Aztec Peak 7,748′
Total Time: 3:00
Distance: 5.5
Elevation Gain: 1265′
Crux: Class 1
Companions: Brian Joseph
Trailhead: Abbey’s Way Trail #151, no services
Aztec Peak is the highest mountain in the Sierra Anchas, a fairly remote range east of Roosevelt Lake. It was the last P2K I had left to climb in the region despite being one of the easiest, with a trail and fire road to the summit, crowned with a National Forest Lookout. The lookout had some historical significance beyond that of a typical forest lookout, as it was once staffed by Edward Abbey of literary fame. The summit trail is actually named Abbey’s Way, and although a bit overgrown following the Coon Fire of 2000, it makes for a nice stroll up to the high summit. Brian and I left Phoenix early for the long drive, heading east on the 60 through Superior before heading north towards Roosevelt Lake. After crossing the Salt River, the road began to narrow and slowly switchback up the slopes of Aztec Peak and surrounding summits. The road was in excellent shape, and we were soon cruising up the oak and pine tree lined road to the turnoff towards Workman Creek Falls. This dirt road had a few rough spots but was overall in good shape. I was expecting the road to dead end at a locked gate before Workman Creek Falls, but found it wide open, taking me all the way to the official trailhead for Abbey’s Way. We pulled off, grabbed our packs, and started up the vague trail, which quickly entered a large meadow west of the summit.
The northern edge of the meadow was the rough boundary of the Coon Creek Fire, and the trail quickly brought us into the healing forest with plenty of brush and thorns spilling onto the trail. Although the forest was recovering well, the new growth was much less forgiving than old pine trees, and we were happy for pants as we pushed up the switchbacks.
The brush improved as we climbed higher, and we were soon traversing just beneath the lookout tower, with the views opening up to Roosevelt Lake and Four Peaks in the distance. It took only about an hour to reach the summit lookout tower, fenced off and padlocked shut, not open to visitors. We found a stump to sit on facing west towards the lake, and had a small lunch before walking around the broad summit plateau.
There were rain showers far in the distance to the northeast, likely over Mount Baldy, but the skies were blue directly above. We decided to hike the road back to make for a loop hike, and found an interesting camping area just east of the summit where someone had taken the time to set up a table, seats and fire pit with huge rock slabs. Now that the gate is open all the way to the top, it would definitely make for a great campsite.
The road switchbacked down the east face offering us different views on our descent, then quickly left the burn area for the safety of large pines. I was surprised to see clouds rapidly building above, and by the time we reached a trail junction near the Moody Point trailhead, it looked like rain was definitely in our future.
When we were less than a half mile from the car, a light rain started just as we were passing through some Aspens. But there was no thunder and the rain stayed light, not like the typical summer monsoons. We hopped in the car and stopped at Workman Creek Falls on the way out, one of the higher falls in central Arizona at nearly 200′.
Some sport routes dotted the cliffs above and along the cliffs of the waterfall, but there would be no rock climbing today with the light rain. By the time we reached the pavement that rain had stopped, and we decided to head north along the lake to take Route 87 home, making a nice loop around the Superstitions and Tonto National Forest for a fairly relaxed day after bagging AZ P2K #40.
