Date: June 16, 2025 • Elevation: 5,550 feet ✳ • Prominence: 383 feet ✳ • Distance: 1.2 miles • Time: 45 minutes • Gain: 370 feet • Conditions: Warm, hazy smokey air

Arizona • Main • PB • LoJ • Lidar

I was heading to New Mexico for a day, possibly two, of easy peakbagging. I was planning to stay mainly in Catron County, in and around Reserve. My route into the state would include highway AZ-78, which passes by Big Lue Mountain, where I was a month ago and fell down.

Dix Mesa is at the end of a long ridge with flattish tops, about five miles north of Big Lue Mountain. It is accessible by the same road, Apache-Sitgreaves Forest Road 212, also signed as the Martinez Ranch Road. The road appeared to be a good road that got to within a mile of the peak. Since it was on the way, I added it into the itinerary.

The heat has officially become unbearable all over the Southwest, with highs near 115° in the deserts, and about 104° in Bisbee. Hiking options are extremely slim. Even the high country such as Flagstaff and Show Low get quite warm during this time of year. Anything lower than 5,000 feet elevation is out of the question.

Dix Mesa's top is only 5,550 feet, but it would be a short hike following a road most of the way. I left Bisbee at 3 a.m. and took the usual route through Elfrida, Willcox, Safford (where I got gas) and Three Way in Greenlee County. The sun was rising when I was in Safford. It was going to be a hot one, with mostly clear skies, no storms expected. The monsoon is still a couple weeks away.

As I descended the highway into Greenlee County, the mountains to the east, where I was heading, were shrouded in a thick haze. It could only be one thing: smoke. A fire was raging at the time north of Silver City in New Mexico. It stayed like this as I ascended the grade and got onto FR-212. There were some small clouds to the east temporarily obscuring the sun.

The road was a good road. I followed it for 7.3 miles to a lowpoint below the peak, arriving at 6:15 a.m.. Even at this early hour, the air temperature was already in the low 70s. When I got out to look around, I could barely smell the scent of smoke. It wasn't obtrusive. It was like smelling someone smoking on a sidewalk from a third-floor balcony.

I went light, just a buttpack and my poles, and started up the road toward the peak. The road here is very steep and rocky and would require a stronger vehicle than a Subaru. Within minutes, I had gained about 350 feet, now on top of the mesa. The presumed highpoint was to my right (east), but a rise to the north looked about as high, so I walked to it.

Looking back, the first rise was higher, although not by much, perhaps 10 feet. I walked back to it, then up easy open slopes of clumpy grass to the top, which was broad and indistinct, dotted by a few random junipers. I found a register in a cairn nearby, placed by Mark Nicholls in 2009. I was the first to sign in since him. We are the only two to claim this peak at Lists of John. Everyone else seems to ignore it. It's certainly not a difficult peak, just remote.

I exited back to the road, then saw a guy driving down the road coming my way. I walked down until I could hear his engine as he babied his truck up the steep rocky slope. He stopped briefly and said hi, and told me to look out for snakes. He appeared to be a ranch hand. Even though this is forest property, a lot of it is leased to some smaller ranches to run their stock.

I was back to my car quickly, a round trip of about 45 minutes covering a little over a mile. It was warmer, the sun being out now. The haze seemed to move aside too, allowing for slightly-better lighting for images. This little peak worked well for me in my plans, being a quickie, with easy access and logistics.

From here, I got myself back to the highway and proceeded into New Mexico, where I now aimed for Glenwood Brushy Mountain.