The Mountains of Arizona
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Peak 6288 • Peak 6280 I returned again to the Black Hills northeast of Safford, my third time here in a month. On today's agenda were two peaks high on the range crest near the highpoint, Guthrie Peak, and possibly another lower foothill if the weather behaved and I still had the energy. Today was the first day in about ten days where the state wasn't being rained on by monsoon storms. We would be entering a dry spell and higher temperatures, but today would be that sweet spot, the transition from the rainy but cooler (and more humid) days to the drier and warmer days. The high in Safford was expected to be in the mid-90s, which for Safford in July is pleasant. I'd be about 3,000 feet higher, so probably ten degrees cooler. I was on the road from Bisbee at 2 a.m.. For the 75 mile drive to Willcox, I saw no one on the road except for one van. I topped the gas in Willcox and got a few snacks, then drove straight through Safford and toward the Black Hills It was a little past 4 a.m. when I was on the US-191 that branches northeast. Like the previous times, traffic was heavy. I was the fourth car in a line of cars and behind me were about another ten cars. No doubt all of these people were heading to the mines in Clifton and Morenci. Me, I turned left off the highway (at milepost 139) onto the Black Hills Backcountry Byway. I had to make the turn fast because there was a single car coming my way and I did not want to slow to block the people behind me. Now on the Byway, I drove slowly up the road, now in no hurry. In fact, I was a little early. I had about ten miles to the trailhead, and sunrise would not be for another hour. I drove in a few miles then pulled into a wide spot and stopped for a half hour, taking a short cat nap. The sky was barely lighting up now, so I continued onward, taking the roads slowly in the dark, often at just 15 miles per hour. I arrived to the "trailhead", a radio tower at a bend in the road near where the Guthrie Peak Access Road branches off toward Guthrie Peak. I parked in the clearing and got my stuff together. I was at 5,380 feet elevation. The day was clear, some clouds way off to the east. The temperature was about 70°, and it was noticeably drier, with low humidity. Thus, it felt refreshing, not sultry. My pack consisted of a lot of water and other drinks, some snacks and my snake gaiters. I was on the move at 5:20 a.m..
Date: July 24, 2025
• Elevation: 6,288 feet
• Prominence: 428 feet
• Distance: 5.3 miles
• Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes whole hike
• Gain: 1,550 feet (gross)
• Conditions: Sunny, clear, pleasant and warming
Arizona
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Main
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PB
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LoJ
The two peaks on my agenda are virtual twins, both with elevations at about 6,280 feet. They are the highest points on two parallel ridges that emanate west off the main range crest, with Guthrie Peak about two miles to the east. Basin Tank is the only named feature here, a stock tank in the canyon between the two peaks.
Both peaks have spot elevations with the "T" appended at the end. The north peak is marked as 6,273T feet, the south one at 6,288T feet. The T stands for telemetry, or so I have always believed. My understanding is that it means the peak's summit elevation was derived remotely, using horizontal distances and angle sightings from a spot with a known elevation, and using trigonometry to derive a figure. One thing seems to be true: summit elevations with the T are notoriously inaccurate.
Curiously, even though the two peaks lie less than a mile apart, the Lidar data does exist at the 1-meter refinement for the northern peak (giving it a 6,280-foot figure) but does not exist for the southern peak, which still goes by the coarse 1/3-arcsecond data. Thus, it is not possible to nail down a better figure for the southern peak. Visually, they look identical in height, ten feet of difference at most.
Given their proximity to one another, it seems natural to combine both peaks into one hike, and that was my plan. However, it would not be a fast hike. From the Guthrie Peak access road, each peak lies about a mile west and requiring off-trail walking. Connecting between the two peaks directly would mean dropping down into the canyon and I did not want to do that either.
Walking up the Guthrie Peak Access Road was easy. I was last on it nearly twenty years ago when my wife and I climbed Guthrie Peak, and I recall it being rough and haggard, definitely a 4-wheel drive track. But hiking on it now, it was in good shape, with a smooth tread. It obviously gets more maintenance these days. Even so, it would be marginal in a Subaru. It is still a narrow road with some steep grades and no turn-around spots. For hiking, it was perfect and I made good time.
I hiked about 1.7 miles up this road to about the 6,180-foot elevation, just past a set of water tanks. I would be hiking to the southern peak first. The sun was up but still shrouded by those clouds way off to the east in New Mexico. It was still cool outside, and calm.
A much-rougher track veers west off the main road toward Basin Tank. I walked it, losing over 300 feet in elevation. The track is a mess of rocks and a few downed trees. Walking it was a chore because the rocks rolled every other step. I left the track at some point and walked through open terrain to the saddle below Peak 6288. By now, the sun was fully up, no clouds to block it. It was warm but still comfortable.
I had about 430 feet of elevation to gain to the peak's top. The terrain was rocky but mostly low brush and grasses, but never too thick. I could find lanes and usually could see my feet. I did not yet put on my gaiters but I kept an eye out for snakes. A fence runs up this ridge and I walked beside it, there being about a three-foot clearing most of the way.
Toward the top, the fence veered south and I walked up through heavier brush to the long summit ridge. I found the top rocks, but there were a few clumps spaced out over about a hundred feet. I tagged each one and looked for a register, but found nothing. I took the shortest of breaks, to have a drink and check a couple text messages. It was 7 a.m. when I arrived here, and I never really lingered, starting back down almost immediately. Views were good, but I wanted to keep moving before things got too warm.
I dropped back to the saddle, then down to the track to Basin Tank. I looked over at the slopes and considered just busting down and up these slopes toward Peak 6280, but now closer and with a better view, it didn't look so attractive any more. Instead, I marched back up this track back to the Guthrie Peak Access Road, where I took a longer break.
I had been hiking now for two hours. I felt good, my back now 99.99% healed. I felt I was moving efficiently, and I probably was, but the off-trail hiking is unavoidably slow. Even though it was generally freindly terrain, the combination of rolling rocks, brush, cactus and the need to suss out lanes makes moving fast difficult.
Now I needed to think about what to do about Peak 6280.
Elevation: 6,280 feet ✳
• Prominence: 355 feet ✳
• Distance: 2.2 miles
• Time: included in above
• Gain: 580 feet
• Conditions: No change, got warm at the end
PB
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LoJ
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Lidar
From the Access Road, I could see the lay of the land toward Peak 6280 feet, and eyeball a route to it. I would need to cross over one hill and down a saddle, then more sidehilling until I was on the ridge and below the peak, but the other options seemed less enticing.
One option I considered was to return to my car, drive the Byway a couple miles to a picnic area, from where it would be less than a mile hike to the peak with about 800 feet of gain, over what looked like lenient slopes. In fact, if this was the only peak I was after, this would be the way to access it. However, I figured since I was already high, it did not make sense to lose it all only to regain it.
From the water tanks, I walked up a gentle slope to a rocky hilltop, then down about 80 feet to a saddle, this being below Hill 6209T (there's that T again). Then I got lucky: I came upon a cattle path. This lovely path went about a half mile and made the sidehilling go by quickly, and it led me to the saddle below Peak 6280.
The uphill hike to the top was a lot like the first peak; rocky and brushy, but with lanes as long as I took the time to find them. I was on top the peak and found the top rocks, these being more obvious than the first peak. They rise up about 4 feet above the terrain. I tagged them, looked for a register, found nothing, and turned right around.
It was warming now, into the 80s. There was a breeze which helped, but I was feeling the fatigue. Walking down to the saddle went well, and then back up the cow path to the higher saddle near Hill 6209 went fast as well, my thanks to the cows. Here, I just dropped steeply down the opposite slopes to the Access Road, then followed that out to my car.
I was slightly surprised it was 9:30 a.m. already! I had been hiking a little over 4 hours. I later determined I hiked 7.5 miles, which is likely a slightly conservative value. The off-trail portion covered over 4 miles and that went slow, even though I was always on the move. This hike takes longer than the map would suggest.
I was pretty beat. I piled into my car and started the drive out. The outside temperature was 85°, a little warmer than I hoped. This would impact my susebquent plans. But I felt good that I was successful on these two peaks, these being my primary goal for this outing. I got a damn good workout, that was for sure ... and I never saw a snake.
The other peak I had in mind was a foothill, Peak 4872T, which lies near Peak 4820. But I would be 1,500 feet lower in elevation, and thus, about five degrees warmer. Logistically, it looks easy, being a track nearly the whole way, but given the warmth and my fatigue, I skipped it. This will give me an excuse to come back again.
I got back on the highway, and stopped briefly for a cold drink in Safford, then powered on home. It was warmer, into the mid 90s, but for July, it was fairly mild and the drive was enjoyable. I stopped again in Elfrida for another cold drink, and was home a little before 1 p.m.
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