The Mountains of Arizona
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Tule Mesa • Reimer Peak After my classes ended Tuesday evening, I left campus, stopped at a grocery store, then hit the road. I planned to drive north about a hundred miles to situate myself somewhere along Dugas Road, and camp for the night. The drive went well, nothing notable to report. It had been three months since I was last on Interstate-17. The widening project is coming along. I can see where the freeway is much wider now, but it's still nowhere near done. Traffic wasn't bad. Once up on the higher plateau/hill country of the Prescott National Forest, I left the highway onto Dugas Road. It was dark, but with a full moon that was still low in the east given that it was still relatively early in the evening. The moonlight allowed me to make out things as I drove in. I went in about three miles, then turned onto some random side road for about a quarter mile. This road ended at a loop with some ad-hoc campfire pits, obviously a spot used in the past by campers and hunters. I pulled in about 9:30 p.m.. It was cool but pleasant, temperatures in the low 60s. The sky was clear and dry, not a cloud anywhere. The moonlight was intense, lighting up the whole area in soft moonglow. Conditions were perfect for this sort of thing. I could see my way around easily, no flashlight needed. I set up my sleeping cot, then had my dinner in the front seat of the car. Once my eyes were fully adjusted, the moonglow was quite strong. I enjoyed the surreal aspect it imparted on the scenery. I was amid low hills and ridges. I could hear coyotes howling once in awhile. It was beautiful. My new android's camera has a "night" setting. It doesn't use a flash but instead leaves the aperture open for a couple seconds. As long as I hold still, the pictures come out crisp with good lighting. But I had not tried it under these specific conditions. I took a few shots which you see below. I was very impressed how much light came through and how clear the shots were. The moonlight meant that only the brightest stars could be seen, as well as the major planets. I laid in the cot and looked up at the stars. Orion was dead center in the sky. I took a shot, and it came out pretty good. There is some blurriness. I swear my hands were steady. I blame it on the earth's rotation. I slept pretty well. It got chilly but not too bad, into the mid 40s. I had enough blankets to keep me warm. I was up at dawn. I took down camp, and walked around a little to wake up, plus sit in the car and have a meager breakfast. At about 6:00 a.m., I could hear some engines, then suddenly a couple ranch work trucks came rumbling along Dugas Road. I took this as my cue to get rolling myself.
On the agenda today was the Tule Mesa Highpoint, and if successful and I still had energy, Reimer Peak. I got back on Dugas Road and headed east, coming upon the community of Dugas in a couple more miles. This tiny patch of private property lies astride Sycamore Creek in a basin surrounded by hills and ridges. There appears to be a few functioning properties and residences, and a number of derelict wooden structures. I have been through Dugas just one other time, back in 2006 when I passed through heading toward Pine Mountain. Dugas was once a tiny but functioning town, its main purpose in its short life as a place where workers building the Childs Hydroelectric Plant were housed way back in 1908-1909. It had a school and a post office. But for most of the past hundred years, it's just a smattering of ranch homes, there being some active ranching still going on back in here. This article from the Arizona Republic in 1964 offers some good history of the town and its inhabitants.
Date: September 18, 2024
• Elevation: 6,678 feet
• Prominence: 518 feet
• Distance: 10.6 miles
• Time: 4 hours, 20 minutes
• Gain: 1,775 feet
• Conditions: Absolutely magnificent
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USGS BM Datasheet
The road fords Sycamore Creek, which today was just a small puddle. Up the other side, the road continues another couple miles, then comes to a split, a straight going to the Horner Ranch, and a right going east toward the Verde Rim. This right branch is now marked FR-68.
Up to the split, the road was an excellent all-weather gravel surface, but after the split, it was more rutted and uneven. I stayed on FR-68 a little over a mile to where it makes a hard right, this being the road to Pine Mountain. I stayed straight, now on FR-68G. The condition was holding steady. The sun was rising now and at times, it was directly in front of me, essentially blinding me. I would stick my head out the window to make out what was in the road.
