Arizona Summits: Picacho Peak (3,374′)

Picacho Peak Summit View, #5. Picacho Peak, Arizona, 2014

On the drive between Phoenix and Tucson this one surely caught your attention. Coming from the north, it’s unique shape rises abruptly from the desert floor in the shape of a giant, cursive letter “r”. (NOTE: For a growing number of unfortunates, probably under the age of 50, go HERE to learn what cursive writing was.)

Picacho Peak is a wonderful climb for someone wanting to push their limits a bit beyond the standard Class 1 trail-to-easy-summit kind o’ thing. If it weren’t for the cables and handrails, there would likely be some short Class 4 sections on this route. As is, I’d call it Class 2+ or so.

But don’t be ah-feared, Arizona State Parks has put in enough solid anchors, thick cable, angle-iron, wooden planks, and iron bars on the crux areas to make the route quite safe. Although I have seen folks turn back early, these have been mostly the unprepared and/or the inexperienced. The trail is not really that bad on the ole Queasy-Meter…just take it one step and grab at a time.

Alas, though, as you start out, you’ll be accompanied by the motorized roar of Interstate 10 on the east side of the mountain as you zig up the initial switchbacks, but the west side is an arid paradise apart and can be very solitary except for the weekend crowds.

Trail details: The Hunter Trail is about 4 miles round trip and involves a total elevation gain of around 1,800 feet (you drop down the west side and then have to regain a lot of lost height). This is definitely a late fall through early spring outing–avoid the summer heat at all costs. More details at the official Picacho Peak State Park website.

Some other suggestions and information…

–The gates open at 5a.m. and close at 10p.m., so plan accordingly. The charge for a car to enter is $7.00 (as of Dec, 2014).

–The Sunset Vista Trail is longer to the summit and will avoid most (but not all) of the cables. I have seen at least one other website not recommend this option, but I disagree. Especially if you are looking to avoid the Hunter Trail hordes that converge on this place in the winter.

–As you climb the Hunter Trail, once you gain that first big saddle (pictured in the last image below) and catch your first view to the western horizon, there is a north peak that can be climbed, but almost no one does. If you are experienced at going up the normal route to Picacho’s main summit, and don’t mind some minor scrambling, why not try this secondary summit on for size and for a bit of off-the-overly-beaten-path adventure?

–Back on the main summit trail, once you have walked that last airily suspended “gangplank” and reached the main summit saddle/plateau, there is another secondary high point to the north, only an easy five-minute walk away beside some white-stained (eagle, hawk, raven, and buzzard shit) rocks. This is a great spot for some photography of your friends on the imposing, higher, and official Picacho summit to the south. Few people go here either.

–Summit sunset and sunrise photography are problematic as the trails are supposedly closed after sunset and before sunrise. On this particular afternoon, I pushed the limits (oh, the excitement!) and lingered at the top until the sun nearly touched the western horizon and I was surprised how dark the east side of the peak was (away from the twilight) when I finally made it down that far. I did at least get through the main cabled areas with plenty of light–definitely a good idea.

–Picacho Peak is well-known for its spectacular desert wild flowers in the spring–say, late February into March. It all depends on winter rainfall, though, so you might want to do a Google search for current status or call the Park. [The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix has a link under the Learn tab you could try.]

–Finally, for you Civil War buffs, there was an armed brawl in this area–the farthest west such Federal-Rebel encounter. Some call it a skirmish…or even a battle. Research it and you be the judge. The Park’s website has more info on the annual reenactments that take place in late March (there are also a couple of explanatory videos at the bottom of the Park’s Home Page).

Some selected images…

Negative space crawls across the image, threatening to devour it completely:

Desert Shadow. Picacho Peak area, Arizona, 2014

I-10 leads you noisily off to the south, with the Catalina Mountains (and Mt. Lemmon) on the left and the Santa Rita Mountains (and Mt. Wrightson) in the far distance to the right:

Picacho Summit View, #1. Picacho Peak, Arizona, 2014

Imagine how less interesting all of these photographs would be without some activity in the sky. A cloudless, blue sky–for me, anyway–is boring:

Desert Sky. Picacho Peak, Arizona, 2014

The view north toward the megaglob of Phoenix:

Picacho Summit View, #3. Picacho Peak, Arizona, 2014

Note the rocks on the right covered with white avian excrement. Obviously, there are others who think this is a pretty awesome spot from which to contemplate the universe, take a dump, or look for a meal: