Date: April 1, 2026 • Elevation: 2,450 feet ✳ • Prominence: 306 feet • Distance: 0.8 mile • Time: 1 hour • Gain: 450 feet • Conditions: Cloudy and humid

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ • Interactive map

This peak is a ridge with cliffs on its east face, and two summit knobs at either end, the northern one being the highest. It lies toward the end of Bartlett Lake Road, within a mile of the lake itself. Tonto Forest Road 19 curls up and over a pass nearby, within a half mile of the summit.

I had no plans to climb this peak today. I had intended to climb a bigger peak, Peak 4650, which rises east of Kentuck Mountain and north of St. Clair Peak. The day started very cloudy with soft sprinkles, but was expected to clear out by mid-morning.

So I get into my car and the ignition is very sluggish. I get it to turn over on the third try, and figuring I better not chance things, went right to the Subaru service center in Scottsdale. They worked me in and gave it a diagnostic ... and found nothing wrong. Everything checked out. That was both a relief and a concern. Why had it been so weak? I have a couple theories but no real idea.

It was close to 8:30 when I left there. I went north anyway, north of Scottsdale and Cave Creek, getting onto the Bartlett Lake Road a few miles, then north on the Horseshoe Lake Road, driving to its apex. Peak 4650 rose a couple miles to the north.

It was still cloudy, but it was not cool. Temperatures were in the 60s and it was very humid, and highs would be getting into the 80s. I had intended to be hiking close to dawn, but that wasn't going to happen obviously.

I parked, got dressed and went in anyway, following FR-1058 about a mile to the northwest, this being the St. Clair OHV recreation area. Just one other vehicle was parked in the staging lot, but I saw no one.

The road hike went well. I even saw a gila monster! He was sitting to the side of the road. I got to within ten feet of him to get an image of him. He then backed away a couple steps. This was my first gila monster sighting ever in Arizona. I've seen one another time but only for an instant when it ducked into a crevice.

I got to the apex of FR-1058 and decided to bail. This was more of a hike than I was planning for, and it was warming. This is a peak that would be better done on a cool day. It took about 25 minutes to walk back to my car. Fortunately, it started just fine.

Suddenly, this little peak became interesting to me. I knew about it from a scouting drive years ago. There are two ranked peaks here, this one and another one about a half mile away. This one looked easier, which is why I climbed this one. I drove Bartlett Lake Road to near its end, then up FR-19 about a mile to its apex. There was no good parking, so I drove back down and found a small spot off the road to stash my vehicle in. It was close to 10 a.m. when I started the short hike.

The clouds were still abundant, enough to darken the whole area. However, there was no chance of rain. These were moving through fast and I could see lots of blue sky to the west. It was warm and humid, but the sun was blocked by the clouds, which helped keep things comfortable.

The obvious challenge is the high ridge, which is an assortment of cliffs. I looked up and saw where the cliffs didn't seem so daunting. I left the road and started up a ridge. As I got higher, I would move to an adjacent ridge since I could see my way better. The summit itself was visible the whole way.

The terrain was gravelly rock, sometimes loose but usually solid, with grasses, cactus and brush, but almost always a lane to follow. I got onto a ridge that looked most promising, and marched up it, following a path for a short ways. This led to the base of the cliffs.

I lucked out because the cliffs here were just some low slanting rocks about ten feet high with chutes. The rock was loose, but the scrambling was easy. This put me on a steep slope of rubble which led right to the ridge itself.

I turned right and walked the ridge, which got narrow in places, the rock forming narrow spines, but wide enough to be safe. In a minute or two, I was at the base of the pointed summit.

Going slightly left, I started up a gravelly slope, the rock just an inch or two deep lying atop the rock base. It was loose and slippery. I tried to keep to within the low brush and cactus for better footing. After gaining about 40 feet, I got to some rocks which allowed me to scamper up another ten feet.

This fed me onto the final slope, which wasn't as steep but it was loose. It was also short, and I was soon on top. I found a register within a cairn, and sat down to sign in and have a short break. The last visitor here was in 2022. Views were pretty good, the clouds notwithstanding. Shafts of light would break through making for some interesting lighting effects. Bartlett Lake was easily seen down below. I did not stay long.

Going down, I just needed to not slip on the gravel. I took it very slowly and used my poles to lean down the slope and plant them, then slowly baby step downward. I almost skidded down once. The concern was not falling great distances, but falling into cholla or barrel cactus.

Once below the slippery stuff, it was an easy trek downhill, following the exact same route down to my car. The round trip took a shade under an hour, and the sun had come out now, allowing for better images. It was nearly 11 a.m. and warming. After this morning's drama, I was happy to get this peak in the books.

I decided to get back to town. I changed into driving clothes, started the car (which it did with no problem), and headed back to Cave Creek and Scottsdale, and the myriad of coned-off single-lane roads which is what all of greater Phoenix has become. I cleaned up and went onto campus for a couple hours.

Since then, my car has started just fine each time. No hesitations or weird noises. I went on YouTube and watched a few videos about Subaru starters, plus talked to a guy at a Firestone, and no one could say what happened. Starters just sometimes stop working. My theory is that maybe I did not close a door all the way or had some other thing drawing a trickle of power, but I have no idea what.