The Mountains of Arizona
www.surgent.net |
|
Pine Mountain (Good BM) • Longfellow Ridge • Peak 6155 Today I would be exploring an area of the Bradshaw Mountains south of Mount Union along the old Senator Highway. Longfellow Ridge is a long ridge on which two ranked peaks sit, Pine Mountain being highest and located at the south end, and Longfellow Ridge (an unofficial name) rising at the north end, near the historic Orofino Mine. If things went well, I had a third peak, Peak 6155, on the agenda. The Senator Highway (Prescott National Forest Road 52) was the old route between the Arizona Territorial capital in Prescott to the small town of Phoenix down in the deserts, this being way back in the 1870s and 1880s. I have driven its entire length, from Crown King to Prescott, once, with my wife back in 2003. I've been on parts of the Senator Highway a few other times but never for very long and always as a means to an end. These days, the Senator Highway is just a forest road that runs about forty miles between Crown King and Prescott. It passes by many historic and abandoned mining towns, but many of these are completely erased. Absolutely nothing remains from these old camps. The road's quality is rough, requiring 4-wheel drive. I recall on my 2003 drive, it was tolerable. In 2011, I remember it being in awful shape, at least on the parts I was on farther south by Crown King. This was a Wednesday, my middle-of-the-week off day between teaching. I taught my Tuesday classes at ASU, then headed north up Interstate-17 onto the higher plateau, intending to camp. It was still warm down in Phoenix but cooler up here, in the 70s when I rolled in about 9 p.m.. I got some basic food items at a minimart, then exited onto Dugas Road, camping near where I camped two weeks ago. Conditions were calm and moderate. I set up my camp cot in the open, then sat in the front of my car and had a meal. The sky was clear, revealing the multitudes of stars as well as the whitish streak of the Milky Way galaxy. The moon would rise around 2 a.m., a waning crescent. Otherwise, it was completely dark. I went to "bed" (or should I say "I went to cot"?) about 10 p.m.. It was still mild so I just had a single blanket on me. I stared up at the stars, thinking how crazy it is we're just specks. I saw a meteor streak in the sky, through Perseus straight through Draco's tail. I thought it was going to hit Earth. I lucked out with the weather. It actually got cold enough overnight for me to get out my sleeping bag. I slept reasonably well, and was up at 4:30 a.m., still dark but with some moonlight. I cleaned up the place and got rolling about 5:30 a.m.. I got myself on AZ-69 towards Prescott, but only went in a few miles to the town of Mayer. The road I wanted, FR-67 (also signed briefly as Yavapai County Road 177), starts in Mayer and runs about a dozen miles into the hills, connecting to the Senator Highway near the ghost town of Goodwin.
Date: September 17, 2025
• Elevation: 6,804 feet ✳
• Prominence: 570 feet ✳
• Distance: 4.8 miles
• Time: 4 hours total (includes Longfellow Ridge)
• Gain: 1,224 feet (gross)
• Conditions: Sunny and clear
Arizona
•
Main
•
PB
•
LoJ
•
Lidar
I eased off the highway onto Main Street in Mayer, but had some trouble finding the road I wanted. I had a map, but one road I thought would work just dead-ended at someone's house. I had to stop and look it up on my device. To summarize, I followed Wicks to Jefferson, which morphs into FR-67 at the forest boundary.
The road is a fine road, wide and well-graded, but it can be steep, curvy and without any barriers. I went slowly, taking my time. It is marked in mileage markers, which helped. About 7 miles in, it passes through Pine Flat, a small private insection of homes and cabins. I drove FR-67 all the way to its terminus at the Senator Highway, 11.5 miles in all. The last mile was slightly rough to where high clearance would be mandatory. Some of the grades were 10% and higher, I should mention.
On the Senator Highway now, I followed it north and northwest another half mile, finally stopping in a clearing near the road's junction with FR-84, which leads to the old Dandrea Mine, which is on private land and is off-limits. The Senator Highway was rough but manageable. However, I stopped below a steep section of eroded exposed rock that would have stopped my car. It was about 6:45 a.m. now, the sun up, although I was in shadow for now.
