up close, or there was some steep slope or brushy alternative to use as a bypass. So I made pretty good time overall, despite the need to stop constantly and assess the route (and run up and back a few dead ends). Every type of Arizona cactus was represented on the slopes: saguaro, prickly-pear, barrel and cholla, as well as ocotillo and thick, woody manzanita-type brush. I had one memorable run-in with a barrel cactus at some point. It felt like a light scratch, didn't hurt at all, but a few moments later I see two thick trickles of blood on my leg. I only had one run-in with a cholla ball, and as usual it hurt like hell. My destination was a subsummit I refer to as Point 3,960, which lies about 3/8 of a mile south-southeast of Newman Peak. From below, it looked intimidating, but as I inched higher up I gained confidence I just may be successful on this hike. About 250 vertical feet below this point, I came upon the only "crux" part of this ridge: a set of sloping rocks that were bent and clefted into many shapes, some sections with small steps and others open slope. It took me a few minutes to inspect a way up. While it wasn't that steep, a slip on this rock would have been bad news since I would not have a means to arrest myself. After this part, I worked up around another rock outcrop and came upon a small saddle directly below Point 3,960. I chose to climb Point 3,960 via its south slopes (my left) then come down its other side. The climb up went well and I was on top of Point 3,960, where I had excellent views of the remainder of my route, and for a fleeting moment, a view of one of the towers on the summit. This was good! I downclimbed off of Point 3,960, losing about 60 feet, then started up the ridge toward the summit, which was still about 550 feet higher and 3/8 of a mile distant. The climb here was easier than the ridge I came up, but closer to the top I had to negotiate a jumbled section of rocks, loose scree and lots of organic crap. Finally I surmounted a small cliff edge and there it was, the summit. It's rare I am happy to see towers but this was a case where I definitely was glad to see them. I left my pole and gloves leaning against a bush, and from there it was an easy 50-foot gain across gentle sloping terrain to gain the top. The true summit is a jumble of rocks beside a building. I tagged the top rocks, signed in the register (noting I may have been the first to be up here since March, but I can't be sure of that), and also noting the bigger geocache box in the summit cairn. I took a few photos and inspected the immediate area, but didn't stay up top very long. The best views are southeast toward Picacho Peak, which from this angle looks like a resting cat. I had leaned my trekking pole up against some brush near where I surmounted the minor cliff so that I'd know where to start the descent, so I picked it up and started my way down. It was about 11:30, a 3.5-hour ascent time. The initial 100-foot drop down the rock and brush jumble went slow, but soon I was on firmer ground. The highlight here was a DPS helicopter buzzing the summit, coming within a few feet of it for whatever reason. Surprisingly, I met up with a group of three hikers coming up just a couple hundred feet later. We had a short chat. Soon we parted ways and I continued my descent. Getting back down to the saddle just north of Point 3,960 took 10 minutes and I decided to traverse left below its east-facing cliff instead of climbing up and down, like I had done coming up. This went well and quickly I was back onto the long steep ridge I had come up. Going down this went slow as I took each step carefully. The sloping rock section went slow too, as I had to carefully manage my movements so as not to slip. Once below that, the rest of the descent into the canyon went without any problems, other than the need to watch my step. In time the slopes started to level out and I was now within the canyon hiking back out toward knob 2,800, then through the maze of rocks and washes to get back onto the road. Once back on the road I still had about a two-mile walk to my truck. Road walking is easy, but I was pretty beat by this time and kept lamenting my decision to park as far out as I did. Oh well, I walked and it took me an hour, taking a few rest stops, to get back to my truck. I changed into some dry clothes, talked to some guys out scouting for deer for next week's hunt season, and quickly made my exit back onto better roads and the highway. The round trip hike had taken me 7 hours and 10 minutes with about 7 miles of actual hiking but nearly 2,800 feet of gross elevation gain. The day had stayed cool, but even then I could feel the warmth of the reflecting sun off all the rocks and sand. I was happiest though to have finally summitted Newman Peak, and putting to rest my previous frustrating experiences with the peak. I rewarded myself with a Dr. Pepper at the Picacho Peak Gas Stop near the Interstate, then the 70-mile drive home, arriving about 5 p.m. I would be curious how the route "goes" from the Houser/Brandy Pump Roads approach, underneath the CAP canal. I probably won't be attempting it soon, however. Judging by the quantity of entries in the log book, maybe 3-4 parties a month come up to the summit in the winter, and no one in the summer (discounting the workers who helo in). Many of the names in the log book were people I know and have met previously on other hikes. It can be a very small world sometimes. I have no idea if the geocachers sign in on the summit logs or vice-versa. They probably account for the other half of the visitation. |
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(c) 2008 Scott Surgent. For entertainment purposes only. This report is not meant to replace maps, compass, gps and other common sense hiking/navigation items. Neither I nor the webhost can be held responsible for unfortunate situations that may arise based on these trip reports. Conditions (physical and legal) change over time! Some of these hikes are major mountaineering or backpacking endeavors that require skill, proper gear, proper fitness and general experience. |