I was able to squeeze in another couple of miles on FR-68G before coming to an uphill segment with rocks that prompted me to stop and park. I was very near "BM 5053" marked on the Forest-Service map, near a set of power lines. I had hoped to get in at least as far as the FR-68/68G split, and was happy to get in another couple of miles, well within tolerable walking distance to the peak.
When I parked, conditions calm and pleasant, temperature about 55°. I got suited up, locked the car and started the long road walk at 6:50 a.m.. Tule Mesa is a raised landform that forms one of the main summits along the Verde Rim. It lies southeast of Porcupine Mountain and northwest of Pine Mountain. From the west, the uphill gradients would be very gentle all the way to the rim. To the east, the lands drops off steeply with cliffs in places down to the Verde River. Even so, I was still looking at over 1,700 feet of elevation gain in over 5 miles to the summit.
Once above the initial uphill segment that stopped me in my car, the road improved. It would have been marginal for me to coax the car up that slope so I had no second thoughts parking where I did. In a little over a mile, the road gains a hill, elevation 5,400 feet, before dropping about 75 feet. It then swings north and passes over a cattle grate.
I just walked and walked, keeping a steady pace. I took my one and only break near Horse Pasture Tank, about 4 miles into the hike. The road then bends southeast and comes again near the power lines, Here, the grade steepens and the road's condition becomes very rough. Even for hiking, the rocks would roll, so I moved slowly here.
The main road then swings south, while a lesser track branches north. I was about a half mile south of the highpoint. I chose to leave the road and make my way up the lenient slopes amid juniper and piñon. The ground growth was limited to scattered grasses and occasional cactus. The ground itself was volcanic rock that often wanted to roll and made footing uneven.
In time, I was finally at the rim. The gain to the top is so gentle that when I arrived, I had to actually register that I was here, there being no more uphill to go. The top is flat and broad. Any one of about twenty large boulders jutting above the ground could have been the highest point.
I walked along the rim until I found the nominal summit rock outcrop with the benchmark and reference markers. My opinion is that some rocks about a hundred feet to the south amid some large junipers might be higher, if by inches. Success! It had taken me 2 hours and 20 minutes to get here, in what I later determined to be about 5.3 miles one way.
The day was stunning and the views up here were outstanding. There were some clouds way to the east and some haze that way. Views into the canyon were impressive but a little hazy. I could make out the silhouette of Humphreys Peak way off to the north.
I sat for about twenty minutes and rested. There were two registers. The older one I was able to open and sign myself in. The last visitor was here in April, but names went back over 30 years. The register held only about a dozen names, the usual suspects. There would be years between signer-inners. There was another register too, and I spent almost 10 minutes getting the top to unscrew. That register held just two names. I transcribed them and their dates to the main register, and took the register bottle and its recalcitrant lid with me. The original register was still in good shape and it wasn't necessary to have two of them here.
I could have stayed up here all day, but I had some walking to do to get back to my car. The walk out took a little over 90 minutes, now with gravity on my side. I took a break at the cattle grate I mentioned earlier, then hoofed it back to my car, arriving at 11:10 a.m., a 4-hour, 20-minute round trip hike.
This was a fantastic hike and the weather conditions were perfect. There was a gentle breeze and the temperature never got above the low 70s. I enjoy these long gentle uphill road walks amid juniper and piñon. I had put on over 10.5 miles but I felt very good, just a little fatigued. I was in no hurry and I did not need to be back to Tempe until late afternoon. I had maps for Reimer Peak, so now that became my focus.
All previous visitors who have posted reports on this peak mention the rough roads after a certain point. I would concur. Ironically, most of the road was fine, but that is moot if a very rough patch stops you in your tracks farther back. There were a few spots that would demand high clearance and 4-wheel drive. Anything less would not be sufficient.
Elevation: 5,033 feet (Lidar)
• Prominence: 340 feet
• Distance: 1.2 miles
• Time: 52 minutes
• Gain: 560 feet
• Conditions: Warmer, breezy but still amazing
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I backtracked through Dugas, then less than a half mile past the village on its west side, I turned north onto FR-68D. This road goes past Reimer Peak and eventually connects to the roads near Interstate-17 at the AZ-169 interchange. A sign at the start says the road requires high clearance and should not be driven on when wet.