I got my stuff together, and then I heard an engine. A small Polaris Ranger was inching down that nasty road segment. As it passed me, I waved hi to the couple up front ... and their brood of bloodhounds in back. As soon as they saw me (or sniffed me), they got excited and woo-woo-woofed at me, like good dogs. I chatted briefly with the couple and shot an image of the dyoggies. They were adorable, and I didn't stop smiling for another couple of hours.
I started walking at 7 a.m., still in shadow and still pleasantly cool, in the high 50s. I walked up Senator Highway for about 0.4 mile, to where a convenient track branches left and goes steeply uphill to the top of Longfellow Ridge. This track is very steep with loose rock, and for hiking, it was a chore, but it wasn't very long (about 0.6 mile) and it got me to the top ridge quickly.
The track meets the Yankee Doodle Trail, which runs along the top of the ridge, at a wire-stick gate. Pine Mountain was visible, a little under 2 miles to the south. Now in the sun, it was warmer, but only in the high 60s. I passed through the gate and followed the trail southbound.
The trail is excellent, easy to discern in the grass and usually with a good tread. It stays high on the ridge crest, only dropping down one side or the other by twenty feet at most (the Forest Service map shows a trail wiggling all over the place, but it is most definitely not accurate). The hiking was generally level, with a few drops and regains. I made good time.
The last half mile was slightly steeper as the trail marches up the slopes to the top. In places, the trail is a little rough and haggard. I was soon on top of the peak a little after 8 a.m.. The top ridge runs about a hundred feet, and the highest point is towards its south tip.
I found some rocks a few feet into the brush that appeared highest, so I tagged them. The "Good" Benchmark was embedded onto a flatter rock nearby. This is a Forest Service benchmark and is not documented in any databases. I could not locate a register. There weren't any notable pines on or near the peak. A few junipers and oaks stood nearby.
Views were very good. It was clear for now, with high clouds in the distance. The sun was still low enough to provide good lighting and shadow effects. To the north I could see the towers atop Mount Union, and the slightly-lower Moscow Peak. To the south would be Towers Mountain and Horse Mountain, among many other peaks that way. I stayed up top for about ten minutes, having a break in the shade.
I hiked down the same way, following the trail back to the first gate (there was one other one along the way). I continued on the trail as it dropped to a lowpoint in the ridge, where my climb of Pine Mountain officially ends, and my...
Elevation: 6,634 feet ✳
• Prominence: 328 feet
• Distance: 4.7 miles
• Gain: 344 feet
• Conditions: Sunny and warming
PB
•
LoJ
...climb of Longfellow Ridge officially begins. The peak is an unnamed peak with no printed spot elevation, located at the north end of the ridge before it drops to meet the Senator Highway. From the lowpoint, I was looking at about a mile and a half to the peak, which was not visible from where I stood.
I continued up the trail. Whereas it had been more open with little forest cover down by Pine Mountain, I encountered more trees and shade on the slopes as I closed in on the peak. I also noticed a lot of fresh bear scat on the trail, like it had been dropped five minutes ago, a pile every five minutes.
The trail gains a ridge, where for the first time I could see the peaks, the highest with an elevation of 6,634 feet, going by the Lidar 1-meter data. It is a double-peaked summit. From where I stood, I could not tell which one was highest. What I could tell was that it looked brushy and not as pretty as Pine Mountain.
I followed the trail as it aimed for the peak before dropping down on its northeast slopes. The Forest Service map shows the trail as going right over the summit, which is false. At a convenient spot, I left the trail and walked steeply uphill, crossing a fence, now on the peak's eastern slope.
The climbing here was just steep slope-walking on loose shale-like rocks that slid with every step. But it was short and there were lanes most of the way. I was soon on top the eastern of the two peaks, a rock outcrop on its summit. Looking west, the western summit was higher by about ten feet.
I dropped down a slope and pushed through some trees and branches onto more open terrain, then walked up to the western peak's top. Its summit was not as exciting, just some low rocks and brush, and a small cairn, but no register. I tagged it and turned right around, following my steps back down to the trail. This was not an exciting summit but it counts.
I had an option: I could retrace my route south on the Yankee Doodle Trail and follow that side track down to the Senator Highway, or stay northbound and drop down to the Senator Highway sooner. I chose the latter, since it meant no regaining any uphill segments and not having to deal with the steep and loose tread of that side track.
