O'Leary Peak sits a few minutes' drive outside of Flagstaff, north along US-89 and only a couple of miles back from the highway. Its double-summit profile, topped by an active lookout tower, is plainly obvious from miles around. It is one of the more prominent peaks in the immediate Flagstaff area, even beating out the local-favorite Mount Elden for second-place honors behind gigantic Humphreys Peak. Yet despite all this, the peak seems to hide literally in plain sight. Hikers coming to Flagstaff with a peak on their minds naturally gravitate toward Humphreys Peak, while the locals looking for a workout hike choose Mount Elden. O'Leary is close enough to town so that it's reachable within minutes, yet far enough to drop off most people's radar, for whatever reason. Apparently the peak can go days between visitors to its summit. Until now, we were in that second category. We had heard of it, of course, and on our drive to the Grand Canyon just this past summer, took a good long gaze at it and decided to place it high on our to-do list, when the weather cooled a bit more. From below it looks like a wonderful peak. Our curiosity was piqued!

We left Chandler friday afternoon, planning a weekend in Flagstaff to enjoy the pleasant temperatures and a respite from work and the heat in the deserts. The drive north went fine and we had no trouble, arriving into town at dusk. We got a hotel and settled in. The plan was to awake early and hike the peak on Saturday, then spend the rest of the day watching baseball and eating diner food. Once ready, we followed US-89 through downtown (and traffic) for about 15 miles to the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument turn-off, which is well marked and located about at the highest point along US-89 before it starts the long downhill into the desert of the Navajo Nation. We went right (east) on the secondary road, then left (north) toward the O'Leary Group Camping Area, about a quarter-mile further. The trailhead for the O'Leary Peak hike starts a few feet past the turn-off, where a gate bars the road from public vehicular access. A small parking area holds about 8 vehicles. When we arrived, all spaces were filled and another 5-6 cars were backed up, parked along the shoulder. We found a spot out of the way and got ready. Had O'Leary suddenly become popular? It was a beautiful Saturday morning so I figured that might explain some of the crowd. As we were getting our shoes on, one of hikers emerged back from his hike, and explained this was all part of a big hiking club. There was one other team of two women who arrived when we did. Other than us and them, all the other cars evidently were all one group. Feast or famine on O'Leary, it seemed. We chatted with the guy for a few minutes for information on the route. It was about 10:30 when we started our hike.

The Sunset Crater Volcano is one of Arizona's most interesting geological wonders: a cinder-cone volcano that erupted in roughly 1065 C.E., recent enough so that the native peoples still have oral histories that reflect this event. All of the area around Flagstaff is, or has been, volcanically active - including Humphreys Peak, of course, which is now extinct. The Sunset eruption was different in that it started along a fault, then collected into one main cone, which spat cinders and lava over a wide area. A bolus of basaltic lava breached the cone and formed a flow on both sides of the volcano, forming what is today called the Bonito Lava Flow. Meanwhile, the volcano ejected trillions of little cinder rocks, which collected over the area and coated many of the already-established mountains and hills with cinders. O'Leary is one such peak, predating Sunset Volcano, but still covered over by the cinders. The cinders themselves are little pumice-like stones, mostly about 1/4 to 1/2-inch round, rough to the tough, and very light. Most are colored black or gray but some have brown and red tinting to them, making for interetsing mosaics on the hillsides. The forest has been able to re-establish itself on the cinder fields, but there still exist many areas that are essentially cinder deserts. When laying on level ground, the cinders form a solid yet soft bedding of rock, which makes for some easy hiking. On a steeper slope, they are dreadfully loose and difficult to ascend.

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument covers about 6 square miles, mostly centered around the main volcanic cone, which rises about 1,000 feet above the terrain. It used to have a trail to the top, but the trail was shut in 1973 to protect against erosion. O'Leary Peak is about three air-miles northwest of the Sunset Crater Volcano. A road switchbacks up to the summit, servicing the lookout tower. Hence, the usual route to the top of O'Leary follows this road, which is smoothed over with the countless cinders. Part of the trail/road crosses into the National Monument (although no fee is collected for this stretch). A long section of the road fronts the western-extent of the Bonito Lava Flow. From the gate spanning the road at the parking area, we followed the cinder road as it went east at first, then gently bent north and dropped about 40 feet elevation. WIthin minutes we were walking alongside the interesting lava formations of the Bonito Flow. The flow was about 10-20 feet higher than us, and a few hardy trees had somehow found places to establish roots on the bare black basalt. Also, we had an open view of O'Leary Peak, which seemed very close already. The lookout tower could be seen on the right-most summit. We were also meeting with many of the hikers from the club, coming down. They had started very early in the morning.