I had no idea how far in I would get and fully expected to be stopped well short of the peak by some bad section of road. But I had nothing to lose by trying so in I went.
The first four miles went well. The road was mostly smooth with just a couple short minorly-rocky segments, but nothing severe. Past Big Flat Tank, the road became much more rocky, uneven and rutted. I was often driving below 10 miles per hour and had to stop a couple times to move aside large rocks. Things opened up as I neared Reimer Peak, which was only visible for the last mile of my drive.
I ended up driving in 6.2 miles, taking about 30 minutes to make the drive. The road inches up a slope to a saddle southeast of the peak, but the ruts here were nasty, so I pulled into a clearing about a quarter-mile short of this saddle. I was less than a mile from the peak anyway.
I started walking at 12:28 p.m.. It was warmer now, but still pleasant, about 80°-82° with a breeze. Reimer Peak features a notable rocky prow on its southern tip that I assumed at first was the summit.
I walked up the road to the saddle, then up the grassy slopes toward the top. There were a few rocky sections to maneuver through. The grass was low and I could see my feet and ankles most of the time. I walked up a slope to its lip, which put me on a gentler slope with the high ridge now visible. The rocky prow still looked like the highest point, so I aimed that way.
I was soon near this rock formation and it was now clear it was not the summit. I turned and clambered up a rocky slope, placing me back on the grassy slopes. The summit was visible, not far ahead. It is the northwesternmost point along the summit ridge. I was there quickly, the hike taking just a half hour and covering 0.6 mile.
The top is a little hump of rock outcrops. I tagged the highest of them, and looked for a register but did not find one. Silly me, I left that glass jar I took from Tule Mesa in my car. I could have planted it here.
The views were good, including a distance view of Tule Mesa's highpoint. Big Bald Peak was nearby. Looking west, I could see the Bradshaws and looking northwest, Mingus Mountain. I spent a few minutes taking photos, but never really stopped.
I went down mainly the same way, and was back to my car at 1:20, a 52-minute hike. For a bonus peak, this was a fun hike. I wouldn't come all this way just for this peak, but adding it in to an itinerary, certainly. I enjoyed it a lot; it was more than I was expecting.
Now, I started the slow roll out. It took me a half hour to get back to Dugas Road, then not too long to get back to the Interstate. I stopped in Cordes Junction for drinks and a snack.
Back on the highway, I would get to view the updated work on the widening project of Interstate-17. In the past year I have not been up this way much, and only when it's been dark. Traffic was not too bad, the usual mix of trucks and speeding fools. But being a Wednesday, the RV and boat-pulling crowd were not to be seen.
Yes, I can attest that Interstate-17 will be wider. They've done a lot. There is a lot of work going on at the actual uphill and downhill grade around the Bumble Bee exit. Lanes are narrower for now with lots of temporary shifts.
Once below all that and a little south of Black Canyon City, I could see a big plume of black smoke ahead. I assumed it to be something related to the project, but it was soon evident the smoke was too black and too thick; something was definitely on fire.
Traffic started to slow and we all started to merge into the left lane. We were still moving, albeit slowly. I could see what it was: a truck was parked to the side, fully engulfed in flames. Then we all stopped. Fire trucks were just now arriving on scene. I was about ten cars back, far enough to see it reasonably clearly. I could hear small "booms" periodically. I have no idea what he was hauling. It was a serious fire. The whole thing was going up.
We sat there for about ten minutes. There was a guy to the side on his cell phone, he looked like the truck driver. One of the ADOT guys even put his arm around him. The smoke turned to white fast, but then it started to drift our way and it was thick and pungent. There was no way to avoid breathing it in. I grabbed a flannel shirt of mine, doused it in water and put that to my nose and mouth as a temporary mask. Fortunately, we started to move and they allowed us to ease past. Even as I drove past, the front cab was still in flames.
I snapped a few images. The five year old in me still likes cars on fire from all those Emergency episodes I watched as a kid. It appeared the driver was okay, and all would be well. The truck was a goner.
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