I followed the Yankee Doodle Trail north about a quarter mile until it met the Senator Highway near the Orofino Mine area. I was hoping for some neat relics but saw nothing. I was looking at over two miles of walking the road back to my car, but that was okay by me. It was all downhill (except for one small uphill part) and on open road so I could make good time.
This second peak and the slightly-longer route back down meant that when I arrived back to my car, it was almost 11 a.m. now. I had been making good time, so I thought. I later determined I had walked a total of 9.5 miles on this hike. My car was right where I left it. I had not seen another person or vehicle since that couple and their dogs from earlier this morning. I never saw any bears, either. I was banging my poles together and making noise around every blind curve.
It was warm now, into the high 70s, with a sheen of clouds moving in. I was beat, but feeling good how things went. I enjoyed the hike to Pine Mountain a lot and would recommend it to anyone. The hike to the northern peak wasn't that special. It was just a bonus peak. If one ignores the northern peak, it's about a 6.5-mile hike to Pine Mountain and back, using that side track to cut off distance.
Elevation: 6,155 feet ✳
• Prominence: 332 feet
• Distance: 1.6 mile
• Time: 50 minutes
• Gain: 340 feet
• Conditions: Cloudier but very warm
PB
•
LoJ
Back at my car, I did not have far to drive, a little over a mile to place me at a highpoint along the road north of this peak, marked by a spot elevation of 6,149 feet on the map, whereas Lidar reports 6,155 feet, which I use here. It did not look friendly at all. The slopes were covered in low woody brush with no obvious openings or lanes.
It was about 11:30 a.m. now, warm but cloudier. This was the leading front of a system coming in from the south, remnants of a tropical storm off the tip of Baja California. I easily could have skipped this peak and continued on out. I took stock of my situation:
I was in battle gear from my last hike, and I knew once I got about fifty feet into the brush, I'd probably just gut the damn thing out. So I pulled into a small pullout, locked the car, and started walking. I found a terrible lane to follow and pushed my way into the brush.
The initial hiking was very slow as I had nothing to follow. I pushed through knee-high crap until I found something open. I was not being efficient. I would hike in big zig-zags just to stay on open terrain. It already sucked.
I pushed uphill through the brush, which was mostly manzanita, low cactus, mountain oak and holly. Not a tree taller than five feet anywhere. I grunted up a slope to top out on a small nubbin on the ridge, a gain of about a hundred feet. As much as I was not enjoying this, I knew I was destined to tag this peak because I had at least got this far.
Up ahead were two bumps which I thought at first was the highpoint, but when I got there, then I could see the big rounded hump of the summit. The terrain along the ridge was barely better, a little more open as long as I took time to find openings.
I went from point to point, finally on the highpoint's slopes and finally, on top of the thing. It hadn't been a long hike, a half-hour at most. I was glad to be here.
The top is brushy, and a fin of rock about three feet tall and a few inches thick marked the highest point. I tagged it, and found a register in a cairn nearby. Not many people had been here, just a few of the usual suspects and a couple of locals who live nearby. Views were muted due to the shadows cast by the clouds.
I hiked down the same general route, following openings wherever I found them. The outbound hike went fast, about twenty minutes, and I was happy to be back at my car. Finally, I could relax and change out of my stinky hiking clothes. It had been a rewarding three-peak and 11-mile hiking day, and yes, I was glad to tag this last peak.
I drove back to Mayer, then onto Interstate-17, stopping at the Sunset Point Rest Area. When I wanted to leave, the southbound onramp was shut. I was forced to go north a few miles to the Badger Springs exit, then double back, adding about five or six miles. I also got to drive the "flex" lanes they have installed, which are supposed to alleviate traffic crunches during the heaviest times. Today being a Wednesday, it wasn't crowded.
I drove the Loop-101 freeway to the Chapparal exit. It was hot by now, 104° said my car's thermo-tron. I was in good spirits despite the heat until I got to the offramp. Much of Chapparal was reduced to one lane each way causing backups onto the off-ramp. This is so Phoenix, it should be on the city's flag.
I got through this, and stopped for groceries before checking into my hotel to clean up and take a long nap. That night, the storms rolled in, including some heavy wind, rain and a haboob (?) around midnight.
|
|