The Mountains of Arizona
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Noble Mountain West • Turner View • Peak 8395 I was on the first day of what I had intended to be a three-day road trip bagging peaks in and around the Alpine area of eastern Arizona. I left home at 3:15 a.m. and had hiked Big Lue Mountain earlier this morning, back to my car before 10 a.m.. On that hike, I took a bad spill and bashed my upper right thigh into a rock, giving it a deep bruise. I could walk on it but it was sore and weak. Suddenly, this mishap would shape the remainder of this brief journey. From Big Lue, I had driven into New Mexico and up US-180, enjoying the scenery. In about an hour I had re-entered Arizona and stopped briefly at the general store in Alpine to buy a few supplies. After sitting for over an hour, I was curious how my leg would react to moving again. It hurt and was weak, but after a few steps, I could walk normally. But lifting it up a step was painful, for example. Any big hikes were out of consideration for the time being. Fortunately, the next two peaks on my agenda appeared to be short, a mile at most. This would allow me to still hike but also give my leg time to heal. I had two peaks on the immediate docket: Peak 9509, or informally Noble Mountain West, and Peak 9134, or Turner View. I had skipped both last year on my visit here, and wanted to come back and clean them up. They were both "9ers", which is something that mildly interests me. I'm more than halfway done on Arizona's list of peaks of at least 9,000 feet elevation. First up was Noble Mountain West.
Date: May 12, 2025
• Elevation: 9,509 feet
• Prominence: 446 feet
• Distance: 1.45 miles
• Time: 50 minutes
• Gain: 430 feet
• Conditions: High clouds and very windy
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Back on US-180 (also signed as US-191 here), I went northwest a few miles to FR-249, the road to Big Lake. This forest road is paved as it sees a lot of traffic, relatively speaking. I went in a little over 4 miles, just past the Williams Valley Recreation Area, where in winter people come to sled, toboggan and engage in general snowy shenanigans.
I got onto northbound FR-81, going in about a mile. This is a decent dirt track, a little rough but easy to manage. I then angled left at the first Y-split, going northwest on an unnumbered road. This road does not appear on any maps but is plainly visible on the satellite images.
This secondary track was about two notches rougher and I had to take it slow. It wanders across slopes of burned forest and dense new growth, the whole place looking like a war zone. I drove in about two miles, but it took me about 15 minutes. The road was rocky, uneven, some exposed rocks to ease over, and loose in places. I parked at a sharp bend, about three-quarters of a mile west of the summit. I was happy to get this far in.
Up at over 9,000 feet now, it was much cooler, in the low 60s, with a very strong breeze. Some high clouds had moved in, muting the light and the temperatures a little. The wind would make whistling sounds as it passed through the scrawny new growth. Bigger standing trees would creak in the wind.
I walked up the remainder of the road, following it until it ended. I was now within a quarter-mile of the summit, but between me and it was that dense new growth I mentioned. I had no choice but to find a way through it.
I followed any open lane I could find. I was able to hike up to the ridge itself, to the lowpoint south of the peak and north of Point 9418. I angled left and finally entered into this nightmare crud. It's mostly immature aspen and other narrow trees, collectively called doghair. It is branchy and tangly and utterly a pain in the ass to get through.
I got lucky because that thorny locust that usually also grows amid this type of new growth was mostly absent. I was able to squeeze, sidle and shimmy between the trees, so not having thorns to shred my legs was welcome. Soon, I was out of this stuff and onto more open slopes, the top close by.
I trudged up the last few yards through grass and rocks to the summit, which was mostly open. The trees and brush all leaned due to the ever-present wind. Today's wind was quite strong, sustained at 20 miles per hour, gusting to 30. I did not stay long. I snapped some images and turned around and headed down.
Being higher, I could see some shorter ways back to the road, so I was able to pass through this growth quickly with minimal pokes and scratches, saving a little distance in doing so. Once on the road, I fast-walked it back to my car. I had been gone about 45 minutes and my leg was doing okay. I could feel it wobble at times. I just tried to be aware of it.
This peak lies on the west prong of a giant U-shaped feature, a volcanic mesa cut by a canyon in which Noble Mountain is the highest point on the east prong. This peak I was just on is the highest point on the west prong.
Elevation: 9,134 feet
• Prominence: 387 feet
• Distance: 0.6 mile
• Time: 40 minutes
• Gain: 415 feet
• Conditions: Cloudy, stiff breeze
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I drove back to US-180/191 and continued north, passing through Nutrioso and dropping in elevation. I was aiming for Apache County Road 2116, also signed as Forest Road 275. I was on this road in the past, as it allows access to the peaks east of Escudilla Mountain.
This road is dirt but wide and well graded and I could motor along at 50 miles per hour. It passes some homes, then bends east into the hills, becoming curvier but still a very fine road.
