The Mountains of Arizona
www.surgent.net |
|
Peak 5234 (USMM-3) • Peak 5214 Toiday I would climb two peaks in the Patagonia Mountains, nearby one another as the crow flies, but not so much as the car drives. Peak 5234 is a highpoint along a ridge fronting Flux Canyon, while Peak 5214 is over by Saddle Mountain. I am interested in the road into Flux Canyon, and used today as an excuse to explore it. There is another peak farther in that interests me, but the road quality could stop me, or make it difficult. However, looking at the satellite images, it appears the road (Coronado FR-812) is a good road. Peak 5214 was an add-on peak. I attemtped it once about eighteen months ago in hot weather and bailed, and I have ignored it ever since. If my ifrst hike went well, I'd then give this peak another look.
Date: May 3, 2026
• Elevation: 5,234 feet ✳
• Prominence: 362 feet
• Distance: 1.7 mile
• Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Gain: 471 feet
• Conditions: Overcast
Arizona
•
Main
•
PB
•
LoJ
I was up very early — 3:30 a.m. — partly due to an upset stomach. I got up and did some work for my online class, then got my stuff together and left the house at 4:40 a.m., still dark outside.
This early on a Sunday, there is no traffic. I had the highways all to myself from Bisbee into Sierra Vista. I took the normal route via Whetstone, Sonoita and Patagonia, going a few more miles past Patagonia and catching Flux Canyon Road. The sun was up by now but the day was heavily overcast and not very cool, in the low 60s for now.
The initial couple miles is private properties. I drove slowly past the homes and various buildings, then caught FR-812 at a Y-junction, now going steeply uphill. This is a narrow shelf road, but is in decent shape. It gains about 600 feet in a mile, about a 10% grade, with some parts toward the end about a 15% grade. As long as I went slow, the car handled well and did not labor up these steep sections.
I passed the Forest boundary and went in another few hundred yards, coming to a wide circular open spot, a perfect place to park. I was directly below the peak, but climbing it directly looked like a bad idea.
It was a little past 6 a.m., cloudy with a breeze, and temperature holding steady in the low 60s. It was cool but there was no chill, and the air felt humid. I started walking at 6:07 a.m..
The plan was to walk the road about a half mile, then catch a ridge and double back toward the summit. The road walk went well. It's a good road but still very steep in places. In about fifteen minutes I was where the ridge met the road, near the Blue Eagle Mine.
The ridge at first was wide and appeared to be an old track as well. It came to some brush and low rocks and any semblance of a track vanished. However, there appeared to be paths, probably game paths but possibly hunter paths.
The ridge gets steeper approaching a pointed rock knob, which I passed going right. The ridge then narrowed and became rockier. It was not a knife edge, there being about 6 feet of safety. I could feel the gusts up here, about 20 miles per hour.
The final portion to the top is up more rocky tiers and piles. I never scrambled, and used the hands just a couple times for balance. After some weaving to avoid brush and more rocks, I arrived on top, a half hour after starting, covering just under 0.9 mile.
The top is a small ridge with about five large cairns built along it. The map shows a USMM-3 here, an old surveying reference point in the days before the Public Lands Survey. I walked the entire ridge and inspected the cairns. None held a register, and I did not see any posts, markers or other items that would have been the USMM marker. Sometimes there are metal posts, or etchings into rock, or just a cairn. In any case, I tagged all contending highpoint rocks.
The views were good, but muted due to the overcast skies. I snapped a few images and wandered the top, but never sat for a break. I descended the same way, taking care on the rocks and gravelly bits. I was back to my car in a little over an hour, and I had barely broken a sweat.
This peak was a test run for me. I downloaded the Peakbagger App for my Galaxy and this was the first time I let it trace my route. Not that one is necessary for this peak, but this was a good chance for me to learn how to do this. You can see it at the Peakbagger link above.
The drive down went slow. I put the car in Low and inched down the road, braking the whole time because I had no other choice. I was soon back onto the flats and on my way. It was just 7:30 a.m.. I decided to go take a look at Peak 5214.
The road is a good road. I had read trip reports from 4-wheelers who mentioned the rough road. It appears to lead to the Hermosa Mine by Harshaw, which is fully functional. My guess is they have upgraded this road as another way to leave or enter their works.
Elevation: 5,214 feet ✳
• Prominence: 304 feet
• Distance: 1.8 mile
• Time: 1 hour
• Gain: 704 feet
• Conditions: Overcast and warm
PB
•
LoJ
I drove back to Patagonia, then took Harshaw Road south into the hills, eventually getting onto FR-58 and placing myself somewhere south of Peak 5214. All of this ate up just 30 minutes.
I parked near a windmill and water tank. The peak rose about a mile north, with lower foothills between me and it. In 2024, I tried to come up from the west and hit nasty catclaw (and it was hot). This time, I would be coming from the south and I hoped there would be no catclaw.
I crossed the road, then moments later shimmied under a fence, following a sandy drainage north, progressively following lesser drainages as far in as they would go. They were sandy with minimal brush, almost like a trail ... until they weren't. When these drainages started to get narrower and brushier, I picked a slope and busted uphill, placing myself onto a broad sloping meadow, the peak rising behind it.
This sloping meadow was lightly forested in mesquite, with abundant grass, enough to hide a snake. I put on my snake gaiters and hoped for the best. I hiked uphill, angling to my left to catch a ridge that should connect to the peak. So far, no catclaw.
I achieved the ridge, then started steeply up the main mass of the mountain. The terrain was gravel and sometimes loose. Up above me was a rocky strata forming sloping cliffs. I found a spot that required just one hoist with my arms, and I was above it, looking up at more rocks.
I got to these and simply walked by, no hands needed, just a simple step-over of a small rocky extrusion. Up ahead, yet more rocks. Each time I would think that was the summit. When I got to these, it wasn't the summit, but in this case, once past it, the summit was next. I angled up hugging a low cliff, then the terrain flattened and I was on top.
The summit was grassy and open, with one large rock about two feet high being the highest point. I tagged it and looked around, snapping some images. I could not locate a register. I found some broken glass in a cairn, suggesting this may have been the register. Like on Peak 5234, I did not linger. I started back down almost immediately.
The outbound hike went efficiently. I just retraced my route and I was back to my car in not too long, the round trip taking just an hour, covering just under two miles. It was just a shade past 9 a.m.. I had no more peaks on the agenda, and I was happy with the two I got.
I changed into fresher clothes and started the drive out, stopping in Sierra Vista to run a few errands, before returning home at noon. I had been up since 3:30 a.m., so I took an hour nap.
Conditions today weren't the best. The clouds muted the lighting, although it never rained. But I felt pleased. This last peak filled in a hole for me, and the first peak gave me ideas for a future visit back that way.
Speaking of holes, both hikes featured big scary holes. There was an open shaft beside the road on my first hike. It tilted down at an angle, and I could see in about 30 feet. There was an unprotected vertical shaft very near the summit of the second peak. This one I stayed clear of, for obvious reasons. There were other filled-in openings dotted around the hills on both peaks.
|
|