Apache Peaks 6940′
Total Time: 3:15
Distance: 3.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1920′
Crux: Class 2-3
Trailhead: Richmond Basin, 4WD, no services
On the spectrum of obscure summits in Arizona, Apache Peaks ranks pretty high. Although fairly close to the town of Globe, AZ, it is overshadowed by the higher and more prominent Pinal Peak to the south, the smaller but more rugged Superstitions to the west, and Four Peaks to the north. But a little over 3 years into my time in Arizona, it was one of the closest P2Ks to Phoenix I had yet to climb. So on a random midweek day off, I left Phoenix for the dry, brushy and trailless hike up Apache Peaks. I had heard that the road to the base of Apache Peaks on the west side was notoriously bad after a rain, so as I turned east towards Horseshoe Bend Wash (more on that name later), I hoped the monsoons would hold for me to get up and down without getting stuck. It was 11 miles of 4WD road to Richmond Basin, the first 9 entirely in a wash with loose sand, no doubt impassable after a good rain. There was one particularly rough spot at around 10.5 miles in after leaving the wash, but it was thankfully short lived and I reached the parking area without incident. The cliffs guarding the summit of Apache Peaks loomed high above, and I had my work cut out for me as I found an opening in the brush and headed upslope directly from my car.
While the route was notoriously brushy, it was actually not too bad lower down, mostly small trees and shrubs with intervening patches of grass. I didn’t appreciate it’s reputation until the slopes began to steepen several hundred feet below the cliff bands. While the brush didn’t thicken too much, the slope became very loose, and progress slowed significantly. I was so focused on slogging upslope that I nearly stepped on a coiled up rattlesnake, who was sure to let me know that it did not appreciate me disturbing it.
I built a large cairn just above the snake to be sure not to run into it on the way down, and continued up to the cliff bands. I had the bright idea of looking for a class 3 route through, thinking this would put me on solid rock above both the brush and loose soil. In reality, all that did was funnel me into brush choked rock gullies, by far the worst part of the day but largely avoidable had I aimed for some of the larger weaknesses in the cliffs. The terrain eased considerably above the cliff bands as I entered a high grassy plateau, some of the thinnest brush of the day.
The final summit plateau was only about 300′ above, and although my GPS and topo map showed the southern end of the high point, the rocks to the north looked higher and closer. I trudged up slope towards the rocks, then began a brushy traverse south, indeed finding this to be the high point. Views to the north were hard to come by over the small trees, but there was a dramatic drop off to the south, looking down the ridgeline towards Pinal Peak. I ate a short lunch, watching the clouds for any signs of a building monsoon that might interfere with driving out.
While it looked like the weather would behave, I still did not linger long and started back down the way I came, finding less brush along the east side of the summit ridgeline before hooking back west beyond the rocky pinnacles. GPS was quite helpful in located the proper thin ridgeline to descend, and I avoided the worst of the brush through the cliff bands and the snake on my descent by keeping a bit further north. Even still, the ground was just as loose, and I had one good wipe out resulting in a bloody left forearm and right hand full of buckhorn cactus barbs. The clouds were building a bit by the time I reached my car, so I started down the rough road back to the highway. I was less than a mile from pavement in one of the sandiest parts of the wash when I was blocked by a Jetta, buried to the bumper in sand. A young couple was busy trying to wedge rocks under the tires for traction in what I would best describe as ‘resort wear.’ I hopped out asking if they needed a hand, and after the two briefly conversed in Spanish, they asked how much further to Horseshoe Bend. I can only imagine the look on my face when I asked them to clarify if they meant THE Horseshoe Bend in the Grand Canyon, a good five hours to the north. They were on vacation from Mexico and had just typed Horseshoe Bend in their GPS, choosing the closest one, this remote canyon named Horseshoe Bend Wash…. After telling them they were way off, we set out to get the car out of the sand, using the floor mats for traction while two of us pushed and the other gunned it in reverse. It actually worked out well and she pulled the car onto a packed section of the wash. Out of trouble, I left them and continued down the road back to the pavement for the drive home.