We made fantastic time for the first mile and a half, which is mostly level. The forty-foot elevation drop is offset by a slow and easy gain up the south slopes of O'Leary, following the road. We took a break after about 45 minutes of hiking. By now we had left the lava flow behind, although we were still in cinder city. From here to the top was five or six big long switchbacks. Beth was feeling pretty good, too, considering her ankles and knees had been giving her hell back home for the past few weeks. We had identified the saddle between O'Leary Peak and Darton Dome as a possible goal for Beth in case she could not go to the top. However, as we hiked up the switchbacking road, the gradient was slight enough and the cinder footing soft enough so that she was feeling very good, and we continued to make good time. We stopped for another break about a quarter-mile short of the aforementioned saddle, at which time a lady rumbled down in her truck. She was a lookout worker, up helping the regular O'Leary lookout man move out for the season. We had a friendly conversation with her. She was amazed anyone would want to hike the road! We were enjoying ourselves and having a good break. The weather was getting interesting, with a dry front moving through the region, bring some clouds and a boatload of stiff wind.

After the lady drove on, we got moving and decided to not stop at the saddle, given that Beth felt just fine. So we decided to push on until it felt right again to take another break. At the saddle, the road is gated, but it was easy to get by it and to continue our walk. The road became a bit steeper here as well, and much more exposed to the cliffs. A lot of hefty erosion was taking place along the outer-edge of the road, and in a few places we crossed big rock-slide areas. We also noted, interestingly, a sudden and dramatic change in the nature of the rock. We lost the cinders and came upon regular hardpack dirt and rock - presumably O'Leary Peak's "real" rock. We took another short break at one of the last bends in the road, then worked our way to the top saddle, connecting the summit with the lookout tower to the east with the actual highpoint to the west. The lookout summit is 8,916 feet, while the true highpoint is 22 feet higher, at 8,938 feet. The highpoint was up about 160 feet on steep cinder slopes. Beth immediately lost interest and decided to continue east to the lookout tower. I dropped the pack and said I would run up to the highpoint, then come down and walk up to the lookout to meet her there.

My little side journey up the slopes was short but very tiring. For every three steps I went up, I lost two, and sometimes three, sliding back down with the rubble. A few trees and brush patches helped. I followed some faint tracks and made the top in about 10 minutes, figuring my legs actually climbed 300 feet not counting all the back-sliding. The top was weedy, marked by a cairn and wood tree branch. I signed in and snapped a few photographs. I could see Beth slowly making her way to the lookout summit. The descent went very fast since the sliding effect was now in my favor, although I got plenty of cinders in my boots. I put on the pack and walked up to meet Beth at the lookout tower. Beth was relaxing on some bare rock, enjoying the wind. We stayed there about 15 minutes. The one-way hike had taken us about 3 hours including rest stops, and Beth was exhilirated to have made the entire hike. Given her ailments, it's impossible to tell beforehand whether she'll have a good or bad day hiking until we actually get moving. I was happy, and especially so for her.

The hike down went quick, and we had excellent views of Humphreys, Mount Elden, the Sunset Crater Volcano and the eerie landscape of the Bonito Flow. We took some breaks and went slow, egressing about 4 p.m. We showered up at the hotel and had a good meal at the Galaxy Diner, where we've eaten before many times. The food is very good and of good quality. We were even treated to a dance-instruction class going on while there. The next day we drove back to the Monument and went to the visitor's center, plus a drive and some very short hikes onto the lava for some photographs. Then, back home, for a great weekend out of the heat!

The following is a short etymology of the peak, named after a local guide Daniel O'Leary. It is courtesy of Kathy Wood of the Irish Arizona Project. Thank you, Kathy!

Born around 1843 in Ireland, "somewhere on the green banks of the Shannen [sic]." ... A letter from Hardyville, AZ, dated September 29, 1867, and published in the Daily Arizona Miner in Prescott discusses the army of the Colorado battling the Hualapai Indians: "Our worthy townsmen, Geo. Spear and Dan O'Leary go as guides; better and more thorough mountaineers than Kit Carson ever was or will be." ... Served as guide, interpreter, and mountain man for military and other endeavors ... O’Leary Pass and O’Leary Peak are named for him