Last year, I came back here to hike a pair of peaks, and intended to hike the last remaining 9,000-footer, Turner View. But I didn't. It was late, I had already hiked 7 peaks and I was beat. So here I was again, a year later, finishing up some old business.
I stayed on the main road until I could see Turner View come into view, this a little after milepost 13. Turner View is so named for its view of big Turner Peak, which lies over the line in New Mexico. Bob Martin named it in his book, Arizona's Mountains.
Turner View is just a big blob of a peak, a foothill of Escudilla Mountain. It has steep slopes and is covered in forest. I drove in on a side road, FR-577, to a point north of the peak. I parked where convenient.
This looked like a fast but steep hike, so I got busy walking, my leg behaving for the time being. It was cloudy but warm (high 60s) and the breeze wasn't so strong since I was shielded from it for the moment.
The uphill was a slog through forest, downed logs, grass and random rocks. It wasn't difficult at all. I crossed an old track four times. This was probably an old logging road from a century ago. It appeared to switchback up the slope and it did not make sense for me to walk it. I was making better time just busting straight up.
I was soon on the top ridge. I angled right, where views were more open, and found the highpoint cairn near some woody scrub. Sure enough, I had a lovely view of Turner Peak. It was also windier up here, so I did not stay long. I got what I came for and headed down.
The downhill hike, while steep, went well. My leg was actually strong. Only those moments where I caught myself unbalanced did it feel weak. But nothing bad happened. I was down and back to my car, this hike also about 45 minutes. It was now about 2 p.m..
I followed FR-275 south, which took me back to US-180 east of Alpine. So I drove back into Alpine and decided to stop at the other tiny grocery, where they sell groceries, ice cream, sandwiches and worms.
I hoped to get a sandwich for the night's dinner but they said the deli wouldn't open for another week. It was too chilly for ice cream, and I'm not really into worms. Instead, I got some cokes and a can of soup. I asked if they had any arnica salves but they'd never heard of arnica, so no, they didn't have any.
In the parking lot, I looked to see if there were any other cheap and easy peaks along the way I was heading, and sure enough, found this unheralded peak...
Elevation: 8,395 feet
• Prominence: 325 feet
• Distance: 1.8 miles
• Time: 45 minutes
• Gain: 350 feet
• Conditions: Cloudy, breezy
• Wildlife: Cattle
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I had no further business in and around the Alpine area, and the remaining peaks on my agenda were south of the Mogollon Rim along the curvy highway US-191. It was also very windy and cool and I did not want to camp at 9,000 feet in a strong wind. So I headed south on US-191, intending to camp at the Strayhorse campground.
This peak seemed to have good access from the highway, and a trail most of the way, so I wanted to take a look. I was pretty tired by now, my leg was still sore, and I was growing weary of the cloudy, windy weather.
I drove about 15 miles to the Beaverhead locale, then got onto FR-567, which heads to Carlton Vista and eventually downhill to the Blue River itself. I was only going in a little over a mile. I then turned onto a lesser track that curled to an end at the Red Hill trailhead. Not surprisingly, I was the only car in the lot.
Peak 8395 rises along a long ridge that forms the northern boundary of the Blue Range Primitive Area. The peak itself is barely noticeable, and the whole area was a mix of standing live trees, downed dead trees and that doghair crap.
I was in no mood for a bushwhack or getting scratched. My attitude was I would go in until I got stopped by brush or logs. I really did not care if I missed out on this peak.
The trail was in good shape and free of brush. It makes a long ascending traverse up the ridge and then surmounts the ridge at the boundary fence of the Primitive Area. So far, so good. The peak is across the way, about an eighth of a mile away.
I followed the fenceline up a gentle grade toward the summit. Hey, this was going better than expected. Then I saw the bull staring me down. He was on the other side of the fence. He was a big bull, and he wouldn't take his eyes off me. Another couple of cows were nearby, eating the grass. This bull was locked in on me.
Other people may feel brave around big 1,500-pound skittish masses of meat with no brains, but not me. So I hopped the fence, now on his side, but did a long end run around him and curled around up to the summit. I had outsmarted a bull, and I felt proud of myself.
The top was bare with a clump of trees and a cairn. I dug into it and found a pill bottle with a register. It was placed here by the geocachers who called it the Red Hill Geocache. The last signature was from 2008. Was I the first one here since then? To be fair, the pill bottle was partially buried in dirt so it's possible others may not have seen it. But also, this is not an interesting peak.
I got what I came for. There were no views. I descended the same way, circling around the bull. He had never moved and he still was watching me. I hopped over the fence and walked back to my car. I was glad to tag this peak. It was never on my radar, it is nothing special, but since I was passing by and since everything worked out, I snuck in another peak into my records.
Back on the highway, I drove down the grade from the Mogollon Rim a few miles, dropping about 2,000 feet, coming into the Strayhorse camping area. Here, I would meet a friendly dog, and have a restful night's sleep.
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